TREATMENT FOR BEE DISEASHS. 65 
There are several points in this treatment and its successful appli- 
cation by Mr. Alexander which may well claim our attention. In 
the first place, the scales formed by the dried larve of European 
foul brood are less adhesive than are those formed when American 
foul brood is present. It is therefore easier for the bees to clean 
out the cells, and in most cases, at any rate, a strong colony would do 
this. This is one point, then, in favor of the Alexander treatment 
of European foul brood. 
Mr. Alexander’s apiary is located in a portion of New York State 
(Delanson, Schenectady County) where European foul brood has 
been prevalent for several years. It is a matter of common observa- 
tion that this disease becomes less virulent in any given locality 
within a few years, and it is very probable that this plan might be 
successful in Mr Alexander’s apiary and not in localities where the 
disease is just appearing. At any rate, it is unwise to advocate its 
use In new regions when there is an established remedy 
method. 
The hives used by Mr. Alexander seem to me to have a decided 
bearing on this subject. They are several inches shorter than the 
Langstroth hive, and,“as a result, in the spring, when European foul 
brood usually appears, there is not a large supply of honey on hand. 
This, taken into consideration with the fact that very little honey 
comes in before August 1 in that locality, is very significant. The 
hive is not full of infected honey, and consequently when the bees 
clean out the combs they get all the infected material present. That 
this method would be successful in a moderate-sized hive—e. g., a 
10-frame Langstroth—may well be doubted, for in the twenty- 
seven days during which the colony is left queenless many cells 
containing contaminated honey would be left untouched. Either 
we must advocate very small hives or advise against the Alexander 
method as a cure. 
The New York inspectors say that the publication of the Alexander 
plan has been a great detriment to bee keepers. 
Mr. France. I visited a yard last year where there were 22 infected 
colonies. The owner wished to save some new drawn-out combs that 
were on hives free from the disease. As an experiment we used foun- 
dation with half of the colonies and in the others we put the new 
combs. Eleven had to be treated again, while the others, right in 
the same yard, did not. You can kill the germs in the honey, but 
you have to boil it until it is as black as molasses to do it. 
Mr. Louis Scuortni (Texas). I do not know that I can say much 
about treatment in Texas. We do not rely on the shaking treatment 
at all. Whenever we have had foul brood we have tried something 
as radical as could be practiced—that is, the burning of the dis- 
eased colonies. There is one trouble that we have here in shaking 
80547—No. 70—07 m——) 
the shaking 
