ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



103 



There is, in this state, the best bee- 

 keeper in the United States, in my 

 opinion, that is, Doctor C. C. Miller. 

 He is known to all of you. One of 

 the things that has made him famous 

 from one end of the country to the 

 other is stock he produces by careful 

 selection. 



I often, in talking to bee-keepers, 

 find they are a little jealous of some 

 of the things Doctor Miller has done 

 and are inclined to attribute his suc- 

 cess to locality — exceptional locality. 



I don't believe that is the case, be- 

 cause there are other bee-keepers liv- 

 ing near and around Doctor Miller's, 

 who are producing scrubs. 



The difference, in my opinion, is due 

 to two things: First — The finest stock 

 that can be obtained. Second — The 

 finest care — the best that can be given. 



The care is practically as necessary 

 with bees as the right kind of feed is 

 with cattle, so that it seems to me it 

 is a double problem, not only the 

 breeding, but the manipulation o^ the 

 right kind, and I might add a- word, 

 that it is a great satisfaction to see 

 the states taking up work of this 

 character. 



I have been attending nine meetings 

 before I attended this one, and you 

 may be interested in knowing that 

 Iowa and "Wisconsin are both planning 

 to do what Minnesota is doing. They 

 are proposing to give their bee-keepers 

 the advantage which they will get 

 from careful selection of the best 

 stock by men who are not commercial- 

 ly interested in the selling of that 

 stock — at the lowest possible figure, to 

 the men who most need it, and when 

 work of this kind spreads the bee- 

 keepers will get away from that which 

 has kept it from progressing and will 

 come out into something that is so 

 big — bigger than we have ever 

 dreamed of. (Applause.) 



Mr. Coppin — Mr. Phillips refers to 

 Doctor Miller as being one of the best 

 bee-keepers in our state and having 

 some of the best stock: I was think- 

 ing about the disease — European foul 

 brood — Doctor Miller has that among 

 his bees and it seems to me that he 

 should not have it or should, not have 

 much trouble to get rid of it, provided 

 he had the best stock. 



Did he ever get rid of it? I never 

 heard. 



Doctor Phillips — I suppose there is 

 some European foul brood in Doctor 



Miller's yard; there was in 1915. I 

 can't remember the absolute figures, 

 but he gave them to me. 



I think he found six or seven cells 

 of European foul brood in three col- 

 onies; the difference between Doctor 

 Miller and some of the rest is that 

 when he found those six or seven cells 

 he did something with it. 



So far as Doctor Miller is concerned, 

 it does not make any difference 

 whether he eliminates it entirely or 

 not, because he is keeping it under 

 control so that it never interferes in 

 his manipulation in the slightest de- 

 gree. 



It does not lose him one cent a year, 

 and, when you can get the disease 

 throttled to that extent, it does not 

 make any difference whether we get 

 rid of it or not. 



I know of other apiaries where Eu- 

 ropean foul brood exists and will con- 

 tinue to exist, but where it never does 

 any harm. 



I suppose there is not any stock in 

 the world which will absolutely keep 

 some European foul brood from the 

 yard and j^ou will see cells occasion- 

 ally from dead brOod if you are in a 

 community where it is. 



Mr. France referred to one of the 

 Inspectors in New York. 



I have been in Mr. Stewart's apiaries 

 also and know that European foul 

 brood is all around him but it never 

 interferes with his work. If he finds 

 the disease as he goes over his yard, 

 giving the colonies the careful exam- 

 ination to which they are entitled and 

 which they deserve, he simply does 

 something and does it at once and it 

 never interferes with his production. 



It seems to me that that is the solu- 

 tion of European foul brood — we do 

 not expect extermination, but we do 

 expect to get this disease in such 

 shape that it does not interfere with 

 honey production. 



Mr. Smith — What did Doctor Miller 

 do when he found those few cells? 



Doctor Phillips — Caged the queen 

 about ten days and gave the bees an 

 opportunity to clean out the few cells 

 that were started. That method of 

 treatment is entirely satisfactory for 

 men like Doctor Miller. It is entirely 

 satisfactory for a careful, watchful 

 bee-keeper, and under those circum- 

 stances European foul brood will not 

 spread, it will not get a chance. 



But if the bee-keeper waits until 



