82 BEES FOE PLEASURE AND PEOFIT. 



It has been discovered that foul brood affects the adult 

 bees, and sometimes the queen as well as the larvae ; it is 

 very contagious, and when it makes its appearance prompt 

 and strenuous efforts must be made to get rid of it at once, or 

 the whole apiary will soon be infected and diseased. 



Prevention Better than Cure. 



Eemember the old adage " Prevention is better than cure"; 

 if you know that foul brood exists in the neighbourhood or 

 in the apiary, take steps to prevent the other hives from 

 catching it. A very good preventive is naphthaline (do not 

 confound this with naphthol beta, which is used in the bees' 

 food ; naphthaline is quite a different thing and must never be 

 used in this way) ; it possesses a strong smell, and can be 

 obtained in white crystalhne flakes and in sticks ; whichever 

 form is used, care must be taken to have it quite pure. Of 

 flake naphthaline, as much as can be heaped on a sixpence 

 should be placed on the floor-board, at the back of the hive, as 

 far from the entrance as possible. If we are using the stick 

 naphthahne, one or two pieces as large as a small nut will be 

 found sufficient. Naphthaline evaporates, and the supply of 

 it must therefore be renewed in the hive evei'y ten or twelve 

 days — in winter it does not evaporate so quickly, and so will 

 not need to be supplied to the bees so often. Full directions 

 for using naphthaline and naphthol beta will be found in 

 the British Bee Journal for September 10th, 1891, from which 

 the above has been abridged. 



One further caution, and we will then leave the subject of 

 foul brood : do not mistake chilled brood for foul brood ; there 

 is a great difference between the two. Brood which dies from 

 cold will in time dry up and become hard ; it never forms a 

 sticky, putrescent mass of coffee-coloured " ropy " matter, such 

 as is to be found in cases of foul brood. 



FINAL HINTS. 



Keep all Stocks Strong. 



In working for honey remember that the most important 

 point of all to bear in mind is the bee-keeper's motto, " Keep 

 all stocks strong." 



