18 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



brood. There was a goodly number 

 of raised hands. Then I asked: "Do 

 any of you think; you got the disease 

 by buying queen-bees?" Again sev- 

 eral hands were raised. Even bee- 

 keepers there had traced the disease in 

 their apiaries to the buying of queens, 

 and all from the same breeder. If you 

 get queens from abroad, I hope you 

 will do with them as I have described 

 above. Better be on the safe side. 



Experiments. 



1. A prominent Wisconsin bee- 

 keeper some years ago had foul brood 

 among his bees so bad that he lost 

 200 colonies before the disease was 

 checked. Having a honey-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 honye 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. uBt in every case where the 

 combs are boiled in boiling water, and 

 same were well stirred while boiling, 

 no germs were alii^e. 



3. Foul brood in brood-combs is not 

 destroyed when exposed to the temper- 

 ature of Wisconsin winters of 20 deg. 

 below zero, sind in one case I developed 

 foul brood from combs that had been 

 exposed to 28 deg. below zero. 



4. Honey, if stored 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. Honey 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 ex- 

 tractor refuse or honey. * 



6. Comb-foundation made by sup- 

 ply manufacturers is free from Jive 

 germs of disease and perfectly safe to 

 use. To prove this experiment be- 

 yond a doubt, I took a quantity of 

 badly diseased brood-combs from sevr 

 eral apiaji^s and render each batch 

 of combs into wax myself on the farm 



where found. Then on my own foun- 

 dation mill I made some brood-foun- 

 dation. I also took quite a quantity 

 more of said wax, went to two whole- 

 sale comb -foundation manufacturers, 

 and both parties willingly made my ex- 

 perimental 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 tontinue 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 around the hive-entrance, and 

 often robber bees seeking entrance. 



2. Upon opening the hive, the brood 

 in the combs is irregular, badly scat- 

 tered, with many empty cells which 

 need inspection. 



3. The cappings over healthy brood 

 are oval, smooth, and of a healt"hy 

 color peculiar 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 fa light 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 tq the disease; 

 it smells something like an old, stale 

 gluepot. A colony may be. quite badly 

 afEected and ndt omit much odor, only 

 upon opening of the hive or close ex- 

 amination 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 dell, seldoiii bri the bottom 

 oif the cell: Accbrding to its stage of 

 development, there will be either the 

 shapeless mass of dark' brown matter. 



