460 



by burning hives, bees, implements and 

 all ; still, after a year or two, the disease- 

 would make its appearance again in the 

 same yard. The medicines used were 

 of such a nature as either not to arrest 

 the disease at all in its progress, or to 

 kill bees and brood. 



As I have said before, this practice of 

 cremation has been in vogue in Germa- 

 ny up to a very late date, until finally 

 the true nature of the disease was dis- 

 covered, and at the same time the reme- 

 dies and methods of successful treat- 

 ment to combat the malady were intro- 

 duced. I am proud to say that this was 

 done by my countrymen, and I take the 

 liberty to mention the names of some of 

 the leading men who have contributed 

 so much toward conquering this dread- 

 ful plague. They are Schonfeld, Kolbe 

 and Hilbert. Schonfeld discovered the 

 true nature of the disease ; Kolbe dis- 

 covered the remedy, and Hilbert the 

 method of treatment. 



Now, what are the remedies, and what 

 is a proper course of treatment, and 

 what is the nature of the disease V To 

 spend much time in answering the last 

 question I consider useless, for I sup- 

 pose that progressive bee-keepers,whicb 

 I take you to be, will get all the infor- 

 mation possible through the press, tak- 

 ing and reading carefully bee journals 

 and books on bee cultture, some of which 

 contain concise instructions in regard 

 to the nature of the disease. Suffice it 

 to say, that it is a process of putrefac- 

 tion induced by the presence of bacteria, 

 a low form of animal life pervading the 

 honey and stomach of the bees, the 

 germs of which are so small that the 

 slightest whiff will carry them not only 

 from one hive to another, but from one 

 apiary to another. Short as this answer 

 is, it will probably be satisfactory, at 

 least to the average bee-keeper, who 

 very likely does not care, nor has the 

 patience to listen to a lengthy scientific 

 exposition of the whole subject. 



The nature of the disease indicates 

 the remedies. All antiseptics, remedies 

 which arrest or prevent putrefaction, 

 are employed, some in certain cases 

 where others will not do. Such antisep- 

 tics are the following : Salt, alcohol, 

 sugar, soda, arsenic, thymol, phenol, 

 salicylic acid, and others too numerous 

 to mention. Some of these, and others 

 not mentioned here, have been employed 

 to cure toul brood. The properties of 

 such remedies must be of a nature to be 

 certain destruction to the bacteria and 

 their germs, and harmless to bees and 

 brood. 



Any chemical having this prop- 

 erty, either singly or in combination 

 with some others, is good. Some of 



these you will have found recommended 

 in books and bee journals as a sure cure 

 for foul brood. Now, some claim suc- 

 cess with one, by the use of which an- 

 other has failed entirely. Why this dif- 

 ference in success ? I will answer this 

 question by proposing another : Why 

 are some bee-keepers successful as 

 honey-producers, while others make a 

 total failure of it? It is the method 

 they pursue, and some follow no method 

 whatever. Still, to lay down a certain 

 rule, a course by which to succeed in 

 bee-keeping, is an impossibility, as the 

 method has to be varied according to 

 circumstances. To further illustrate : 

 Neuralgia is a disease of the nerves, and 

 a most painful one as I happen to know. 

 The remedies are aconite, arsenic, bella- 

 donna, quinine, salicylic acid and num- 

 erous others. Hence, " What is one 

 man's meat, may be another man's poi- 

 son ;" which proves that it requires a 

 man well versed in the different meth- 

 ods of treatment to choose the right, 

 and also proves that it is quite impossi- 

 ble to lay down a certain course to be 

 followedin curing foul brood ; especially 

 as you are well aware there are two dis- 

 tinct types of this disease, which require 

 a judicious and different treatment in 

 the different stages of the disease and 

 the malignancy of each case. 



Burning the visibly affected colonies 

 would not be of much avail, for the rest 

 of the colonies, or some of them, may 

 have come in contact with germs,though 

 the disease is not discernible to our 

 senses j not having had time or the proper 

 condition to make its spread in the hive, 

 and one colony after another will suc- 

 cumb and have to be burned, until the 

 whole apiary is "cleaned out." The 

 curative method not only arrests the 

 disease in affected colonies, but prevents 

 its spi'eading to others. This cannot be 

 done by the annihilation of those dis- 

 eased, for reasons given already, but by 

 a proper treatment of all the colonies, 

 whether affected or not. 



Certainty of success can only be ex- 

 pected of such as have made this a spe- 

 cial study. Nevertheless, as far as I am 

 concerned, I know that if a colony is 

 not too much reduced in numbers, suc- 

 cess in curing the disease is not only 

 possible, but certain, without sacrificing 

 too much of the apiary. 



Albert Kohnke. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Sept., 1880. 



After some further discussion, the 

 meeting adjourned. 



B. Salisbury, Sec. 



U3P~We are prepared to supply all new 

 subscribers with the numbers from Janu- 

 ary when it is so desired. 



