ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPEES' ASSOCIATION". 169 



the cells and the mains can be seen tightly adhering to the lower cell 

 wall and running up the back. A second good symptom is the very 

 characteristic odor. Now that cannot be described, because there 

 are not any words in the English language quite capable of describing 

 it, but any one that ever smelled it once is not very apt to forget it. 

 It has been likened to the odor of a poor quality of glue, but that is 

 rather hard on the glue. 



The third symptom, which is used by inspectors quite commonly, 

 is that of the ropiness of the larvae, and that is an unsafe symptom, 

 because, as I said this afternoon, European will sometimes rope a 

 little bit. But it is safe provided care is taken in the -type of ropiness. 

 Now if you run your toothpick into American material or American 

 foul brood at the ropy time, for American foul frood, it ought to rope 

 out four or five or six inches, with a very fine, delicate thread, whereas 

 the European will hardly ever rope more than a couple of inches, and 

 then it behaves like a rotten rubber band; it will stretch out a little 

 and break across and a end will fall down. And it is not a fine thread, 

 it is very much coarser. 



With those three points, the age of the larvae and the odor and 

 the ropiness, you can almost always tell American foul brood without 

 sending it to Washington, or without even asking the inspector, or 

 thing of that kind. But if the treatment for European is given^ any- 

 how, because that is what all the bee-keepers are aiming to do more 

 or less, to keep their colonies strong and have good stock, if it comes 

 then and stays, it is probably American. 



The President. — I have a question here in writing, probably 

 Dr. PhiUips will answer that: What is the best method of treating 

 American foul brood? 



Dr. Phillips. — American foul brood is characterized by the fact 

 that the larvae remains adhere tightly to the cell, where they form 

 spores, as I mentioned this afternoon. Consequently to eradicate 

 it it is necessary to take out all the combs to which this material is 

 adhering. Furthermore, American foul brood is transmitted through 

 the honey, so the honey must be taken out. That means we must 

 take out all the combs and give the bees a chance to start over again 

 on building the new combs on new foundation and start a new home. 

 That is, in a very brief way, the treatment for American foul brood, 

 and it is the only treatment which can be used with safety. 



Now there are cases, for instances there was an article in one of 

 the bee journals a few weeks ago where a man said that he had met 

 with success in cutting out a few diseased cells, and then he did not 

 find any more of it. Well, I am not questioning his word in the slight- 

 est degree, and I would not be afraid perhaps to try it myself, but I 

 would be very much afraid to recommend it to any one else, because 

 the second person might not be so careful. In other words, it is a 

 very dangerous procedure. But if we take out all the combs, the 

 honey and everything else, and give the bees a new start, they will 

 rarely show a recurrence. 



Mr. ICrause, — Mr. Chairman, may I ask Dr. Phillips a question? 

 I would just like to know what benefit I would get from more packing 

 with my bees under the present system. We winter with a loss of 



