APIARY NOTES

Shannon News, 4 October 1927, Page 4

APIARY NOTES

(By D. S. Robinson, Instructor of • Agriculture Palmerston North.) AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. i ' Disease. The beekeeper should inspect each if comb separately to ascertain if the | disease of American Foul Brood is \ present. sf This is a disease which affects the • brood while in the larval stage, caus- _ ‘ ing it to rot jyid decay. The disease germs are highly infectious to bees in f the larval form only, and are ?ibsolutely non-injurious to human be- ‘ ings. In a comb of healthy brood every >:• comb is capped over in a uniform “ manner and colour; but when the disease exists in a mild form, here and there will be an odd cell with a r sunken capping, on opening of which, l and inserting a splinter of wood, a 9. jelly-like substance will adhere to the Z' : splinter, which will pull out in a £i' stringy manner for an inch or so. This is one of the sure signs of American Foul Brood, and as soon as it is discovered, the hive that is af- * fected should be marked for treatment. The entrance should be closed -, down allowing an inch opening, so as to prevent bees from other colonies robbing the infected hive and thus spreading the disease. If on the other hand the hive is badly diseased it ■f should, be destroyed by fire, digging ’ the ground over where the hive stood and burying the ashes, also carefully j, covering up any honey that may have run out on to the ground while the hive was burning. For the treatment of the diseases the following extract from the Bulletin issued by the Department of Agriculture, is recommended for close study by the beekeeper:— Basis of Treatment. Bees may be successfully treated :r, during any period of the honey flow, \ but the most desirable time is shortly if. , after the beginning of the main flow. At this, time there is little danger of J \ robbing. In the colder months, if diseased colonies are detected, the •. . ■ - bees should be put on clean drawn- ■>: out combs, fed on warm syrup or frames of honey from a clean hive, •’ and left till spring. Although this operation may not affect a cure, it 9; acts as a temporary check to the disi~ ease, and removes the possibility of . an outbreak of the trouble being ■■ - transmitted to other colonies should i robbing take place. When this in- - struction is followed the colony requires to be marked for examination when the first spring work is under- ' taken. Experience has proved the efficacy of the McEvoy treatment all the > world over, and it is strongly recommended by this Department. When treating a colony it is necessary that there be sufficient bees to form an , average-sized swarm.' Where the disease is so far advanced as to have i , left few bees in the hive, then it would be the safest to destroy the bees and bee-combs by fire. Tinkering with ■" such a colony would be both useless and dangerous. Preferably the treatment should be l done in the evening, but this is not ’I always possible. When hives are in close proximity to those about to be ! L treated it is safer to close their entrances. This will prevent th*e bees V from the diseased hive gaining ad- ,; v mission and also stop robbing. Pre- . pare a set of frames with a a-inch strip of foundation wax (called a ; starter) in each. Next place these frames in an empty box ready to re- : ' ceive the bees. . Shift the diseased

hive to one side, and place the'pre- ; pared hive containing the starters on , the old stand previously occupied by - tlie diseased colony. The combs with f," adhering bees are then removed, one ; by one, every bee being brushed off «' into the prepared hive. The diseasedcombs are put into a spare hivei-_ body, and covered up as quickly as } 'possible; then remove every portion 'f of 'the infected hive, incliiding the %' diseased combs out- of reach of the bees. In four days time the frames ' ' containing the starters are removed from the prepared hive and full - sheets of foundation put in their place. The bees must be brushed off quickly and quietly without using . . much smoke, so that they will get ' very little of the Infected honey. that v has been stored in the combs built

J - from the starters. The foregoing *. treatment, if carried out carefully and f according to instructions, will effect a ~ complete cure. This is accomplished - by the bees utilising the diseased hon- ‘. ey in their honey-sacs for the purpose | ’ of comb-building; thus when shifted at the end of four days they start clean. The colonies should then re--8% main healthy: unless further infection be gathered from an outside source.

Saving healthy brood.—When there Kis a large amount of healthy brood

which is only slightly infected the hoss£,pital treatment may be followed with Place a queen-excluder |>jover a strong, slightly infected colony, g-above which supers containing infected 'Vbrood are placed. The excluder pre-i-T vents the queen from making use of igrthe affected combs while the brood is

which the supers can be removed and the combs stored in a place of safety until ready to melt up or destroy. Now proceed to treat the colony as previously explained. In cold weather do not tier up too high, as there will not be sufficient bees to take care of the brood, and some of it may be chilled. If the disease reappears it should be treated again. It must be remembered that hospital colonies are extremely dangerous, and are likely to be a continual source of infection. They should be placed at some distance from the main apiary, and the greatest care exercised while they are in use. The hive-bodies must be bee-tight except for the entrance, and they should be treated before the main honey-flow ceases. Infected material. —The combs, if not too badly infected, may be melted into wax, or, if sufficient in quantity for that purpose, they and their frames had better be burned and the ashes buried. Where the beekeeper decides to convert his combs into wax, the utmost care should be taken to destroy by fire all refuse. The ashes and water should be put into a deep hole and buried.

The hives and appliances may be treated by boiling in a strong solution of caustic soda and water, or, if preferred, the inside of the hives may be scorched with a painter's blow-lamp. As already mentioned, the beekeeper himself is often the cause of spreading disease by carelessly manipulating foul-broody colonies and then healthy ones'. Prevention is better than cure. It is therefore recommended that he should disinfect his hands and appliances with any of the wellknown germicides.

NOTES AND CAUTIONS. On no account should honey be fed to bees; sugar syrup is cheaper and better. Honey from diseased hives may be used for table purposes. % Take the precaution to dig around about the hive so as to bury any honey which may have been spilt. No treatment will be successful when the bees are allowed to get at any of the combs or honey from an infected hive.

“Eternal vigilance’’ should be the watchword of every beekeeper who hopes to control diseases. Combs should not be exchanged from one hive to another until the apiary is free from disease. Occasionally colonies swarm out after treatment, but this is not likely to occur when honey is being gathered freely. It can be guarded against by placing queen excluding zinc across a Wide entrance until there is brood in the combs. All swarms from an infected apiary should.be treated as if they were diseased. Keep robbing in check as much as possible. Should the weather be unfavourable for honey gathering, it is advisable after treatment to feed a little sugar syrup.

Do not wait until the winter to melt up the wax and clean the combs. Do it at once.

Diseased combs should be immediately removed, so as to avoid rein-. ■ e — : [