April 191S. 



129 



American Hee Journal 



AriARY OF c;. L. Sauer. of Polo, Ii.l. 



for it. If you try this way of saving, 

 rendering, and putting up wax for mar- 

 ket, you will never allow more to go to 

 waste, and may find enjoyment in the 

 work, far beyond that of sitting down 

 in the " country store" talking "idle 

 gossip." 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



European Foul Brood 



BV DR. C. C. MILLER. 



A CORRESPONDENT desires the 

 latest wrinkle in the treatment of 

 European foul brood. The styles 

 for 1913 will be mucli the same 

 as for the past year. There are, 

 however, new members of the Bee 

 Journal family who need information 

 on the subject, and, alas! some of the 

 old members may find their premises 

 invaded for the first time this year by 

 the dreaded visitor. So it may be well 

 to discuss the subject in a sort of gen- 

 eral way. 

 First and foremost, have only strong 



colonies. A strong colony may resist 

 an attack where a weak one succumbs. 

 So if the disease is in your vicinity, or 

 within a few miles, and you dread its 

 invasion, /ccc/ all colonies strong. Any- 

 way, t/u's IS a faying thing to do if there 

 ivere mo disease icithin a thousand 

 miles. After the disease has made its 

 appearance, you are sure to have weak 

 colonies. After being attacked by Eu- 

 ropean foul brood, it is only a question 

 of time when the strongest colony will 

 be weak. Little use to attempt any 

 treatment until the colony is made 

 strong, either by the uniting of two or 

 more affected colonies, or by the giv- 

 ing of sealed brood or bees from 

 healthy colonies. 



Second, if your bees are not of the 

 best Italian stock, introduce that kind. 

 It is now quite generally agreed among 

 foul-brood inspectors that the worst 

 ravages of the disease occur where 

 black blood predominates, and that a 

 strong factor in either prevention or 

 cure is the introduction of Italian 

 blood. Some, however, agree with J. 



E. Crane, who gives it as his opinion. 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture, page 85, 

 "that the ability of bees to resist dis- 

 ease depends more upon their strength 

 and vigor of constitution than the 

 color of their abdominal rings." Even 

 so, it still remains true that in the 

 great majority of cases there will be an 

 increase of strength and vigor of con- 

 stitution where black or hybrid blood 

 is succeeded by best Italian blood. In- 

 deed, Mr. Crane immediately adds to 

 the words already quoted, " On the 

 whole it now looks as though the in- 

 troduction of vigorous strains of Ital- 

 ian bees might, in skillful hands, prove 

 a short cut in curing European foul 

 brood." 



Suppose, however, no matter what 

 the quality or condition of your bees, 

 that the appearance of the brood is 

 such as to|make you suspicious. The 

 first thing to do is to send a sample of 

 the suspected brood, perhaps a comb 

 4 inches square, to Dr. E. F. Phillips, 

 Agricultural Department, Washington, 

 D. C. If you write him in advance, he 



30 



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Send for Annual C:ital4»K «liioli «ill tell 

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 G. B. Lewis Company, W'aterto^vn. \%'is. 



