ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 19 



extractor and comb-foundation machine, he first boiled the hives in a large sorghum 

 pan, then in a kettle all combs were melted after the honey was extracted; the honey 

 was boiled and also the extractor and implements used. The bees were returned to 

 their hives on comb-foundation he made from the wax made from the melted combs, 

 then fed the boiled honey. Several years have passed, and there has been no sign of 

 disease in his apiary since. 



2. Foul brood germs are not always killed when exposed to a temperature of 212 

 deg. F. (boiling point) for 45 minutes. But in every case where the combs are boiled 

 in boiling water, and same were well stirred while boiling, no germs were alive. 



3. Foul brood in brood-combs is not destroyed when exposed to the temperature 

 of Wisconsin winters of 20 deg. below zero, and in one case I dev^eloped foul brood from 

 combs that had been exposed to 28 deg. below zero. 



4. Honey, if sotred in diseased combs, acts as a preserving medium, and in such 

 cases the germs of disease will remain so long as the comb is undisturbed. Four years 

 at least. 



5. Honej"^ or beeswax, or the refuse from a solar or sunheat extractor, is not heated 

 enough to kill foul brood germs. Several cases of contagion where robber bees worked 

 on solar extractor refuse or honey. 



6. Comb-foundation made by supply manufacturers is free from live germs of 

 disease and perfectly safe to use. To prove this experiment beyond a doubt, I took a 

 quantity of badly diseased brood-combs from several apiaries and render each batch 

 of combs into wax myself on the farm where found. Then on my own foundation mill 

 I made some brood-foundation. I also took quite a quantity more of said wax, went 

 to two wholesale comb-foimdation manufacturers, and both parties willingly made my 

 experimental wax into comb-foundation, just the same as they do every batch of wax, 

 I then divided the various makes of foundation, and selected 20 of the best bee-yards in 

 Wisconsin, where no disease has ever been known; had the same placed in 62 of their 

 best colonies, and in every case no signs of disease have appeared. Those same colonies 

 continue to be the best in the various apiaries. 



SYMPTOMS OF FOUL BROOD. 



1. The infected colony is not liable to be as industrious. Hive entrance with few 

 guard bees to protect their home. Sometimes fine dirt or little bits of old comb and 

 dead bees in and aroimd the hive-entrance, and often robber bees seeking entrance. 



2. Upon opening ihe hive, the brood in the combs is irregular, badly scattered, with 

 many empty cells which need inspection. 



3. The cappings over healthy brood are oval, smooth, and of a healthy color pecu- 

 liar to honey-bee brood, but if diseased, the cappings are sunken, a little darker in color, 

 and have ragged pin holes. The dead larval bee is of a Ught color, and, as it is termed, 

 ropy, so that if a toothpick is inserted and slowly withdrawn, this dead larva will draw 

 out much like spittle or glue. 



4. In this ropy stage there is more or less odor peculiar to the disease; it smells 

 something like an old, stale gluepot. A colony may be quite badly affected and not 

 admit much odor, only upon opening of the hive or close examination of the brood. I 

 have treated a few cases where the foul brood odor was plainly noticed several rods from 

 the apiary. 



5. Dried Scales — If the disease has reached the advanced stages, all the above 

 described conditions will be easily seen and the dried scales as well. This foul matter 

 is so tenacious that the bees cannot remove it, so it dries down on the lower side-wall 

 of the cell, midway from the bottom to front end of the cell, seldom on the bottom of 

 the cell. According to its stage of development, there will be either the shapeless mass 

 of dark brown matter, on the lower side of the cell, often with a wrinkled skin covering, 

 as if a fine thread had been inserted in the skin lengthwise and drawn enough to form 

 rib-like streaks on either side. Later on it becomes hardened, nearly black in color, 

 and in time dries down to be as thin as the side walls of the cell. Often there will be a 

 small dried bunch at the front end of the cell, not larger than a part of a common pin 

 head. To see it plainly, take the comb by the top bar and hold it so that a good light 

 falls into the cell at an angle of 75 degrees from the tip of the comb, while your sight 

 falls upon the cell at an angle of about 45 degrees. The scales, if present, will easily be 

 seen as above described. This stage of disease in combs is easily seen, and is always a 

 sure guide or proof of foul brood. Such combs can never be used safely by the bees, and 

 must be either burned or carefully melted. Be sure not to mistake such marked combs 

 in the spring for those soiled with bee dysentery. The latter have a somewhat similar 



