Foul Brood 143 



hive by means of the escape, they will return and join the newly 

 formed colony upon the old stand, as it will be impossible for them 

 to enter the old hive. At sundown of the first day after setting the 

 old hive vipon a new stand, open the hive carefully, take away the 

 caged queen, being careful to take no bees with her, and let her run 

 into the entrance of the new hive. All of this work of closing the 

 entrance of the old hive, setting it upon a new stand and removing 

 the caged queen, should be done as carefully as possible so as not to 

 disturb the bees and induce them to fill themselves with honey. Noth- 

 ing more need be done for about a month, by which time the brood 

 will all have hatched and the bees have left the hive and joined the 

 new colony. The hive should be opened in some close room from 

 which no bees can escape ; and, should a few stragglers remain in the 

 hive, they should be destroyed. The combs are now free frofti bees 

 and healthy brood, and ready to be treated as seems best, while there 

 is a healthy colony in the apiary where once stood the one diseased 

 with foul brood. 



When freed from bees and healthy brood, no matter what the 

 method employed, the combs may be emptied of honey with the ex- 

 tractor, and then melted into wax. Of course, an extractor thus used 

 must be most thoroughly cleansed before it is again used for extract- 

 ing combs of honey from healthy colonies. For disinfecting the ex- 

 tractor I would use a strong solution of salicylic acid, pouring it on 

 boiling hot from the spout of a tea kettle. The matter of cleaning the 

 extractor is one about which one can not be too thorough. Honey 

 from such combs ought not to be placed upon the general market, as 

 consumers are liable to throw out an empty package where neighboring 

 bees will come and clean it up. Some bee-keepers ship such honey to 

 bakers where the heat used in baking will destroy any germs that may 

 be in the honey. Thorough boiling of the honey will kill the germs 

 and make it safe for use in feeding the bees ; but before the honey is 

 boiled it must be mixed with an equal quantity of water. Some advise 

 boiling the hives, or burning them out on the inside by painting them 

 over with kerosene and setting it on fire, but I have seen so many 

 hives used without taking any such precautions that I have come to 

 doubt their necessity. Mr. McEvoy, inspector of apiaries for Ontario, 

 says that he has cured thousands of cases of foul brood without any 

 such disinfecting, and considers it wholly unnecessary. Some have ad- 

 vocated the burning of the combs with no attempts at saving the honey 

 and wax. If only a few colonies are to be treated, this might be ad- 

 visable ; but the owner of a large apiary quite generally affected with 

 foul brood can well afford to take the necessary precautions whereby 

 the honey and wax may be saved. Whoever undertakes such a job must 



