i84 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



by burning, for if any piece of the comb, &c., is left 

 about, and be visited by a Bee, she carries home, per- 

 haps, the germ of further trouble. The Bees may be 

 saved thus : Let them be driven, or by other means 

 taken out of the hive and confined in a straw skep with 

 plenty of ventilation for two days ; the act of driving will 

 have induced every Bee to fill herself with honey from 

 her old home ; this, if allowed to be deposited in a new 

 hive, would probably communicate the disease to the 

 new combs, but by keeping the Bees confined for the 

 time mentioned, all the honey will be consumed, and 

 the risk of infection considerably lessened. After the 

 quarantine has expired, transfer the Bees again to a 

 clean hive ; if they carried infection away from home 

 they will probably leave it in the temporary hive, which, 

 to be on the safe side, should be also destroyed. 



Honey that is found in an infected hive should on no 

 account be given to other Bees, and as it comes from an 

 atmosphere of putridity, is not fit for human consump- 

 tion ; so is much better consigned to the flames with the 

 combs, &c. Foul-brood is often introduced into a hive 

 by feeding the Bees on foreign honey, which is not 

 seldom infected with it. 



One cause of the dwindling of a foul-broody stock is 

 the constant reduction of the number of breeding cells, 

 for when a larva dies it is simply left to rot in its cell, 

 which, of course, becomes useless, and the number of 

 these cells may be so increased that the poor Queen 

 cannot find wholesome ones sufficient for her eggs. 



I now proceed to say how the presence of foul brood 

 may be known. If the Apiary has been long unpro- 

 ductive, the Bees showing no energy or increase in their 

 numbers, but, on the contrary, dwindling, suspect foul- 

 brood; if extensively present, the combs will give out a 



