Jan. 26. 19(5. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



65 



At Dr. Miller's request, Mr. and Mrs. York also 

 sang a sacred selection entitled, "Not Ashamed of Jesus." 



On motion of Dr. Miller, duly seconded, a hearty 

 vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. Adams and to Mr. 

 Hall and his daughter in connection with the presenta- 

 tion of the souvenirs to the convention. 



Mr. Lovesy — I would like to say a word on the 

 organization question. Contemplate the vast multitude 

 of bee-keepers and then consider the little organization 

 that we have. We have not sufficient organization to 

 reap or receive the benefits we might otherwise get. Con- 

 sider the aid and support we might get from the State 

 Experiment Stations and the Government which we 

 cannot now use because we are not united and not organ- 

 ized so that we can take advantage of those things. 

 There are many things in the United States we could get 

 if We were organized, but which we cannot get without 

 organization. 



Mr. Gill — We have had perhaps enough talk about 

 organization, but I wish to say a few words. I think it 

 was Mark Twain who said: "You don't get anything in 

 this world without asking for it, and then you insist on 

 it." In Colorado we have secured the passage of a num- 

 ber of bills with reference to spraying, and other mat- 

 ters, such as a pure honey law; we have insisted on 

 these things. They can be obtained, but it is necessary 

 first to have merit. Human nature is much the same the 

 world over. H you have something with merit in it they 

 will take hold of it irrespective of politics. 



Pres. Harris then called upon Mr. Charles Stewart 

 to present a paper on foul brood. 



Mr. Stewart — Your general manager asked me to give 

 you a paper on black brood. Perhaps I should say here 

 that according to our New York State authorities black 

 brood is considered a type of foul brood, and we call it 

 by the name of black foul brood now to make a distinc- 

 tion from the old or malignant foul brood. 



BLACK FOUL BROOD. 



Black foul brood first made its appearance in New 

 York State in Schoharie county, among bees bought from 

 a Southern State, and was at first confined to a small 

 area, but soon alarmed apiarists by the great mortality 

 it caused among bees as well as the rapidity with which 

 it spread. 



As a rule the germ of disease afifects the larvae be- 

 fore it is capped, and causes it to have more of a yel- 

 low cast than it usually has in a healthy state, causing 

 an unusual motion as if in distress. Later it dies and 

 sinks in a shapeless mass in the bottom of the cell, as- 

 suming the color of coffee with a little milk added. It 

 now gives off a sour, disagreeable smell, quite different 

 from the glue-pot smell of ordinary foul brood, and 

 unlike foul brood, refuses to be drawn out in a rubber- 

 like string. 



The bees seem to recognize the diseased cells and do 

 not cap them, so that a very large percentage of the 

 brood-capped hatches, although an occasional depressed 

 or perforated capping similar to foul brood may be 

 found. The dead larvae may readily be removed from the 

 cell after it has dried, differing again from foul brood 

 which attaches itself closely to the cell. 



The effect of this disease varies greatly in differ- 

 ent apiaries, as well as in its effect on individual colonies 

 in the same apiary. This was hard to explain at first 

 until we learned that it proved most destructive in those 

 colonies weakest in vitality. Further research proved 

 that the average vitality was much lower in some apiaries 

 and hence succumbed more readily, just as a man is 

 more susceptible to disease whose vitality is impaired 

 by overwork, improper nourishment, exposure, or from 

 various causes. 



A dearth of honey causes the bees either to overwork, 

 or else suffer from lack of nourishment, thus impairing 

 their vitality, and so succumb more readily to disease. 

 To have disease, the germ of that particular disease 

 must in some way be carried to the hive. How the germs 

 were carried from a diseased apiary to a healthy one 

 four or five miles distant puzzled me greatly until I 

 proved beyond the possibility of a doubt that bees 

 from those diseased apiaries could be found in apiaries 

 at least four miles distant, thus carrying the dise:;se 

 with them. Such being the case with apiaries, h'W 

 much greater is the mixture of bees from hive to h'\ve 

 in the same apiary. This can best be illustrated by citing 



the fact that in an apiary with but one badly diseased col- 

 ony, the colonies on either side of it in the sarne row 

 will be found diseased, diminishing gradually in the 

 amount of affected brood as we increase the distance 

 from the source of contagion. This also seems to hold 

 good in regard to the hives in the rows both before and 

 behind the badly diseased colony, but to a very much 

 less extent. Black foul brood spreads more rapidly 

 where the hives are close together. The same of course 

 holds good with the spread of disease from yard to 

 yard. 



In this paper I have already foreshadowed a method 

 of treatment as follows: 



Have apiaries isolated as much as possible. 



Do not set colonies too close together. 



Keep all colonies strong by having young, vigorous 

 queens rich in vitality. Introduce new blood generously 

 each season, especially that with a dash of Cyprian 

 blood in it. 



Shake all diseased colonies on clean frames of comb 

 foundation as soon as discovered, and feed a little sugar 

 syrup for a week to restore their vitality. 



If feasible, establish a hospital apiary in some iso- 

 lated place for the treatment of diseased colonies, from 

 not only your own but also your neighbors' apiaries, 

 movin"- them at night and treating all at one time, and 

 moving home when cured to give place for a new lot. 



By following the foregoing method of treatment with 

 all of its minor details, which cannot here be given, togeth- 

 er with a helpful enforcement of a wise foul brood law, a 

 new order of bee-keeping has been brought about in 

 Eastern New York. The box-hive man and the slovenly 

 bee-keeper with his scrub hives and methods has given 

 place to a bright, clean class of bee-keepers, who have a 

 conscious oower to succeed even in the face of disease. 



This paper, which has been written as I have traveled 

 from apiary to aoiary, I feel would be incomplete did I 

 not pav a tribute to those who framed our foul brood law, 

 as well as to the Department of Agriculture, who have 

 made strenuous efforts to carry it out. The bee-keep- 

 ers of New York State owe much to the wisdom of this 

 law for where once disease blasted men's hopes, and 

 threatened even the loss of their homes, with a legacy of 

 empty hives has arisen fine apiaries where men proudly 

 exhibit their tons of honey. Chas. Stewart. 



Mr. Holekamp— Is there a difference in this black 

 foul brood from the common foul brood? 



Mr Stewart — The black brood, as I said, appeared in 

 New York State at first and differed materially from the 

 old type of foul brood inasmuch as the brood dies just 

 before it is being capped, and we find very little dead 

 under the capping; while with the black brood the greater 

 percent dies under the capping. Foul brood is stringy 

 ana black brood is not, and the smell is different. Ihe 

 spread of the disease also differs; it spreads very rapidly. 

 You will find that it has spread four or five miles away in 

 the course of a few weeks, so that those things mark 

 it as a distinct type of foul brood. , ,. , . r. 



Dr. Bohrer— I would ask if in feeding the bees, after 

 treatment, you add any germicide to the food, such as 

 citric or salicylic acid, or boracic acid? 



Mr Stewart— We have used those things throughout 

 the State and we recommend them to use those if they 

 choose, although we never got any practical results 

 from a germicide fed in syrup. While it seemed. to hold 

 it in check we did not want our bee-keepers to rely on 



that as a cure. ., , ^ • u 



Mr. Gary— I would like to know if the Cyprian bee 

 is more immune from the disease than other bees? 



Mr Stewart— We find that the Italians and some ot 

 the newer races of bees will stand the disease much more 

 readilvr than the old-time blacks. For instance, we find 

 yards where the vitality is very low from some cause, 

 and those yards will become ruined in a single season. I 

 have seen a yard containing 60 colonies of bees with 

 those bees weak in vitalitv where fifty-nine of them \vere 

 of this type of bee and one colony of Italians. The 

 whole yard at the end of the season was dead, and the 

 one colony had everything full of honey, and the sec- 

 tions were all filled, I don't know how manv sets of them, 

 and they never showed any trace of the disease; and this 

 man being isolated somewhat, and supposing this colony 

 was sure to die with it, let oit all the wax in the solar 

 wax extractor, before the bee-inspectors had become 



