CURING FOUL BROOD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1651, 21 October 1903, Page 65 (Supplement)

CURING FOUL BROOD.

In the honey season,, when the bee® are gathering freely, remove the in the evening, and shake the bees inti© their own 1 lives; give them frames witii comb foundation starters on, and leb them build coaxih for four days. Thli bees will make the starters into comb during the four days, and store th,® diseased honey in them, which they toms with them from the old comb. Then ia the evening of the fourth day take out the new combs, and give them comb foundation to work our, and then the euro will be complete. By this method of treatment all the diseased honey is removed from the bees before the sheets of foundation is worked out. AJI the old foul brood combs must b@ burned, or made into wax, after they ar© removed from the hives, and all the new combs made out of the starters during the four days must be burned, or luad© into wax. on account of the diseased honey that would be stored in them. All the curing or treating of diseased colonies should be done in the evening, so as not to have any robbing done, ofi cause any of the bees from the diseased colonies to mix and go in with the beds of sound colonies. By doing all the work in tho evening it gives the bees a chance to settle down nicely before morning, and then there is no confusion or trouble. This same method o-f curing colonies o-f foul brood can be carried on at time when the bees are not gathering any honey, by feeding plenty of sugair syrup in the evenings to take the place of a honey flow. It will set. the bees robbing and spread the disease to work with foul-broody colonies in warm days when bees are not gathering honey, and for that- reason ail work must be done in the evenings when no bees are flying. Where the diseased colonies are weak in bees, put the bees of two, three, or four together, so as to get a good-Nfced swarm to start the cure with, as it does not pay to spend time fussing with little weak colonies. When the bees are not gathering honey, any apiary can be cured of foul brood by removing the diseased combs in the evenings and giving the beea frames with comb foundation starters on. Then, also in the evenings, feed the bees plenty of sugar syrup, and they will draw out the foundation and stare the diseased honey which the#; took with them from the old combs; i|i the fourth evening remove the new combs made out of the starters, and give tie bees full sheets of comb foundation and feed plenty of sugar syrup each evening until every colony is in firstclass order every way. Make the syrup out of granulated sugar and put one pound of water to every two pounds of sugar, and then bring it to a boil. As previously stated, all the old comb must be burned or made into wax when removed from th> hives, and so must aty the new combs made during the four days. The empty hives that had foul brood in do not need any disinfecting in any, wry. I have handled many hundreds of colonies in the Province of Ontario, and cured them of foul brood without getting a single hive scalded or disinfected in any way, and these colonies are cured right in the same Ojld hives. In my judgment-, .resulting from experience, it is the greatest of folly to waste any time over the empty hives, as there is no more reason for scalding empty hives that foul brood had been in than, there would be to scald the feet of ajl the bees that travelled over the diseased combs. No colony can be cured of foul brood by me use of any drugs. All the old combs must be removed from every diseased colony, and the honey got away from the bees before brood rearing is commenced in the new clean combs. Foul brood apiaries are cured wholesale every year in the Province of Ontario by my methods of treatment, which .I have given here. Advocate.