THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
19 
hive, something wrong may be expected, and 
a careful examination should as far as possible 
be at once made. 
To be able to examine the contents of a 
hive it is necessary to control the bees a 
little, or a battle may ensue. If bees are 
frightened they will at once fill themselves 
with honey, if they have any, after which 
they are as a rule very peaceable, and will 
allow of a good deal of handling if they are 
not crushed, squeezed, jarred or otherwise 
violently treated. To get bees to fill them- 
selves, either drumming the outside of the hive 
or smoking them will do, but for the purpose 
of examination smoke is certainly the best. 
Tobacco may be used sparingly, but as it 
intoxicates bees very quickly and sometimes 
makes them angry also, smoke from rags, or 
rotten wood is preferred. There are con- 
venient “ smokers ” with bellows which are 
generally used for smoking bees, which cost 
from 3s. 6d. to 6s. each, and with these 
nothing is easier than to “ smoke ” a hive as 
much or as little as is required. To those who 
do not possess a smoker the following is 
advised : — Roll up some old cotton rags or a 
piece of old sacking (or any old cotton or hemp 
stuff that is quite dry,) not too tightly into a 
sausage-shaped roll, by well lighting one end 
and letting it flame a little, a portion becomes 
charred which will smoulder a long time if 
the flame is put out. When smoking a hive 
blow a stream of smoke from the smouldering 
roll into the entrance until a loud hum from 
the inside is heard. Wait a few seconds and 
then tilt up the hive and blow a good cloud 
all over the bees and combs. This so alarms 
the bees that they gorge themselves with 
honey, and the hive can now be turned up 
without the bees flying, except here and there 
a straggler, and the combs examined as far as 
is possible in a box hive. Combs can be cut out 
for honey or for examination, or the bees can 
be drummed into another hive, or if the combs 
are not too heavy with brood and honey the 
bees can be shaken out by a few downward 
jerks into another box, or better, on to a sheet 
on which another box is placed with its front 
propped up to enable the frightened bees to 
enter. 
We will suppose the beekeeper has noticed 
one or more of his stocks getting weaker and 
weaker and the bees about showing but little 
activity, and he is desirous of examining as to 
the cause. He will first smoke his bees as 
directed, and then turn up the hive, keeping 
his smouldering roll of rags ready for a few 
more puffs of smoke if the bees get too bold, 
when they will soon give in and be quiet. He 
first looks at the character of the combs to see 
J tney look cie> n and dry, and takes particular 
notice if there is any faint sickly smell issuing 
from the combs, and whether there is or not 
he should cut out a piece of comb from near 
the heart of the hive that has sealed brood 
in it. Now he should carefully examine this 
brood comb. 
First, to see if there are eggs in any of the 
cells. (The eggs are very small white dots 
and require a good light to see them at the 
bottom of the cells.) Also to ascertain if there 
are grubs of all ages from the egg up to the 
grub sealed over. 
Second, to see if all the covers of the sealed 
brood appear rounded so as to stand a little 
above the general level of the comb, and 
especially to see if any of these covers appear 
sunken instead of being raised — if any such 
sunken covers are seen, open it with a pointed 
piece of wood and see if it is simply a dead 
bee or if the cell contains a brown coloured 
sticky fluid which has a nasty smell of decayed 
animal matter, if it does, there can be little 
doubt the hive is affected by that worst of bee 
diseases “ foul brood" in which case the sickly 
odour of the hive would most probably already 
have attracted the attention of the beekeeper. 
This disease, if not stopped at once, will soon 
extend to every stock and all the bees die off 
or leave, and is the cause of the destruction of 
many an apiary in Australia as well as in 
other countries. What had best be done in 
such a case will be presently stated. 
Third, he should look if there are any signs 
of moth grubs burrowing through the combs, 
if there are they can generally be seen by the 
silky webs which cover their tracks through 
from one cell to another. 
Fourth, he should look generally as to the 
condition of the bees and comb. 
If he has noticed numerous bees on the 
ground in front of the hive, many dead and 
others dying, lying on their backs, trembling 
violently, their bodies swollen larger than 
usual, and perhaps spots of excrement about 
the entrance, he may be certain his bees are 
affected with a disease which is now getting 
common in apiaries, and concerning the cause 
of which or the best mode of treatment very 
little is as yet known. It is called by some 
American beekeepers the unnamed disease. 
Now, let us consider what is to be learned 
from the results of the examination of some 
hives. 
We will suppose the first one had been 
observed to get less active for some weeks past 
after a second swarm ; very few bees are seen 
to be carrying pollen, and although the hive 
iB heavy from honey, the bees appear to be 
getting less and less. On examining the 
combs they were found to be very thinly 
covered with bees ; the hive had the natural 
smell, and no foul odour perceptible. A piece 
of the central comb cut out was found to be full 
