TEEATMENT OF BEE DISEASES. 17 



Bisposal of the honey. — If there is n considerable quantity of honey 

 m the contaminated combs it may be extracted. This honey is not 

 safe to feed to bees without boiling, but it is absolutely safe for human 

 consumption. If there is a comparatively small quantity it may be 

 consumed in the beekeeper's family, care being taken that none of it 

 is placed so that the bees can ever get it. 



To put such honey on the market is contrary to law in some States. 

 There is always danger that an emptied receptacle will be thrown 

 out w^here bees can have access to it, thus causing a new outbreak of 

 disease. It can be safely used for feeding to bees, provided it is 

 diluted w^ith at least an equal volume of water to prevent burning, 

 and boiled in a closed vessel for not less than one-half hour, count- 

 ing from the time that the diluted honey first boils vigorously. The 

 honey will not be sterilized if it is heated in a vessel set inside of 

 another containing boiling w^ater. Boiled honey can not be sold as 

 honey. It is good only as a food for bees, and even then should 

 never be used for winter stores, as it will probably cause dysentery. 



The second shake. — Some beekeepers prefer to shake the bees first 

 onto frames containing strips of foundation as above described, and 

 in four days to shake the colony a second time onto full sheets of 

 foundation, destroying all comb built after the first treatment. 

 This insures better combs than the use of strips of foundation, but is 

 a severe drain on the strength of the colony. Since it is desirable to 

 have combs built on full sheets, the best policy is to replace any ir- 

 regular combs with full sheets of foundation or good combs later in 

 the season. 



The cost of shaking. — If the treatment just described is given at the 

 beginning of a good honey flow, it is practically equivalent to arti- 

 ficial swarming and results in an actual increase in the surplus honey, 

 especially in the case of comb-honey production. The wax rendered 

 from the combs will sell for enough to pay for the foundation used 

 if full sheets of foundation are employed. Since a colony so treated 

 actually appears to work with greater vigor than a colony not so 

 manipulated, the cost of treatment is small. If treatment must be 

 given at some other time, so that the colony must be fed, the cost is 

 materially increased. In feeding, it is best to use sugar sirup, or 

 honey that is known to have come from healthy colonies. 



Treatment with Bee Escape. 



As a substitute for the shaking treatment just described, the bees 

 may be removed from their old combs by means of a bee escape. The 

 old hive is moved to one side and in its place is set a clean hive with 

 clean frames and foundation. The queen is at once transferred to 

 the new hive and the field bees fly there on their return from the 



442 



