THE DISEASES OF BEES. 119 



seem to dread the exposure of their combs to a cold, 

 chilling atmosphere. In the spring months eggs are as 

 widely set as the bees can cover them ; but if severe 

 weather overtake the hive, and compel the bees to creep 

 together for mutual warmth, some brood may be left un- 

 covered and perish. Some years ago, we placed a hive in 

 a garden of gooseberry-bushes. A mischievous boy found 

 it and kicked it over for a lark. The hive remained in 

 this position some days. The boy had cast a stone into 

 the centre of the hive and bees, which we found on plac- 

 ing the hive on its board. In about fourteen days after, 

 we took a swarm from this hive and gave it a young 

 queen. In the autumn we found foul brood in it, but as 

 there was but little of it, we cut it clean out, and put 

 pieces of healthy comb in the place of what was cut out. 

 The hive did well the following year. Foul brood is 

 often found in hives that have suffered more from heat 

 than cold ; those hives that are long on the point of 

 swarming, and prevented from swarming by some cause 

 or other, oftener catch the distemper than those not so 

 full. In fact, the non-swarmers are oftener affected with 

 this disease than swarmers or their swarms : and this is 

 an argument in favour of the swarming system of manage- 

 ment. By keeping young hives — that is to say, swarms 

 of the present year — for stock, no bee-keeper wiU suffer 

 much from foul brood, if he ever suffer at all. If hives 

 containing older combs are kept as stock, they should be 

 carefully examined twice a-year to see that they are free 

 from diseased brood. The first examination should be 

 made from the 21st to 24th day after first swarms are 

 obtained. AU the healthy brood is hatched, and the 

 young queens have not begun to lay. The second ex- 

 amination should be made at the end of the season when 

 breeding has ceased. By blowing the smoke down 

 amongst the combs the bees will leave them, so that we 



