EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS 121 



The following salient points in this experiment are to be noted: 



1. The average of all the foundations tested, exclusive of the drawn 

 foundation, appear by the measurements to have bases about eleven per 

 cent thinner than those of the natural comb tested, which had every 

 appearance of being an average specimen. 



2. In point of thinness the Bingham foundation decidedly surpassed 

 all others. 



3. Making due allowance for the Root "thin," as suggested, the base 

 of the drawn foundation was much the heaviest of any, exceeding that 

 of the natural comb thirty-seven per cent; indeed, the difference was 

 clearly perceptible to the naked eye on comparing the cut edges of the 

 several septums. 



DOES ALL OF THE HONEY IN A FOUL-BROOD COLONY CONTAIN GERMS? 



Two cases of foul brood were discovered during the season of 1896. 

 These were treated as heretofore by putting the bees into clean hives 

 furnished with foundation and the diseased hives with their combs dis- 

 infected with heat. The treatment was completely successful, as has 

 uniformly been the case heretofore. The two all-important consider- 

 ations in the operation are that the management be so careful and 

 guarded that no bees from the diseased colony be driven to other colonies 

 and that no bees from healthy colonies be permitted to visit the combs 

 of the diseased colony. 



The reason upon which this caution is founded is that the germs of 

 the disease are liable to be carried from the diseased colony to healthy 

 ones in its honey — at least it is the supposition that there is such liability. 

 We know certainly that robber bees when engaged in robbing a diseased 

 colony carry the infection to their own hive. We are certain also that 

 honey extracted from combs which have contained the diseased larvae 

 convey the disease to colonies that use it. But to have this effect it is 

 not necessary to suppose that every cell of honey contains germs, and 

 when we consider how small a proportion of the larviB are freshly infected 

 with the disease at any one time, and that the progress of the disease in 

 a colony is generally quite slow, it is rational to suppose that but a small 

 proportion of the cells of honey contains the germs. There would per- 

 haps be an exception to this if a strong colony became badly affected 

 with the disease towards fall, say in August, when its hive was well filled 

 with brood and when a good flow of honey occurred in September, for in 

 that case, in the ordinary course of things, as the dead matter of the 

 larvae dried down, the cells containing it would be filled with honey. It 

 would seem inevitable then that a large proportion of the cells of honey 

 should contain floating germs so soon as sufficient time were given to 

 allow the honey to soften the dried matter. After this the cells contain- 

 ing affected honey may be largely increased in numbers by the removal 

 of the honey from cell to cell as in the spring when brood rearing is re- 

 sumed. 



Cheshire in his celebrated work laid it down as a scientific fact that 

 the germs of foul brood were not to be found in the honey. This conclu- 

 sion was not accepted in this country because it was found that practi- 

 cally at least it was not true. I doubt if Cheshire himself would deny 

 that the germs could be mingled with honey by the hand of man, and if 

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