AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



709 



so learned to treat and handle their 

 diseased colonies that our apiaries are 

 improving-. The prospects are better. 

 Bee-keepers in the midst of the dis- 

 eased territory are, many of them, very 

 much encourag-ed. The Italian bees 

 do not get diseased as quickly as do the 

 black bees, and they stand it better 

 vphen they do get diseased. 



Diseased colonies of Italians, vrhen 

 very strong, and having a good, young 

 queen, and the honey season is favor- 

 able, the disease does sometimes dis- 

 appear of itself, but this is seldom. 

 But the season has much to do with 

 the progress and curing of the disease. 



I tind that bee-keepers have been 

 much more successful in treating their 

 bees and etTecting a cure this year than 

 ever before, on the territory where I 

 have been working. Bee-keepers 

 should not allow any colony to become 

 weak and die or get robbed on their 

 summer stand. All colonies should be 

 kept strong during the summer, and in 

 the spring and fall seasons the apiaries 

 should be looked over, and all weak 

 colonies removed from the apiary 

 where disease exists. 



Colonies treated for black brood, by 

 shaking the bees into new hives (Mc- 

 Evoy method) should have plenty of 

 young bees, and there should be plenty 

 of honey in the field, or the bees should 

 be fed with a syrup or good honey for 

 some time after treatment. There is 

 something peculiar about black brood; 

 it does not show much with the first 

 brood in the spring, but it will show 

 more and more from May 1 to June 15. 

 If the honey-flow is good after July 10 

 the disease in many strong colonies 

 will begin to disappear, and bj' Aug. 1 

 will not show diseased brood, but often 

 have a good, full brood of hatching 

 bees, while other colonies go from bad 

 to worse: these should be destroyed. 

 Many apiarists have been studying 

 various ways and means to bring 

 about the best possible results and they 

 are now very anxious to have the bee- 

 inspector come and see their results, 

 and have him instruct them and in- 

 form them of any new methods of 

 treatment and the results in the hands 

 of others. 



I have faith to believe that we will 

 have better times. Today the bees at 

 Sloansville and Central Bridge, where 

 the disease first started and was worst, 

 the apiarists now have their bees 

 nearly all cured, so the disease does not 

 show very much at present, but it will 

 break out some again in the spring. But 

 those who are practical will take care 

 of it. They get a very good crop of 

 white honey, but not over half a crop 

 of buckwheat honey. 



The following is a report from the 

 Department of Agriculture: 



" Commissioner Wieting, of the State 

 Department of Agriculture, under the 

 provisions of Chapter 223 of the laws 

 of 1899. appointed four agents to carry 

 out the work of inspection of bees. Up 

 to the present time the work has been 

 mostly confined to a few counties where 

 the diseases have been the most injuri- 

 ous to this great industry. The agents 

 of this department are all experts in 

 bee-culture, and have done a great 

 amount of good work among the own- 

 ners of apiaries, giving instruction on 

 the subject, and especially suggesting 

 remedies for the disea.ses. The Com- 

 missioner has had a bulletin prepared 

 on the " Black-Foul-Brood Among 



Bees," and will send copies to appli- 

 cants. A compilation of the reports of 

 the agents sitice the work began on the 

 first of May to the 21st of July, 1900, 

 shows as follows: 



Xuniber of Ajiiaries visited (jBI-t 



Number of Colonies exaaiined H.TIB 



Nunihpr of Colonies diseased 4.(;s'.} 



Number of Colonies condemned '.'.liiH 



Number of Colonies destroyed -H 



"The colonies destroyed were so 

 badly diseased that no treatment could 

 save them, and those condemned were 

 simply set aside for treatment. 



" The Commissioner will be pleased 

 to receive letters from those in this 

 State who have bees, and he is anxious 

 to do anything in his power to increase 

 the products of apiaries." 



The names and addresses of the four 

 New York State Inspectors of Apiaries 

 are as follows: 



M. Stevens, Pennellville, N. Y., for Os\vet;o 

 County. 



Charles Stewart, Sammonsville, N'. Y.. for 

 Fulton County. 



W. D. \Vright, Altamont, N". Y.. tor Albany 

 County. 



N. D. West, Middleburg-h. N. Y., for Scho- 

 harie County. 



All of these are anxious to do all 

 they can to exterminate bee diseases 

 and advance prosperity to the bee- 

 keeping fraternity. N. D. West. 



Pres. Root — This matter of black 

 brood is before you. Perhaps before 

 we go on to the general discussion we 

 should hear from Mr. Stewart, one of 

 the inspectors. 



Charles Stewart, of New York — I 

 don't know as I haveanythingto add to 

 what Mr. West has said. except that we 

 find throughout the locality where 

 black brood is at its worst that it is a 

 case of the survival of the fittest. As 

 he said, the yellow race of bees is in 

 much better condition than the blacks 

 or the Carniolans. Then, too, it is a 

 survival of the fittest among bee- 

 keepers. Those who were negligent or 

 careless have lost nearly all their bees, 

 especially those who have black bees, 

 while those who have the Italians, or 

 even those who have the blacks, and 

 have watched them carefully, have 

 reaped a very nice profit during the 

 past season, and their bees are in fine 

 condition, also. I think the other in- 

 spectors will agree with me that the 

 disease has not spread as it has for- 

 merly, owing to our work about April 

 1st, and our going about and cutting 

 off all colonies that were weak, seeing 

 that they were destroyed and put out 

 of the way, and no robbing took place 

 last spring, the result being that black 

 brood has spread in my section but 

 very little during the past season, and 

 all who are practical bee-men are 

 greatly encouraged and feel that they 

 now have it under control, so much so 

 that many talk of buying bees again 

 and going back into the business. 



Pres. Root— It is very gratifying to 

 know that this disease is now being 

 got under control, and I believe is now 

 under control. A question I would like 

 to ask is this: Do you have any diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing black brood 

 from foul brood, or is there a differ- 

 ence? and, if so, what is the difference 

 between the two diseases? 



Mr. Stewart There is a difference, 

 you will notice, particularly in the 

 stage in whicli the brood dies. In the 

 late autumn, foul brood — a large per- 



centage of it — died after it was capped 

 and was usually ropy or stringy. I am 

 speaking now of foul brood. Black 

 brood lacks that ropiness, and it dies 

 before it is capped, the greater part of 

 it, not much dying after it is capped. 

 Occasionally you will find a combina- 

 tion of the two diseases, black and foul 

 brood, or, again, a combination of 

 black brood and pickled brood, and so 

 we have sometimes a confusion of dis- 

 eases, but the main difference between 

 black brood and foul brood is the time 

 at which the larva dies, and its ropi- 

 ness: also that the black brood is much 

 more contagious than the old-time foul 

 brood. We sometimes find a place 

 where they have had foul brood for five 

 or six years, and, perhaps, it has not 

 spread to adjoining apiaries: whereas, 

 if it had been black brood, it would 

 have spread over a whole county, 

 showing that the black brood is much 

 more contagious than the foul brood. 

 Pres. Root — Is it necessary to disin- 

 fect the hives in the case of black 

 brood? 



Mr. Stewart — We always advocate 

 that, using corrosive sublimate or nap- 

 thaline, or something of that charac- 

 ter, but it is possible to get rid of it by 

 simply shaking them once on starters 

 in the same hives, and they are healthy 

 up to date: but this, prrhaps, is not a 

 wise thing to advocate among bee- 

 keepers, because some of them are a 

 little careless and they would not be 

 successful, and we would be censured 

 for it, so we advocate shaking twice 

 and also disinfecting the hives. We 

 think it is safer to be over-careful than 

 not to be careful enough. 



Edwin B. Tyrrell, of Michigan— Does 

 the black brood spread in the same 

 manner as the foul brood? 



Mr. Stewart— It is spread by the 

 honey being robbed from one colony 

 by another, but sometimes it is spread 

 we hardly know how. I have had an 

 instance called to my attention in a 

 locality where the bees were all healthy, 

 you might say, and found only one or 

 two cases: and within a short time a 

 man that had a large apiary found 

 combs of honey near him that some- 

 body had thrown out for the purpose 

 of infecting his bees. You may have 

 an enemy, or someone you have never 

 injured in any way, yet he feels that 

 he has lost his own bees and is a little 

 envious of you because yours are in a 

 flourishing condition, and, occasion ally, 

 it spreads in that way. It is something 

 I dislike to mention, but it has been 

 brought out and such a case will occa- 

 sionally occur. But, it is spread in 

 some other way, because it will spread 

 quite a distance, two or three miles, 

 when vou can discover no robbing. 

 Possibly it is by drones. Possibly the 

 germs may be carried by the bees to 

 the flowers and other bees get those 

 germs from the pollen. What we know 

 we are able to tell you, but what we 

 don't know, that is something no one 

 can tell. 



A Member~I would like to know 

 something about the treatment. 



Mr. Stewart— Our most successful 

 treatment has been shaking them on 

 to comb foundation, and in about four 

 days taking those combs away and 

 shaking the bees on to another set of 

 starters, and by disinfecting the hive, 

 or using another hive. The bees from 

 that time on will be healthy unless 

 they reach some infected honey. 



