146 PLEASUBABLE BEE-KEEPING. 



because in using carbolic acid as a bee quieter he had 

 at the same time used a powerful antiseptic. 



Of the diseases to which bees are subject we need 

 only notice here two, dysentery and fotd brood. 



Dysekteey. 



This is a disease due chiefly to the carelessness of the 

 bee-keeper, and is much too frequently met with in the 

 winter and spring. Its presence is known by the bees 

 voiding the excrement on the combs, which may result 

 from confinement in a damp or badly ventilated hive, 

 but is more frequently the result of bees being fed upon 

 unsuitable food and at the wrong time of the year. 

 On fine warm days early in the year it will frequently 

 be noticed that the bees soil their hives and everything 

 about the apiary. This is often from a cleansing flight 

 which the bees need when breeding has commenced, 

 and they have been confined to their hives for several 

 days. 



Bee-keepers who ignore the directions for feeding 

 up their stocks with syrup of a proper consistency, 

 while they are in numbers sufficient to maintain the 

 heat needed to evaporate the superfluous moisture, 

 must expect this disease to break out, for thin syrup 

 which the bees cannot seal over is almost certain to 

 ferment during the winter. By carefully carrying out 

 the instructions given under the heading " Wintering," 

 this disease may be almost entirely avoided. 



The remedy, when the disease exists, is to remove 

 the bees and combs into a clean hive, and give them 

 fresh food. This may be effected in a warm room. 



