82 Bee-];eeping in Victoria. 



To successfuUj'' cure a colony of foul-brood three conditions are 

 necessary, viz., first, there should be sufficient bees in the diseased 

 colony to form a small swarm ; second, the weather should be mild or 

 warm; and third, honey should be coming in. If sufficient bees are 

 not left in a diseased colony to build combs and to raise sufficient 

 l)rood to increase the worker force, no cure should be attempted ; it 

 will lie found jiiore profitable to at once destroy by fire the bees, combs, 

 II nd frames. 



Warm weather is required to enable the bees to secrete wax and 

 rear lirood, and therefore bees cannot be treated before September or 

 after March. A honey fiow is essential, so that bees treated may not 

 lie robbed during or after treatment. 



The only reliable method of getting rid of foul-brood without de- 

 stroying the entire diseased colony is to remove the bees from their 

 infected surroundings and start them afresh in a clean hive. 



This is done by putting a clean hive with frames supplied with 

 starters of comb foundation on the spot occupied by the diseased hive, 

 removing the latter to a little behind the former. A cloth or bag is 

 placed in front of the clean hive, on to this the bees are rapidly shaken 

 and brushed from the diseased combs. If they do not readily enter 

 the new hive, a little smoke may be used to drive them in. The bees 

 will now start comb-building; the honey which they brought from the 

 diseased combs in their honej^ sacs will be consumed in the secretion of 

 wax, and the colony will now be free from disease, unless it is re- 

 introduced into the hive from outside. To prevent the bees swarming 

 out and absconding, as they will sometimes do when suddenly deprived 

 of their brood, queen-excluding zinc may be fastened over the entrance, 

 so that when the bees swarm out the ciueen cannot follow, and the 

 swarm will return to the hive. This obstruction should, however, 

 be removed in four or five days, when the bees will have settled do^vn. 



The diseased hive, floor, cover, and frames of comb should be taken 

 indoors as soon as the operation of shaking down is finished, and effec- 

 tively secured against access by bees. The combs and frames should 

 be at once destroyed by burning. The hive, hive floor, and roof should 

 be thoroughly cleansed by immersing and scrubbing in boiling water 

 containing washing soda and soap. "When clean, the hive should be 

 exposed to the atmosphere to dry thoroughly, after which it may again 

 be used for housing bees. 



When only a few diseased cells are found in a number of hives, the 

 strongest of them maj^ be treated first, and the brood combs given to the 

 other affected colonies in a super over a queen-excluding honey board. 

 In ten days most of the healthy sealed brood will have hatched, in- 

 creasing the worker-force of the remaining diseased colonies, which 

 may now also be cured by the shaking-down method described before. 



To completely destroy a diseased colony which is too weak to be 

 cured, close the entrance of the hive when the bees have ceased flying 

 towards evening. Put sufficient wood, ready for lighting, into a, hole 

 dug for the purpose, place the hive on the fuel and set fire to it. When 

 burned do\\'n, fill up the hole with earth. The combs removed from 

 hives shaken down shoiild be destroyed in the same way, otherwise 



