BEES 
of newspapers may come next outside the 
cloth covering of the framework. Wheat 
chaff answers well to complete the pack- 
ing Wool is to be preferred, but is of 
course too expensive unless a waste 
product Ground cork, waste flax, hemp, 
sawdust, ete, in fact, any fine porous ma- 
terial, if thoroughly dry, may be used. 
A board passageway three or four 
inches wide and three-eighths of an inch 
high should connect this inner apartment 
and the flight hole of the outer case, thus 
affording an exit for the bees whenever 
the weather may permit them to fly. 
When these preparations have been com- 
pleted, the hive is ready for the combs, 
which, with adhering bees, are taken 
trom the summer hive and inserted in 
the winter hive. A quilt 1s then laid on 
the frames and the top packing put on. 
This, for convenience, may be held in a 
cloth-bottomed tray. It is quite impor- 
tant as already mentioned, that air be 
allowed to circulate freely above the 
packing. The outside case must be quite 
rainproof or else wholly protected from 
the rain by a roof. 
All other necessary conditions having 
been complied with shortly after the 
gathering season closed, the combs may 
be lifted from the summer hives and 
placed in these specially arranged winter 
cases before cold weather wholly stops 
the bees from flying out. Thus prepared 
for the winter the colonies will need but 
slight attention from October until 
March, or, in the North, even later, and 
the losses will be limited to the small per- 
centage of cases due to failure of appar- 
ently good queens. 
The Risk of Loss Through Disease and 
Enemies 
Winter losses through disease superin- 
duced by unfavorable surroundings which 
it is within the power of the bee keeper 
to avoid have already been considered. 
But one other very serious disease has 
been widespread. 
Foul Brood or Bacillus of the Hive 
This is a highly contagious affection 
which, as it mainly affects the developing 
brood in the cells, is commonly known as 
“foul brood.” It is due to a microbe 
597 
(Bacillus alver) whose spores are easily 
transported from hive to hive by the bees 
themselves, by the operator, in honey, or 
in combs changed from one hive to an- 
other. Once established in an apiary, it 
usually spreads, unless speedily and ener- 
getically checked, until all of the colonies 
in the neighborhood are ruined and even 
exterminated. The most apparent symp- 
toms are the turning black of larvae in 
open cells, many sealed cells with sunken 
caps, frequently broken in and containing 
dead larvae or pupae in a putrid condi- 
tion, brown or coffee-colored, jelly-like or 
ropy in consistency, and giving off an 
offensive odor. The disease, though known 
to exist in nearly all countries, can hardly 
be said to be common. The writer, in an 
experience of over 30 years in bee keeping 
in several states of the Union, as well as 
in a number of foreign countries, has 
met the disease but rarely, and has had 
but one experience with it in his own 
apiary, it having been in this instance 
brought in by a neighbor who purchased 
bees at a distance. It was easily cured, 
without great loss. Thus the beginner’s 
risks of disaster in this direction are, if 
he be forewarned, comparatively small. 
He may, furthermore, gain assurance 
from the fact that, should the disease in- 
vade his apiary, prompt and intelligent 
action will prevent serious loss. 
The following is the treatment for a 
colony which still has sufficient strength 
of numbers to be worth saving: The bees 
are to be shaken from their combs just 
at nightfall into an empty box, which is 
to be removed at once to a cool, dark 
place. They are to be confined to the 
box, but it must be well ventilated 
through openings covered with wire cloth. 
During the first 48 hours no food should 
be given to them, and during the second 
48 hours only a small amount of medicat- 
ed syrup—a half pint daily for a small 
colony to a pint for a strong one. This 
food is prepared by adding one part of 
pure carbolic acid or phenol to 600 or 700 
parts of sugar syrup or honey. At the 
end of the fourth day the bees are to be 
shaken into a clean hive supplied with 
starters of comb foundation. This hive is 
to be placed outside on a stand some dis- 
