24 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 1 



It may be worth while to notice that the 

 figure, copied Irom L' Apiculteur, has the cells 

 running the wrong way, a side of a cell be- 

 ing at top and bottom of each cell, whereas 

 it shoula be an angle. 



In one piece of comb, measured horizon- 

 tally, there were 42 cells in 8>^ inches, and 

 measured vertically there were 38 cells in 

 6},\ inches. Multiply 42 by 38, and 8)4 by 

 6Js) then divide the former product by the 

 latter, and you have 28.076 cells to the square 

 inch in that piece of comb. In another comb 

 there were 26.54 cells to the square inch — 

 quite a difference in the two combs. T. W. 

 Cowan (The Honey-bee, 181), took 36 meas- 

 urements, and found the diameter of a cell to 

 range from .186 of an inch to .211. That's a 

 much greater variation than in the two combs 

 I have mentioned; but then, he made more 

 measurements. 



In a sheet of brood foundation I find 26.62 

 cells to the square inch. That's about the 

 same as my sample with the larger cells; but 

 it has smaller cells than some that Mr. Cow- 

 an found in natural comb. That shows it 

 would be feasible to have foundation with 

 larger cells, thus working toward a larger 

 bee, if a larger bee would get more honey. 

 Of that I have some doubt. 



Marengo, 111. 



THE PRACTICAL TREATMENT OF AMER- 

 ICAN AND EUROPEAN EOUL 

 BROOD. 



Some Things we Know and do Not Know 

 about these Diseases. 



BY DR. E. F. PHILLIPS. 



Read at the National Bee-keepers' Association Con- 

 vention, Sioux City, Iowa, Sept. 22, 23, 1909. 



The subject which has been assigned to 

 me at this time is one of the most important 

 now before American bee-keepers; and, un- 

 fortunately, it is not very well understood by 

 any one. Toward the end of devising prop- 

 er treatment, all investigations of the cause 

 and characteristics of bee diseases must bend 

 if they are to be of any value to the practical 

 bee-keeper. However much the bee-keeper 

 may be interested in the bacteriological find- 

 ings in a bee disease, these things are of less 

 importance in his practical work; but he 

 wants and needs careful, reliable work on 

 treatment. 



The bacteriological investigations are very 

 important, but I shall not dwell on this point. 

 It is, perhaps, enough to say that, until we 

 know the cause of a disease, and can make a 

 detailed study of that cause, we can not 

 know just what we are fighting. 



In finding methods of treatment, there are 

 two possible ways to proceed. By repeated 

 trials of various manipulations the practical 

 bee-keeper may, by chance, hit on something 

 which enables him to save his property from 

 destruction. He may make such a lucky 

 find without any knowledge as to what has 

 caused the disease. It was in this way that 

 Schirach, in the eighteenth century, found 



the shaking treatment for foul brood, and 

 since then this same treatment has been 

 used extensively. The Schirach treatment, 

 or, as we now call it, the shaking treatment, 

 enables us to prevent the brood diseases 

 from destroying our bees, and it certainly is 

 satisfactory in the majority of cases. 



The other way of investigating treatments 

 is to find the cause of the disorder, study its 

 characteristics, and plan manipulation in the 

 light of knowledge gained in that way. This 

 method of procedure, while probably the 

 more logical way, is open to the minority; 

 but all can take the results obtained and util- 

 ize them without any great knowledge of 

 bacteriological technique. But such work is 

 slow. I fear that many bee-keepers wonder 

 why the Bureau of Entomology is not able in 

 a short time to make positive statements con- 

 cerning the causes of disease, particularly 

 European foul brood. To tell why would be 

 a somewhat lengthy task; but let me simply 

 point out that, in all diseases of animals so 

 far studied, accurate results have been ob- 

 tained only by years of work, and no prob- 

 lem in bacteriology is an easy one. It took 

 years to establish the cause of American 

 foul brood, and there is still much to learn. 

 The bee-keeping public has been victimized 

 by too many hasty workers who jump at re- 

 sults on insufficient data, and we do not 

 care to be in that class. 



To illustrate the great desirability of first 

 getting the cause, let me cite some recom- 

 mended manipulations. Because carbolic 

 acid is used quite generally as a disinfectant, 

 it has been repeatedly recommended that a 

 2 per cent to 5 per cent carbolic-acid solution 

 be used to disinfect hives in which infected 

 colonies had lived. This was done without 

 a knowledge of the cause of either disease; 

 and in the case of American foul brood of 

 which we now know the cause it is certain 

 that a 5 per cent carbolic-acid solution will 

 not destroy the spores of Bacillus larva in 

 the short time taken to wash out a hive. In 

 the case of European foul brood, of which 

 we do not yet know the cause, we are un- 

 able to say whether the carbolic acid acts as 

 a disinfectant or not. 



In a similar manner, without knowing the 

 cause of either disease, various authors have 

 recommended the feeding of carbolic acid, 

 napthole beta, salicyHc acid, and similar 

 drugs in sugar syrup to diseased colonies. 

 While, as suggested previously, it is possible 

 to stumble on a method of treatment by 

 promiscuous experimentation, we should not 

 take these recommendations too seriously 

 until more is known about the disease. Such 

 recommendations are largely confined to 

 European authors; for American bee-keep-' 

 ers, from sad experience, have learned to 

 put little faith in these treatments. 



It has also been recommended that various 

 antiseptics be placed in the hive to ward off 

 disease. One European writer, posing as 

 the omniscient guide of the bee-keeping 

 world, writes in a recent edition of one of 

 his books as follows: 



There are certain antiseptics such as carbolic acid, 



