AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



149 



the disease appears again soon after 

 being treated, and he thinks that it is 

 on account of his bees robbing foul- 

 broody colonies in his neighborhood, but 

 as he procured my method of treating 

 foul brood a short time ago, I think that 

 he will soon change his mind in regard 

 to the robbing ijeing the cause of the 

 disease re-appearing among his bees. 



DISEASE CARRIES IN HONEY. 



Now I do not want to be understood as 

 saying that the disease cannot be carried 

 to a healthy colony in honey, as I never 

 said such a thing, for such I do not 

 know for a fact, and in my former arti- 

 cles on that subject I said that honey 

 was thrown out of the combs with the 

 extractor or otherwise ; where the foul 

 matter is thrown out of the combs and 

 mixed with the honey and fed to the 

 bees without first thoroughly boiling and 

 skimming, such honey I should have 

 grave doubts about. I have only claimed, 

 and do claim yet, and will remain by 

 such belief [as seeing is believing, and 

 the proof of the pudding is in the eat- 

 ing] until it has been proven beyond a 

 doubt that I am mistaken in saying that 

 bees do not spread the disease simply by 

 robbing diseased colonies, except when 

 the foul matter aforesaid is fed and 

 stored in such combs. 



Still, Mr. McEvoy says that I am very 

 much mistaken, so if that is the case I 

 must be doing a great wrong to the bee- 

 keepers in saying so, but let us see what 

 proof Mr. McEvoy produces. 



He says that Dr. Howard's test cases 

 will forever settle this question about 

 the honey in foul-broody colonies not 

 being diseased. He says Dr. Howard 

 uncapped the sealed honey that he 

 [McEvoy] sent him, and found the 

 spores of the disease, etc. Now, is that 

 all the proof Mr. McEvoy has, to allow 

 him to say that I am very much mis- 

 taken, and that it is a settled matter 

 forever? Now, if that is all, then he 

 must not think that it is a settled mat- 

 ter, as I think there are many more be- 

 sides myself who will not accept such 

 proof as that to settle a matter of that 

 kind ; and it only goes to show how some 

 people jump at conclusions, and we must 

 say that Mr. McEvoy is a little too fast 

 and ahead of time. He leaves out such 

 as is most needed to settle a matter of 

 that kind, and he must go back and try 

 it over, and give us better proof before 

 we will be satisfied with the results of 

 the tests made. For he has not said 

 that he knew for a positive fact that the 

 honey in the sealed combs that he sent 



to Dr. Howard was gathered from the 

 bloom of trees and plants, and that he 

 is positive that the bees stored no honey 

 that was extracted from foul-broody 

 combs, or honey that was spilled, to- 

 gether with some of the foul matter of 

 foul brood, in the hands of some bung- 

 ling person in cleaning out some foul- 

 broody hive, or otherwise, that was sent 

 to Dr. Howard for the tests. 



Now, if Mr. McEvoy wanted to be 

 justified in the least in saying that I am 

 very much mistaken, that bees in rob- 

 bing do not carry the disease to their 

 hives, he would have to take a brood- 

 comb out of a foul-broody colony that 

 was in its last stages of the disease, 

 where honey was stored in cells where foul 

 brood had been in, and cleaned out by 

 the bees and honey stored therein, as 

 the queen does not like to deposit eggs 

 in such cells if any others can be found 

 in the hive ready for eggs ; but the bees 

 will fill such cells with honey if any is 

 to be had. Thea take such comb with 

 honey, as aforesaid, and let the bees 

 from a colony that is positively free and 

 clean of the disease foul brood, and let 

 the bees from such hive fill themselves 

 from such combs, and then catch some 

 of the bees and have the honey con- 

 tained in their honey-sacs or stomachs 

 examined with a microscope, and see if 

 it contained spores' of foul brood. Also, 

 see if the colony where such honey is 

 carried to by the bees from such combs 

 will become diseased ; and not until 

 some tests have been made in some such 

 way, showing that I am wrong, will I 

 admit that I may have been mistaken. 

 Nor is Mr. McEvoy justified in saying 

 that I am mistaken. 



NOT SPREAD BY BOBBER BEES. 



Again, he says that Graden doesn't 

 believe that foul brood is spread in any 

 apiary by robber bees. That is correct. 

 As I have seen too much robbing done 

 and never saw a colony become diseased 

 on account of such robbing, time and 

 space forbids me giving full details in 

 that regard. 



He says further that I am trying to 

 show that the disease is spread about 

 from one colony to another in and by 

 the winds. Now, cannot Mr. McEvoy 

 understand my article referred to bv 

 him, or is he purposely trying to twist 

 and turn it in such a way as to suit him- 

 self ? If so, please let me say that it is 

 not made out of such soft stuff as to be 

 twisted in any shape desired, for it will 

 break first. Still, it will take better 

 proof than I have as yet seen or heard 

 of to break it. 



