THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 425 



My Experience With Foul Brood 



By HOWARD SCHARFF. 



^^fl' NOTICED that the larvae in some colonies was in a diseased 

 Jl condition, but did not pay much attention to the matter at the 

 time, thinking that it was from shortage of pollen. I could not 

 believe at the time that it was a contagious disease, and as I wanted to 

 increase I kept on dividing my colonies. Having a couple of colonies 

 in box hives, I transferred them into patent hives. While transferring 

 I noticed the l^rood was in a diseased condition, one having considerable 

 honey, which I extracted and fed to several other colonies, which also 

 contracted the disease. I let things simmer along till August, noticing 

 the disease getting worse all the time — a smell emitting from the apiary 

 much like glue. I began to fear it was American or European foul 

 brood, so I sent sample to the Bureau of Entomology. They replied 

 on the eighth of September that it was American foul brood. Realizing 

 now that I had a job before me, I began to study the different treat- 

 ments as advocated. I decided to give the McEvoy method the first 

 trial. I treated four or five colonies by this method, when I became dis- 

 satisfied with it for several reasons : 



First — When I shook two or three on the same day, the bees taken 

 from their brood and put on starters were dissatisfied. Having the 

 entrances covered with queen-excluding zinc, the bees would swarm out, 

 and while in the air another swarm would issue, uniting with the first 

 and going iiack into one hive. 



Second — There was too much danger of a robber bee getting a load 

 vv'iiile shaking. 



I next tried the bee-escape method. A bee-escape board was secured 

 and a strip tacked around the top side, outside edge. A two-inch space 

 was sawed out of the front center of this strip, making an entrance. 

 This entrance was provided with a two-inch wide alighting board, remov- 

 able so the bee-escape leading down to the entrance could be quickly 

 put in place. A bee-escape was also placed in the center of the escape 

 board. 



The treatment was begun in the "afternoon or evening, the queen 

 first being caged and left between the combs. 



The diseased hive was lifted up from the bottom board and the 

 bee-escape board, with entrance and alighting board attached, placed 

 between. The bees were then left undisturbed until morning, when 

 they were flying freely. 



The prepared hive for receiving the bees was filled with full sheets 

 of foundation, except for a frame of brood from a healthy colony placed 

 in the center. 



If no honey was coming in, an Alexander feeder was attached at 

 the rear of the hive. 



