192 THE PRACTICAL BEE GUIDE. 



decomposition sets in, at which point they refuse to do so. 

 Naphthaline is supplied in balls ; and, two of these, divided 

 into four parts, are placed on the floor board, in the corners 

 of the hive. These pieces disappear by evaporation in a 

 couple of months, and are sometimes covered over with pro- 

 polis by the bees in order to suppress the smell, to which they 

 have an _ objection. This preventive should be renewed as 

 required. Naphthol Beta should be added to syrup and candy 

 used for feeding. It is a powerful disinfectant and intestinal 

 antiseptic, very effective in parasitic diseases : it has a sharp, 

 pungent taste, and an odour resembling Phenol : it is supplied 

 in powder, and is soluble in alcohol (325). Hives, and all 

 appliances used in the apiary, should be kept in a condition as 

 unfavourable as possible to the bacteria : cleanliness, a lesson 

 taught by the bees themselves, should be a fi.xed rule of 

 management : the moveable floor board should be a sine qua non 

 in every hive, and should be cleaned and disinfected fre- 

 quently : and, the bees should have liberty to carry on their 

 sanitary work in every part of the hive in which organic matter 

 favourable to the grow'th of bacteria may be located. 



353. Treatment. — Foul brood is frequently looked upon as 

 an incurable disease, to be ended only by sulphur and fire. 

 But, it has been established beyond doubt that the disease can 

 be cured, if taken in its initial stages, and even when the attack 

 has developed considerably, if patience, perseverance, and 

 thoroughness, with sufficient knowledge of the proper methods 

 to be adopted, be brought to bear upon it. Destruction by 

 fire need be recommended only when the disease has been 

 allowed to make such headway that the stocks affected have 

 been reduced to a condition that renders them not worth 

 saving; or, when the bee-keeper has no qualified friend to help 

 him, and is, himself, either too inexperienced, too indifferent, 

 or too lazy to undertake a systematic and, perhaps, protracted 

 cure. In such a case, it will be better to burn the lot out of 

 hand, than to suffer weakened colonies of diseased bees, and 

 hives that are infected, to attract robber bees from healthy 

 colonies, and to scatter infection throughout the district. 



"Rational and simple cures for foul brood have been so long known 

 to many practical bee-keepers, that it seems strange there are others 

 quite unable to cope with the disease when it makes its appearance 

 in their apiaries. The disease has been cured in the past, and can as 

 readily be cured to-day. There is really no excuse whatever for the 

 continued existence of foul brood in any apiary, in the light of facts 

 already placed before bee-keepers." — Simmins. 



354. Early Stages: Treatment with Formalin Formic 



Aldehyde, produced by the limited oxidation of JMethyl 



