FOUL BROOD IN BEES. 7 



protect our own interest, they forget entirely that their own body 

 is as much an animal as the body of a horse or bee, and subject to 

 the same general laws of contagion and decomposition. 



But even it the bee keeper exercises all care and patience, he 

 may not succeed if he pursues methods of treatment which are ob- 

 tained by general remarks or short essays only in bee papers or con- 

 ventions. Some of the first trials with salicylic acid in 1875 failed, 

 because the acid had been used in the form of a powder and con- 

 centrated solutions to dust and wash the hive — the bees leaving the 

 hive immediately after it had been introduced. So, in this coun- 

 try, quite a number of bee-keepers claim to have tried the remedy 

 without avail. Now, if they had given a short outline of the 

 method chey pursued, their mistakes might have beep readily 

 pointed out. Hence the assertions of bee-keepers to have found 

 salicylic acid of no use, prove, if anything, that they have used the 

 remedy without care and method ; for, as long as there are reliable 

 and experienced bee keepers who are successful in this direction, 

 assertions to the contrary prove nothing. Aside from the quantity 

 of the acid employed, the quality is of as much importance. It 

 must be absolutely pure. Another point to be observed is the 

 proper solvent. It is well known that salicylic acid does not readily 

 dissolve in water, but very much so in alcohol ; but alcohol of 95 

 per cent. —0.8157 spec. gr. — (for such should be used), costs 40 cts.. 

 a pint ; in addition to this, the cost of salicylic acid, which is 50 

 cts. an ounce, seems to some bee-keepers expensive medicine ; and 

 to make the acid soluble in water {cheap is the watchword), some* 

 saving bee-keepers add another chemical to it, which tliey have 

 heard has that desirable property, to-wit: to make the acid soluble. 

 To attain this object, borax has been advised by some as the proper 

 solvent in addition to water ; the more so, as it is possessed of the- 

 same property as salicylic acid in destroying bacteria. A little 

 knowledge of chemistry and medicine would have prevented such- 

 mistakes. It is here the place, I think, to show the fallacy of that 

 combination. 



I. It is well known that there are quite a number of remedies 

 to arrest or prevent fermentation and putrifaction, as also the for- 

 mation of animal or vegetable fungoid growth. To satisfy the 

 ■curious, I will name a few of them: All mineral acids, wood vine- 

 gar, salt, common vmegar, strong solution of sugar, arsenic, corro- 

 sive sublimate, creosote, phen'^1, thymol, borax, as, also, salicylic 

 acid. Each of these has its own sphere of application. Not one 



