148 ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



room from which no bees can escape; and, should a few straofjjlers 

 remain in the hive, they should be destroyed. The combs are now 

 free from bees and healthy brood, and ready, to be treated as seems 

 best, while there is a healthy colony in the apiary where once stood 

 the one diseased with foul brood. 



When freed from bees and healthy brood, no matter what the 

 method employed, the combs may be emptied of honey with the ex- 

 tractor, and then melted into wax. Of course, an extractor thus 

 used must be most thoroughly cleansed before it is again used for 

 extracting combs of honey from healthy colonies. For disinfecting 

 the extractor I would use a strong solution of salicylic acid, pouring 

 it on boiling hot from the spout of a tea kettle. The matter of clean- 

 ing the extractor is one about which one cannot be too thorough. 

 Honey from such combs ought not to be placed upon the general 

 market, as consumers are liable to throw out an empty package 

 where neighboring bees will come and clean it up. Some bee- 

 keepers ship such honey to bakers where the heat used in bak- 

 ing will destroy any germs that may be in the honey. Thorough 

 boiling of the honey will kill the germs and make it safe for use in 

 feeding the bees, but before the honey is boiled it must be mixed 

 with an equal quantity of water. Some advise boiling the hives, or 

 burning them out on the inside by painting them over with kerosene 

 and setting it on fire, but I have seen so many hives used without 

 taking any such precautions, that I have come to doubt their neces- 

 sity. Mr. McEvoy, Inspector of apiaries for Ontario, says that he 

 has cured thousands of cases of foul brood without any such disin- 

 fecting, and considers it wholly unnecessary. Some have advocated 

 the burning of the combs with no attempts at saving the honey and 

 wax. If only a few colonies are to be treated, this might be ad- 

 visable, but the owner of a large apiary q uite generally affected with 

 foul brood, can well afford to take the necessary precautions where- 

 by the honey and wax may be saved. Whoever undertakes such a 

 job must remember, however, that eternal vigilance is the price of 

 success. One drop of the infected honey secured by a robber bee, 

 means disease once more in the hive to which it is carried. It has 

 been suggested that the extracting, etc., be done down cellar. It is 

 a cool place in which to work, and the bees can the more easily be 

 kept out. Others have melted up the combs at night when no bees 

 were flying. There is really no necessity of destroying the combs 

 and the honey they contain. If a man can not, or will not, exercise 

 sufficient care, it would certainly be better to burn them; but, if he 

 has "gumption" enough to succeed as a bee-keeper, he can save the 

 combs from destruction, It would be well, however, for all to bear 



