NOTES ON BEES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5505, 4 March 1896, Page 1

NOTES ON BEES.

[BY EXPERT IN "CANTERBOBY TIMES"] ' One of the gravest difficulties we have to contend against in caring a colony or a number of colonies of bees in a district in which iacillu3 alvei, or foul brood, is prevalent is the indifference of so many beekeepers on the subject, the utter disregard of the consegupnceß of neglect either to their own bees or to the bees of their neighbours. The result is that those beekeepers -who do make an.attempt at cure presently become disheartened because ■ they find their bees, after being cleaned,; arereinfected.by. their carfeless neighbours. The most fruitful method of spreading [bacillus alvei all over a district is the common practice of -fchrowing. out for , the bees' |w; o|ean up the . cpmba from Tvfaic'h; the'honey has. :been pressed : or "strained^ ;J&ih^|e;:^tob'^ ' then>viery hive to^hich^ port^oi ; 5f 'the. honey - left"; in : .them is carried ;will also : receive the germs of the disease. Jn the past much of this has been done in ignorance of any harm resulting; it seemed economy that the combs wet with honey should be cleaned up by the bees 'and the honey thus saved, but since our agricultural papers have taken the subject of bee culture up and disseminated a wider knowledge of the best methods of keeping bees, few can plead ignorano , it i? ;v j criminal act of the gravest char;>ctir fo.- a j bee-keeper to wilfully expose coniV,s Ui-xa. Ed j with foul brood, after he ' .fknoWf? vyit | such exposure is a menace to- all. the ! c j- ] keepers in the neighbourhood. : Foul brood is of so subtle a chswwier that if there is but one cell^affent-.-cl .a a hive it will spread until the who'c- ' ii.p j combs are filled with the putrid 1- :■ >f ] i the dead grubs; TKisy-however,': «s •.•!■■ I. time; a healthy colony whiijh y: i"r i-]zc i i. first time affected will take " uaar.iy ! ! ; years before it will die out frou> .'the ! I disease, which makes much gi---:a,tev]:iro- I gress during the winter thau It. -';])o j summer. The reason of this is tliaii Lho j ! brood nest is very much contract ou 'luiirjg I the winter, occupying less than oiiy-fo;ir^h ! !of the space it occupied in the svvn> i cv. A- \ j they consume the honey iiu.'n^dv\ ( .eiy \ surrounding the brood they briug- in j more from the outside combs (which are emptied first). To receive this they will un-cap and partially clean out the cells in which there are dead grubs, and fill them with honey which, when fed to the young larvae, is consequently loaded with the germs of the disease. I have seen colonies crowded in the autumn, gradually dwindle away in the' spring because their brood nest of six or eight inches in is t filled solid with dead : brood. The Queen eager to recoup the failing strength of the colony, will "deposit- six or eight 'eggs in each. (seE surrounding the. dead brood, all to, no: purpose; the bees persevere in.their hopeless task of endeavouring to hatch out the dead capped brood, until, they axe too weak to resist and defend their hive against robber bees, and what honey is left in the hive is scattered all over the district, carrying the taint of infection with it. Can we .beekeepers successfully fight a disease so insidious, and if we can, will it pay ? Por years I was in doubt whether* these questions could be answered emphatically in the affirmative, and consequently did not increase the apiary above from fifty to sixty colonies. Sometimes I would be elatedtofindl was practically clear of the disease, and then.it would be depressing and disheartening to discover evidences of the disease in many of the hives — always in proportion to the number of colonies that had died out during the 1 winter around me. Now, however, I have no hesitation in saying " yes " to both questions. \ Clean combs, young queens, and during the autumn and spring, food in which there is a proportion of phenol*, and your bees will be both a source of pleasure and profit. Now if you have five, ten, or twenty colonies of bees all more or less affected, do not rush at them all and, feeding a pound or two of medicated syrup to each, expect to find them clean next spring; and if you do not, do not then condemn the whole business, as so many have already done ; but rather select one or two of the worst cases, treat them thoroughly, gaining knowledge by experience as you go on. j[ have not the 'slightest doubt as to the result. In bad cases remove the two outside combs, extract them, add quarter pint of water to each pound of honey, and to 301 bof honey add loz of phenol chrystals previously dissolved in hot water ; fill the combs extracted with this' by laying the combs on their sides and letting the honey or syrup fall a foot or so, or force it in with a garden syringe, hang them up until they cease to drip, then in the late afternoon take out the two centre combs of the brood nest and put the filled combs in their place; if the centre combs are bad extract the honey and then burn them. Let the hive alone for a week, then proceed as before. Take out the two outside combs, extract and refil them with the medicated food and put them back in the hive, one on each side of the two first put in. The following week take Wo more combs and po on until all the combs have been extracted and refilled with the prepared food. "Winter them on as many combs only, "as they cover and if -in the spring they require feeding use similar medicated food, and whether the result is a success or failure, send an account of it to the Editor of this "paper, that" all may know what to do, or what to avoid doing. It is a question all beekeepers are interested in, and whether we will or not, a whole .district is affected by the doings of each beekeeper, and what is an advantage or disadvantage to one is so to all.