GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



glass. Unbeknown to our good inspector, I 

 concluded to try to use them again for brood- 

 rearing, and I am happy to say these combs 

 and hundreds of others can be seen in my 

 yard this summer, that were very badly dis- 

 eased in 1906. 



Next I wish to say that European foul 

 brood or black brood does not always injure a 

 queen. Hive No. 37 had a Caucasian queen 

 of the 1908 rearing, which was clipped in 

 1909. This colony showed black brood de- 

 veloping. The combs were removed, and 

 drawn ones were put in their place. An ex- 

 cluder and hive body were placed on top, 

 the bees and queen from the diseased 

 combs, shaken and run into the lower hive 

 body on the empty drawn combs, and the 

 diseased combs put in the top story. The 

 way I manipulate combs to effect a cure, 

 the queen can not deposit eggs in the combs 

 on account of being unable to pass through 

 the zinc, and the bees have ample time to 

 clean them up in 80 days. If the combs are 

 not wanted elsewhere, they may be left for 

 extracting. In 1910 this same colony. No. 

 o7, was the first one to show any signs of 

 the disease. The queen was found ; and, be- 

 ing clipped, I knew she was the one in the 

 hive in 1908. The combs were manipulated 

 in the same way again, and this queen pro- 

 duced bees that gathered over 175 pounds of 

 extracted honey, not allowing for any that 

 went with the cappings. 



I have used this plan for the last five years 

 without killing any queens, and have taken 

 as high as 261 pounds from a single colony 

 thus treated. What more can be desired? 

 Why the cruel killing of good queens? Do 

 you think I fear black brood? I would not 

 care if a beekeeper located a lot of bees with 

 European foul brood just over the fence 

 from mine if overstocking did not rob me of 

 the nectar that my bees should gather. 



I once saw a picture in Gleanings of a 

 group of men who, the editor said, were col- 

 lege-bred men inspecting for disease. I won- 

 dered what help they would be to some poor 

 beekeeper who had European foul brood in 

 his hives. Those college-bred inspectors 

 would say, ' ' Mr. Jones, we find your colonies 

 have European foul brood. Now, you shake 

 every one of them on to starters to-night." 

 (The next day about half of them would 

 swarm out from the sudden change from 

 combs of honey to starters, according to my 

 experience.) "And at the end of two days 

 shake them on full sheets of foundation. If 

 it reappears, repeat the same operation un- 

 til a cure is effected." 



Now, is that very encouraging to the man 

 who has about 100 colonies to treat? He 

 can figure on spending $100 for comb foun- 

 dation, and have no honey to sell, and his 

 old trouble may break out again. If he 

 should have any extracting combs on hand 

 at the time, the chances are these inspectors 

 would recommend melting them for fear 

 there might be disease in them. 



If the Alexander method of treatment, 

 which is the killing of the queen and re- 

 queening in 28 days, or mine, by the use of 



another set of combs, not killing the queen, 

 but keeping her laying, and the bees gath- 

 ering a crop of honey, had been urged upon 

 the beekeepers of the land by the bee jour- 

 nals, this European foul brood would not 

 have caused the expense it has to the bee- 

 keepers and to the government. This treat- 

 ment does not tend to increase the sale of 

 queens or comb foundation. Both are good 

 when used at the proper time, but not for 

 the sure cure of European foul brood. 



Northampton, N. Y., March 20. 



[A sharp distinction should be drawn be- 

 tween European and American foul brood. 

 While it is probably true that under some 

 conditions we can save combs that have 

 been affected with the European type of 

 the disease, it is not possible to save those 

 which have been affected with the other 

 type; namely, the American. 



The Orton treatment in some respects is 

 similar to the Alexander method that was 

 exploited so much some three or four years 

 ago. Mr. Orton, in his treatment, uses the 

 same basic idea; namely, keeping the queen 

 away from the combs for a period of thirty 

 days. During this time, the bees clean up 

 the combs, polish out the cells and appar- 

 ently render them fit for use again. We re- 

 member looking through Mr. S. D. House's 

 combs at Camillus, New York, which he 

 said had been rotten with European foul 

 brood some years ago, but at the time of 

 our visit were perfectly clean and contained 

 healthy brood. 



We were not aware that either American 

 or European foul brood in any way affected 

 the queen bee. Our correspondent seems 

 to take the view that some authorities hold 

 that the queens themselves are "injured." 

 We have so far seen no proof to that effect. 

 —Ed.] 



A CAUTION IN REGARD TO THE AFTER- 

 TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD 



Disease Carried by Combs Reserved from a Previ- 

 ous Year, Although no Suspicious Brood 

 had been Found that Season 



BY G. C. GREINER 



For the last two or three years, being sur- 

 rounded by foul brood within a few miles 

 of my place, and expecting a call from the 

 dreaded visitor at any time, I have taken 

 extra pains to read every thing I could find 

 on this subject, to prepare myself for a suc- 

 cessful combat whenever occasion should 

 force it upon me. 



Well, the disease appeared early last 

 spring; and by the time the white-clover 

 flow opened, the whole apiary, with the ex- 

 ception of a few scattering Italians, was 

 fairly rotten with the disease. During the 

 clover flow, every diseased colony was shaken 

 off on starters, Italian queens were introduc- 

 ed, and the contents of all infected hives 

 burned up. 



When the spring had nicely opened, I 

 found myself the possessor of a large lot of 



