310 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. [Ch. vi. 



4, same year, under the more cheerful title of " Con- 

 valescent," in which he says : " First, let me endorse the 

 opinions both of Dzierzon and Rothe, that, except under 

 very especial circumstances, it is unadvisable to attempt 

 the cure of a foul-breeding stock : better, far better, to 

 consign its inhabitants to the brimstone pit; the hive 

 itself, if a straw one, to the flames ; the comb to the 

 melting-pot ; and appropriate the honey to any purpose, 

 except that of feeding bees." 



Mr. Woodbury further says : " Before starting, it was 

 requisite to ensure the transfer of the bees to unpolluted 

 hives ; and here I found that , Dzierzon declares that 

 every hive that has contained a foul-breeding colony 

 should be exposed to the sun and air for two years 

 before being re-stocked. In my own case this was 

 simply impossible, and I therefore adopted the practice 

 of another German writer on the subject, viz., to scrape 

 out the hive very carefully, wash it all over with a 

 saturated solution of chloride of lime, keeping it closely 

 shut up for twenty-four hours, and then, after thoroughly 

 washing it with clean water, exposing it to the sun and 

 air until the smell of the disinfectant had passed off. 

 This method has the advantage of enabling one to use a 

 wooden hive again after a lapse of a couple of days, and 

 is, I believe, thoroughly effectual." 



Mr. Woodbury then captured the queen, secured her 

 in a cage, and placed her in a clean empty hive; all 

 her bees were brushed from their combs into it as rapidly 



