BEE PASTURAGE AND PRODUCTS. 57 



brood combs may contain old sour bee-bread, which the bees are 

 unable to remove, and this is a frequent cause of failure. There 

 may be a great excess of drone-comb. If combs are defective 

 in any of these points, trim off so much as is defective and no 

 more. In the Eastern States, where the disease called " foul 

 brood " is known, the bees of the diseased stock must be driven 

 from their combs into an empty box, letting them remain with- 

 out combs thirty-six hours, till free from the honey taken with 

 them, when they may be put into a new hive and fed in the 

 chamber if necessary. Carefully keep the honey from the bees, 

 else other stocks will contract the disease. If heated to the 

 boiling point, it is said, the honey will be harmless and may be 

 used for feeding. The disease has never been known west of the 

 State of New York, bee-keepers having been careful about ob- 

 taining bees from infected districts. 



MELTING COMBS INTO WAX. 



All waste combs should be rendered into wax, by crowding 

 them into a sack made of coarse open cloth and placing it in a 

 kettle of boiling water. Continue to press it with a hoe, remov- 

 ing the wax as it rises to the top. "Wax may be bleached per- 

 fectly white by forming it into thin flakes, by pouring it upon 

 the surface of tepid water and afterwards spreading it upon can- 

 vas, out of doors. 



If many hives are kept, it pays well to have a wax extractor. It is 

 very convenient to hold and drain the caps in extracting, (See "Wax 

 Extractors" page 53). 



