20 Wisconsin Bulletin 333 



Disposal of Honey and Brood From Diseased Colonies 



If only one, two, or three colonies in a yard are found dis- 

 eased it is better to destroy the brood at once by burning in a 

 closed space of some kind. If a whole yard is to be treated, 

 so-called "hospital colonies" may be made by stacking the 

 combs from four or five colonies on top of a slightly diseased 

 colony above a queen excluder until the brood is hatched out. 

 Then the "hospital colonies" are treated and the brood combs 

 from them are melted down or destroyed. 



Hospital colonies kept around a yard are extremely dan- 

 gerous and are likely to be a continual source of reinfection 

 no matter how carefully they may be looked after. 



Honey from such colonies should be extracted and bottled 

 as soon as taken from the hive. All combs, including those 

 with brood from the lower hive body of each colony, should be 

 melted down and the wax extracted at once. 



Hospital colonies should not be allowed to run longer than 



21 days before treatment. The bees should be removed from 

 the upper stories by means of a bee escape and the hive bodies 

 removed and carried into the storeroom before treating the 

 bottom part. 



Hospital colonies should be set at some distance from the 

 main yard and all hive bodies must be bee tight except for the 

 entrance. 



Hive bodies and hive parts from hospital colonies should be 

 thoroughly scraped and cleaned before using on other colonies 

 because during the period of treatment they are likely to be 

 somewhat smeared with honey and it is almost sure to carry 

 spores of the disease from these colonies. 



The Beekeeper His Own Inspector 



Every person who keeps bees should frequently lo,ok 

 through the brood nest of each colony to see that conditions 

 are normal. If the appearance of healthy brood is well known, 

 any abnormal condition will be easy to detect. If diseased 

 or dead larvae are found, report the condition either to the 

 local or state inspector. 



A single diseased larva in the spring may result in a badly 

 diseased colony in the fall. Such a colony may become weak- 

 ened to the extent that it is robbed out and the disease scat- 

 tered to many colonies in the yard. 



