Page:How to Keep Bees.djvu/218

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176
HOW TO KEEP BEES

comb. It does not measure more than one-eighth of an inch across its wings, and its caterpillar is almost too small to be noticed, unless it occurs in great numbers. It sometimes attacks the honey-comb in the North, and in the South it is often a great nuisance. The only remedy for this very small pest is to change the bees to smaller hives, and expose the infested comb to the fumes of carbon bisulphide.

BEE-MOTH MAXIMS

The shiftless bee-keeper is the one who complains of the wax-worm.

Keep Italian bees.

Keep the colonies strong.

Do not leave more comb in the hive than the bees are able to cover.

Use well-made hives with no crevices.

If you see a web upon the comb, hunt out the caterpillar and kill it at once.

If bee-moths get into the honey store-room, close the room and fumigate it with brimstone or carbon bisulphide.

FOUL BROOD

This is an infectious bacterial disease, and its presence in the apiary may be attended by serious results. When it first appeared in America, large apiaries were completely destroyed. In 1874, Professor Cohn discovered the organism which causes the disease, and which bears the name of Bacillus alvei. This microbe attacks the immature larvæ