A poor before it is so fully developed as to make the bees forsake it, and he will not hesitate to give the bees suffering from it a fresh clean hive as soon as he wisely can. collier in applying for work was asked by the master of the colliery if he were acquainted with "foul air." He replied that he " was so well acquainted with it that he would not venture to have anything to do with it." Foul brood is as dangerous and destructive of health and life in a bee-hive, as "foul air" or foul damp is in a coalpit. We are not going to waste time and space in theorising as to the cause of this distemper in bee-hives, which is not understood. Long and elaborate essays on foul brood have been printed from the pens of great and distinguished apiarians of both Europe and America, during the last few years; a careful perusal of which will convince any man of ordinary intelligence that the writers themselves are not quite certain as to the correctness of their opinions. The last, and every attempt made to clear up the mystery of foul brood, indicates that the person who makes it thinks that all who have gone before him have failed to a certain extent in their attempts. Some think that this disease is infectious, and spreads like leaven in meal, or spawn in a mushroom-bed, or itch on the human skin; and some go so far as to say that honey stolen from an infected hive will carry the disease to the hive of the bees that stole it. Though we are as unable to speak with authority or certainty on this subject as others, we may be excused for saying that we are yet to be convinced that it is in its nature infectious or self-communicating, or that it is ever carried in honey from one hive to another. That it spreads in an infected hive of living bees, all will admit; but a satisfactory explanation of the law or process by which it spreads we have never Many single cells of foul brood, far asunder, in a seen. hive, often appear. These cells are covered with lids, rather flat, or slightly concave or scooped, resembling in shape the lids of honey-cells. The lids of cells containing healthy brood are slightly raised or convex. The disease spreads-the cells of foul brood multiply, apparently not by contact, but singly and separately all over the hive, like the berries of a bunch of grapes colouring one by one. A great deal has been wisely written about chilled brood perishing and becoming foul. The bees of a hive full of brood seem to dread the exposure of their combs to a cold or chilling atmosphere. In the spring months eggs are as widely set as the bees can cover them; but if very severe weather overtake the hive and compel the bees to creep together for mutual warmth, some brood may be left outside their warmth and perish. Some years ago we placed a single hive in a garden of gooseberry-bushes. A mischievous boy found it, kicked it over for a "lark," and made his escape for a few minutes. The combs of the hive were all exposed, and remained in this position some days. The boy had cast a stone into the centre of the bees and hive, which we found on placing the hive on its board. In about fourteen days after we took a swarm from this hive, and gave it a younger queen. In the autumn we found foul brood in it, but as there was but little of it we cut it out clean, and put pieces of healthy comb in the place of those cut out. The hive did well the year following. Foul brood is often found in hives that have suffered more from heat than cold; those that are long on the point of swarming, and prevented by some cause or another from swarming, oftener catch the distemper than those not so full. In fact the non-swarmers are oftener affected with this disease than swarmers or their swarms; and this is an argument in favour of the swarming system of management. By keeping young hives-that is to say, swarms of the present year-for stock, no bee-keeper will suffer much from foul-brood, if he ever suffer at all. If hives containing older combs are kept as stock, they should be carefully examined twice a-year to see that they are free from diseased brood. Three weeks after first swarms leave their hives, the combs contain no brood of the worker kind—a few drone-cells will still have healthy brood in them, as drones are twenty-four days in their cells. But by examining the hives from the 21st to the 25th day after swarming, a bee-keeper may see whether they have foul brood in them or not. By blowing the smoke of our constant friend and able coadjutor, Mr Fustian, down amongst the combs, the bees will leave them, so that we can see whether any cells have lids. If the cells are all apparently empty, the hives are clean, and eligible to be kept another year. If some cells have still lids covering them, suspect, sUSPECT, SUSPECT. At once proceed to drive the bees out of such hives and put them in empty ones. If the weather be unfavourable for putting such swarms into empty hives, they may remain till the weather changes. The second examination of stock to ascertain if they are free from diseased brood should be made in September, or just as soon as the breeding season is over, and the combs empty. If any are then found diseased, the bees should be driven out of them and united to healthy ones. There can be no prosperity in a hive containing diseased and stinking brood; and to the beemaster there will come from it loss and disappointment instead of profit. CHAPTER XXXII. THE ENEMIES OF BEES. IT has been said that swallows, sparrows, tomtits, frogs, toads, and hens, eat bees. We have never seen them, or any of them, do so, or even attempt to seize one; we are therefore very sceptical on this point. Mice often rob bees of their honey in the winter months when they are sitting quiet and in little compass. Indeed they sometimes take up their winter quarters in a bee-hive, which they find to be comfortable every way. Mice dare not enter hives in summer when the bees cover all their combs. Experienced men contract the doors of their hives about the middle of September, and so contract them that mice cannot enter. The doors of our hives are about four inches long, and one inch high. We cut pieces of wood to fit the doors, in each of which we cut a small doorway, about one inch in length, and one quarter of an inch in height. These small doorways prevent the mice from going into hives, and allow the bees ample room for all the traffic they need, and for carrying out their dead during the fine days of winter. These contracted doors are useful in keeping not only mice and rats outside the hives, but they assist greatly in keeping up the warmth of the hives in cold weather. Snails are very fond of honey, and frequently find their way into bee-hives, and there live and consume a great deal L of honey. Bees will kill a lion, but will not touch a snail -it is so cold and disagreeable to "the feel;" it is therefore allowed by the bees to go in and out without let or hindrance. The bee-master only can save his hives from the ravages of snails by killing all he can find in the neighbourhood of his bees. Hornets, wasps, and humblebees seldom do harm, or get admission. Bees of one hive often rob those of another. A hive of bees is a community of selfish creatures, which will, without reluctance or remorse, rob another community of all its stores. The greed and predatory habits of bees are very remarkable. Doubtless this greed or these habits are the outcome of their instincts of industry— instincts which make bees the greatest enemies of bees. If one swarm succeeds in its efforts to enter the citadel of another, it is sacked in a comparatively short space of time. When once a hive is invaded by a number of robbers, it can be saved only by removal. I remember a strong hive of ours being robbed by a second swarm belonging to a neighbour bee-keeper. This second swarm had stolen about 20 lb. in three days previous to our discovery of the robbery. We removed our strong hive to a distance of two miles (where it soon gathered as much as it had lost), and placed another hive on the spot where it had been robbed. Early next morning the robbers came for more plunder, when every attempt to enter the hive (placed there during the night) was resisted. The robbers, thus thwarted, instantly let the whole fraternity of their own hive know that it would be of no use to look to that quarter for more honey. Often have we seen hives assaulted again and again with spirit and determination, and every assault has been successfully and spiritedly resisted. These continuous and persistent attacks are owing to the fact that one or two of the enemy got access to the |