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ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



31 



such food. Three or four such combs 

 will winter a fair colony safely if con- 

 fined on those combs late in the fall 

 and the hive contracted to fit the same. 

 This is one of the most important con- 

 ditions for success in wintering. 



2. If in the fall the bees have gath- 

 ered this unwholesome honey from the 

 above-named sources, it should all be 

 extracted and either exchanged for 

 those honey :7Combs, or feed the bees 

 good honey or" sugar syrup until winter 

 stores are secured. This should be done 

 before cold weather in the fall. 



3. Hives contracted and made com- 

 fortable, whether in cellar or outdoors. 



4. If wintered in chaflf hives out- 

 doors with feed as above directed, and 

 there come one or two warm spells dur- 

 ing winter so that bees can have a 

 cleansing flight, they will not have dys- 



entery or dead brood, and will be much 

 stronger when clover opens. 



If wintered in the cellar the bees will 

 not need as much honey, and if the 

 winters are generally long with doubtful 

 warm spells, the cellar will be best. But 

 to keep the bees from dysentery, so of- 

 ten fatal to cellar-wintered bees, they 

 should have such winter stores as above 

 spoken of, then the cellar kept at a uni- 

 form temperature, about 42 deg. F., ven- 

 tilated so the air is fresh, and no mold 

 will form in the cellar. Fresh air- 

 slacked lime on the bottom of the cel- 

 lar may help if it is damp or has poor 

 air. 



5. Dysentery will not appear if bees 

 are kept on sugar syrup, or best-grade 

 white clover or basswood honey, and 

 are in a dry place, either sheltered by 

 cellar or chaff-hive. 



FORMALDEHYDE EXPERIMENTS 



Formaldehyde, by the medical experts, . 

 is now considered the best of all disin- 

 fectants ; I have great faith that we may 

 yet learn of its use, and save infected 

 foul-broody combs. 



Mr. C. H. W. Weber has conducted 

 some valuable experiments. Early in 

 1903 I decided to do some experiment- 

 ing, having inspected several infected 

 apiaries. We got a carpenter with well- 

 seasoned lumber to make some perfectly 

 air-tight boxes to hold brood-frames, 

 two tiers deep. Mr. Weber's lamp was 

 used in several trials. Where we used a 

 greater amount, and longer confined 

 than instructions called for, the combs 

 with all cells unsealed, containing dried 

 scales of foul brood, after fumigating 

 and airing were placed in hives with 

 bees on them. The chemical action 

 was such that the bees at once cleaned 

 them out, and no signs of disease has 

 appeared in them since. But in those 

 combs having honey or pollen in the 



infected cells, or those capped over 

 with brood underneath, they were so 

 covered that the gases did not destroy 

 the disease, for those treated July 27, 

 in 41 days each of those combs had foul 

 brood again. 



To prove that the gases do not go 

 through wax-cappings, I took some 

 healthy hatching brood, fumigated it, 

 then took it out and cut away the cap- 

 pings, and some of the bees had life 

 enough to crawl. 



I believe we should go slow and do 

 careful experimenting. I know old, dis- 

 eased combs are worth more rendered 

 into wax, or those containing honey pr 

 pollen in infected combs are not safe 

 to use again. A sheet of comb founda- 

 tion is worth far more. I believe it is 

 possible, if carefully done to fumigate 

 infected combs where there is nothing 

 over the disease, so that those combs 

 can be saved. N. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., March 17, 1904. 



