IS 



SKVENTKEXTII ANNUAL IIKI'OliT OF THE 



EXPERIMENTS. 



1. A prominent Wisconsin bee-keeper 

 some j'ears 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 honey 

 was boiled and also the extractor and im- 

 plements 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 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 extractor refuse or honey. 



6. Comb-foundation made by supph' 

 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 founda- 

 tion mill I made some brood-foundation. 

 I also took quite a quantity more of said 

 wax, went to tw^o wholesale comb-founda- 

 tion manufacturers, and both parties will- 

 ingly 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 col- 

 onies 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 around the 

 hive-entrance, and often robber bees seek- 

 ing entrance. 



2 Upon opening the hive, the brood in 

 the combs is irregular, badly scattered, 

 with many empty cells which need inspec- 

 tion. 



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 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 pecuUar 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, mickra}' from the bottom to 

 front end of the cell, seldom on the bot- 

 tom of the cell. According to its stage of 

 development, there will be either the shape- 

 less 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 



