350 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



black brood and foul brood not only in 

 the same apiary but in the same colony 

 at the same time. The foul brood may 

 be distinguished by its extreme ropiness 

 and coffee brown color. Also, if present 

 in sufficient quantity the strong odor of 

 a rank nature is distinctive. In foul 

 brood, as is well known, nearly all of 

 the brood becomes capped; and in many 

 respects the disease is comparatively 

 little to be feared if promptly and care- 

 fully handled. 



STRAIGHT MCEVOY SYSTEM OF TREATMENT 

 INEFFECTIVE. 



The McEvoy system of shaking twice 

 and destroying the old combs together 

 with the comb built in the interval be- 

 tween shakings, has not proved itself to 

 be an effective method of treatment in 

 combating black brood in California. To 

 begin with, this system of treatment, 

 standard for foul brood, posits two con- 

 ditions; firstly, that the agency of trans- 

 mission of the disease is the honey of the 

 infected hive and bees; and secondly, 

 that there is a good honey flow on, 

 enabling the bees so shaken to recover 

 themselves. In the situation under con- 

 sideration neither of these conditions 

 prevail. Although the exact cause of 

 black brood is doubtful, it seems evident 

 that the honey is not the chief, if at all, 

 a channel of infection. Further, from 

 what has been above mentioned in 

 reference to the seasonal honey flow in 

 the San Joaquin Valley, it is easily to be 

 seen that the shaking plan on a whole- 

 sale basis is inexpedient during the 

 spring honey dearth. This plan of treat- 

 ment has been tried on a quite extensive 

 scale, modified by giving the colonies 

 full combs at the second shaking with 

 the result of a very high percentage of 

 reinfection. Whether this reinfection 

 comes from within the colony so shaken 

 or from without, is doubtful. In a 

 region in which nearly 99 per cent, of 

 the apiaries show a large percentage of 

 infection, the opportunity and channels 

 of reinfection from without are so multi- 

 plied that it is difficult in the absence of 



direct experimental work to arrive at a 

 conclusion on such a point. But, how- 

 ever this may be, it is evidentthat under 

 existing conditions the shaking plan is 

 not effective, which is really the pertinent 

 question the practical apiarist is wanting 

 to have answered. 



ALEXANDER SYSTEM ALONE, INEFFECTIVE. 



The system of dequeening for a period 

 of from three to four weeks and then 

 introducing a laying Italian queen, now 

 quite generally known as the Alexander 

 treatment, from the noteworthy success 

 that the eminent New York apiarist at- 

 tained in his black-brood-control-work, 

 has not proved itself to be entirely suc- 

 cessful. The success of the Alexander 

 system again implies two things, namely, 

 that the colonies be strong, and also that 

 there be a good flow of honey on or ap- 

 proaching. The first of these conditions 

 can be, in a measure, brought about by 

 uniting weak colonies, provided the bee 

 keeper takes his apiary in time before 

 too many colonies become greatly de- 

 pleted in numbers. The second con- 

 dition so necessary to insure activity in 

 cleaning out infected brood, it is difficult, 

 almost impossible to adequately supply. 

 In those apiaries fed a regular amount of 

 syrup, the bees were stimulated to 

 greater activity and cleaned out infected 

 material in a much better manner, but 

 even then, not as they would have done 

 with a good natural source of honey 

 coming on. 



ALEXANDER-MILLER SYSTEM BETTER. 



The modification of the Alexander 

 system introduced by Dr. Miller, e. g., 

 that of supplying the dequeened colony 

 with a virgin queen in ten days to two 

 weeks, instead of waiting three to four 

 weeks and then introducing a laying 

 queen, has, for many practical reasons, 

 under California conditions, the ad- 

 vantage of the Alexander system pure 

 and simple. Chief among these practical 

 advantages is that of economy coupled 

 with the inability of Eastern queen 

 breeders to supply the demand for early 



