THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
187 
Comb foundation plays a very prominent part 
here among practical beekeepers. 
The sources of honey are various, the most 
prominent of which, as I haye before stated, 
being sweet clover, while the bees gather con- 
siderable from fruit-blossoms, alfalfa, wild flowers, 
&c. The surplus-honey flow does not generally 
commence until sweet clover bloom, which begins 
about the first of July ; and in most seasons it 
continues until the first of September, although 
the bees generally gather enough to live upon 
from the middle of April until late in October. 
In a dry season we do not have to wait for the 
honey to get sealed, as it is pretty thick when 
gathered, therefore we can extract, generally, 
when the frames are full, which, in dry seasons is 
about every ten days In moist seasons, which, 
by the way. are very rare, we have to let the 
honey get about a third capped. The honey 
taken in the above way candies in a very few 
weeks, and becomes very solid. It is then (with 
us) in a very good condition for shipping. 
Comb honey is handled much in the same way 
as in other places. The T super seems to be, all 
things considered, the best adapted to our system 
of management. 
In handling bees during the season, the minor 
points in management are as many (if not more) 
as the beekeepers, while the main points are about 
as follows : 
Along in March or April, according to the 
season, the hives get a thorough cleaning; all 
dead bees, dirt, broken combs, & c., are removed ; 
the hives are straightened up, and the litter, &c., 
is raked up and carried away from around the 
hives ; and if any bees are without stores, full 
frames from those that have plenty are given 
them. 
In May, queen rearing and dividing claim our 
attention. In June, the stocks are all built up, 
and everything is put in readiness for the honey 
flow ; the supers are put on the last week in June 
or the first of July. In about two weeks extract- 
ing commences, and keeps on until the last of 
August, when the surplus-honey flow generally 
ceases. The supers are left on until about the 
first of October, to catch any surplus that might 
be stored, then they are taken off and the bees 
are packed for winter. 
Bees are generally wintered in single-walled 
hives on summer stands, although chaff hives are 
used. Some give their bees considerable protec- 
tion, while others consider it unnecessary. 
The honey-market here is not the best in the 
world, as there are by far too many small pro- 
ducers ; but I am happy to say that their ranks 
are weakening. Fruit-growers here look on bees 
as their friends, while the bee is considered the 
emblem of Utah. We hear very little about 
adulteration of honey, as it will not pay. 
We have considerable trouble with foul brood, 
which is generally found in old tumble-down 
Kidder hives, but very seldom found in a well- 
kept apiary. In fact, I have never seen the 
disease, except in neglected apiaries. The fore- 
most beekeepers of Utah are young men, and 
you may hear of something from us in the way of 
beekeeping, in the near future ; but he that as it 
may, beekeeping in Utah has come to stay, and I 
predict that in a very few years, it will be quite a 
source of revenue to the territory. 
J. C. Swaner. 
Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 24 , 18 S 9 . 
FOUL BROOD AND ITS CURE. 
[2249.] In my last I gave an account how 
far I had proceeded with the experiment in 
connexion with the cure of ' foul brood,’ and 
also its attempted propagation in other colonies. 
I think it will be interesting, and perhaps ad- 
visable, to give to bee-keepers some little idea 
as to what formic acid is. To begin with, it is 
an acid about which very little is known by 
scientists in comparison to the bulk of other 
acids. So little is it used that if we go to a re- 
tail chemist and ask for a pound (about a pint 
and a quarter) not one in five hundred would 
have it in stock, or perhaps any, and are almost 
sure to express surprise at your wants. Natural 
formic acid is an organic acid produced by 
macerating red ants in water ; but the acid used 
| in my experiments is commercial formic acid, 
artificially produced by heating an equal 
I quantity of oxalic acid and glycerine to a 
1 temperature of from 212° F. to 220° F. fifteen 
[ hours and distilling with water. The formic 
acid slowly passes over, the glycerine being re- 
; generated. Glycerine is derived from fats ; 
oxalic acid from sawdust or sugar by the action 
of nitric or sulphuric acids. It may also be in- 
structively prepared by the oxidation of 
methylic alcohol. It is not what is termed 
volatile, that is, giving off a vapour at a 
temperature of 60° F. The specific gravity of 
the acid used in my experiments was about 
1’060; this I am not quite certain about, hut 
will obtain the precise gravity later on. Its 
formula is H C H 0„. 
At the strength given formic acid) is a very 
simple and innocuous remedy, causing no ill 
effects if spilt on hands. In taste it is simply 
acid, with a rather pungent flavor. I may say 
that I have placed some on my tongue without 
the slightest, damage to that member, so that 
beekeepers need be in no fear of injuring the 
skin of the hands if spilt on them. I mention 
this, as, in a letter to a contemporary, a well- 
known beekeeper has issued a warning, caution- 
ing bee-keepers against using, as he there terms 
it, ‘ the most dangerous remedy of the three,’ 
viz. salicylic acid, phenol, and the foregoing. 
This idea has arisen from a mistake in the 
description of the strength of aoid used. Con- 
centrated formic acid blisters the skin and 
causes sores which are very difficult to heal. 
The difference in price of concentrated and 
commercial formic acid is so considerable that 
there need be little fear of the wrong strength 
being used ; the concentrated being four times 
the price of the commercial form. 
We now come to the means X used in the ad- 
ministration and preparation of the cure. One 
of the principal items, about which I have re- 
ceived the most numerous inquiries, is my ad- 
