THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
169 
acid or carbolic acid, and try to save the 
young brood ? 
I am afraid if I shift the weak hive to new 
hive and frames, they will j ust die out. I 
should be thankful for a little good advice in 
season. 
Yours truly, 
CHARLES AL WILSON. 
Teaadale, Aug. 20, 1889. 
[Our advice in such a case is to deal with the 
disease promptly and vigorously ; if the stocks 
are badly affected, destroy them at once, by fire, 
if, however, there is plenty of healthy brood with 
diseased cells spread amongst it, adopt the 
course we have already advised in these pages, 
as follows : — Put a clean hive with from four to 
six frames (with starters only of foundation, and 
food in a feeder), in it. Remove the diseased 
hive away some little distance, and put the new, 
clean hive in its place. It will be best to take the 
diseased hive 20 or 30 yards away, behind bushes, 
a house, or shed, so as not to be near, or exposed, 
to the bees in the healthy hives. Now shake all 
the bees from the frames one by one into any 
light box, such as a gin case or old box hive, and 
cover up each frame immediately the bees are 
off, (to prevent other bees from getting at them). 
When all the bees are off the frames take the 
box in which they have been shaken to the new 
hive, and prop it up in such a way that the 
bees can easily crawl from the box to the 
alighting board of the new hive, which they 
will soon do, queen and all. We generally catch 
and cage the queen before shaking the bees off 
the combs, and release her on the alighting 
board of the clean hive as the bees run in. It 
will be necessary to feed freely for a few days, 
even if honey be coming in, and for food we 
certainly advise white sugar syrup, (made as 
already directed), unless honey from absolutely 
healthy colonies can be obtained. 
The removal from the infected combs and 
hive, new food, and a large demand for wax 
secretion, for comb building, appears to effect 
the cure, at least so we have found in every 
instance we have carefully carried out the plan 
here recommended. 
The precaution most necessary is to prevent 
any healthy bees getting at the combs during 
the operation or after. We find that putting 
the combs into a tub of boiling water as soon as 
they are free from bees is the best plan, as it 
destroys all germs at once, and the wax can be 
recovered and properly extracted afterwards. 
In case of badly diseased combs, burn them in 
a good big fire at once, and try and save 
nothing. — E d.] 
To the Editors of the Australian Bee-keepers' 
Journal, 
As you are asking for letters from bee-keepers 
I thought I would give you my experience. 
First, let me say I am a novice in bee-keeping, 
two years ago I did not know there was such a 
thing as a bar-frame hive. To begin then, my 
bees are all black, or wild bees taken from the 
bush. October, 1887 : had one swarm during 
that summer, made up to 23 colonies, procured 
a bar-frame hive, from Mr. Lloyd, of Albert 
Park, for a guide, as the carriage is too high for 
me to deal with the city. October, 1888 : 23 
colonies, all strong swarms, most of them in 
frame hives ; during that season made the 
number up to 73 colonies. Took £80 worth 
of honey and wax from them. As I did not get 
an extractor until very late in the season you 
will understand the disadvantage we were 
working under. Went into winter with 62 
colonies. September, 1889 : 62 colonies in frame 
hives, most of them are fairly strong. At 
present they are bringing in honey, and getting 
more brood in the combs daily. In fact things 
are looking very promising for a busy time in a 
few weeks. 
As regards bee forage, I think that the district 
is fairly good. We have gums, several kinds of 
box trees, stringy bark, several varieties of 
mallee, wattles two kinds, and a large number 
of desert flowers — in bloom most of the winter. — 
With regard to each kind I will say more at a 
future time. I have sold my honey, locally, as 
fast as I could supply it. The wax I send to 
Melbourne, and get foundation in exchange. I 
have rigged up a circular saw bench, and make 
my own hives. 
In conclusion I must tell you that we look 
forward for the journal with pleasure, and I 
wish it every success. 
JOHN THACKER. 
Pine View Apiary, 
South Lillimur. 
(Sitrarts. 
MODERN BEEKEEPING. 
A HANDBOOK FOR COTTAGERS. 
(Continued from Page 156.) 
VIII, — Artificial Swarmino. 
To avoid the trouble of watching for swarmi, 
and the risk of eventually losing them, methods 
of swarming artificially are used now by all 
advanced beekeepers. We will explain a few of 
the more simple of these. Artificial swarming 
cannot, of course, be performed so readily or 
neatly with skeps as with frame hives. If we 
have but a single skep to swarm, it should not 
be done unless the stock is very strong, and 
apparently near the condition in which it would 
be likely to swarm naturally. Nor must we 
make the swarm at all if honey is not abundant, 
unless we are prepared to carefully feed it, until 
it is independent of our help. Two empty 
ekepe will be required — one to occupy the old 
stand and receive the hees returning from the 
fields, while we are at work with their proper 
home ; the other to receive the driven swarm to 
be made, as explained in the last chapter. 
