108 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



tion, I noticed that it was the hybrid 

 and black colonies that did not stay 

 cured, no matter what kind of treatment 

 was given. There were some pure 

 Italian colonies in all of the apiaries, and, 

 with a single exception, not a single 

 diseased cell had been found in them, 

 even with diseased colonies all about 

 them. This exception came from the 

 giving of a comb from a supposed healthy 

 colony that afterwards proved to be 

 diseased. As a test, this colony was left 

 undisturbed, and it cleaned up during 

 the season, and has remained healthy 

 since. I have witnessed several instances 

 where a single colony of Italians has 

 survived without care or treatment, in 

 some farmer's small apiary; not even 

 shown a trace of the disease, when the 

 rest of the apiary of blacks or hybrids 

 died with black brood. 



WHY THE ALEXANDER PLAN HAS FAILED. 



There has been much discredit given 

 the Alexander plan of treating black 

 brood, but I believe the failures have 

 arisen not so much in the treatment, as 

 in the race of bees. Let me give an 

 illustration: Mr. Howard Mills of Syra- 

 cuse had an apiary of 100 colonies of 

 blacks. When the disease appeared in 

 his apiary, he called in the inspector, who 

 instructed him to shake of¥ the bees, 

 destroy the combs, etc., which was done 

 at considerable expense, yet, the same 

 season, the colonies became so badly 

 diseased, again, that Mr. Mills destroyed 

 all of them in the fall, and went out of 

 the business. 



Again: Mr. Irving Kinyon, of Fair- 

 mount, bought an apiary of black bees 

 that were badly diseased. In the fall he 

 dequeened and doubled up about 25 

 colonies, expecting to introduce Italian 

 queens, but the dealer of whom the 

 queens were ordered failed to furnish 

 them, as the season became so far ad- 

 vanced that it was not safe to ship them. 

 As a result, these colonies went through 

 the winter queenless. In the spring the 

 Italian queens were introduced, and those 

 colonies fi eed themselves of the disease. 



A few colonies showed traces of the 

 disease in the second hatching of bees, 

 but the Italian bees soon cleaned out the 

 dead larvea, and the disease disappeared 

 entirely. I could mention many similar 

 cases showing that there is more in the 

 strain ot bees (Italian) in combating the 

 disease, than in any method of treatment. 



There is one more point: Don't be 

 alarmed if a few diseased larvae show 

 in the second filling of the combs after 

 introducing an Italian queen. Give the 

 Italians time, and they will clean these 

 out. 



In a December ( 1909) issue of Glean- 

 ings, Dr. G. G. Miller has a very interest- 

 ing article on black brood, or European 

 foul brood. He mentions what he con- 

 siders an important discovery, viz., a 

 colony with a laying queen cleaning out 

 the disease and becoming healthy. I 

 agree with the Doctor on this point. 

 Mention has already been made of an 

 Italian colony into which the disease was 

 introduced by giving it a comb of brood 

 from a diseased (but supposed healthy) 

 colony. I may say here that 1 even 

 went farther than that. A brood 

 chamber of diseased brood, from which 

 the bees had been shaken, was placed on 

 this colony, with no queen excluder under 

 it. yet those Italians cleaned up the 

 combs, and they have remained free 

 from disease to this day. There was a 

 honey flow on at the time, which is an 

 incentive to cleaning up. 



I shall have to differ from the Doctor, 

 however, on the importance, or desira- 

 bility, of getting rid of the disease with a 

 laying queen in the hive. First, why 

 prolong the existence of the disease? 

 Second, no queen should be kept, any 

 great length of time, that was in the hive 

 at the time that the disease was 

 contracted. 



SOME ESSENTIALS OF THE ALEXANDER 

 TREATMENT. 



The Doctor mentions some points from 

 Mr. Alexander's teachings. First, 



strength of" colony; second, a period of 

 queenlessness; and, possibly, the giving 



