330 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Jamaica — an island where the nati\ es boast- 

 ed of the absence of foul brood, although 

 there were whisperings to the contrary; 

 but it appeared in Fatjo's ai)iaries. And 

 again there was the question that was not 

 satisfactorily answered, "Where did it come 

 from?" 



From the Atlantic to the Pacific, similar 

 instances have come under my personal ob- 

 servation. American foul brood mysterious- 

 ly appears in the apiary of some progressive 

 bee-keeper, and in like manner has been the 

 progress of Eurojiean foul brood, or black 

 brood, as it is sometimes called. 



A few years ago it appeared in New York, 

 and now we have it on the Pacific coast; and 

 again the question comes, " How did it get 

 here?" 



I was in Havana one .July day several 

 years ago, and was discussing the subject of 

 apiculture with a man who had come to the 

 island and had been interested in bees be- 

 fore the introduction of the frame hive. 

 "Foul brood," he said, "prior to the intro- 

 duction of the frame hive, did not exist in 

 Cuba. But a i)rogressive bee-keeper arriv- 

 ed, and scientific bee-keeping had its birth. 

 Queens were imported from the United 

 States and other countries." He stated that 

 a firm in the I'nited States that reared 

 queens had colonies which were affected 

 with foul brood, and, during that time, ship- 

 ped queens to him, and the disease made its 

 appearance in his apiary. How did it origi- 

 nate? 



While on a trij) to California a few years 

 ago I visited the apiary of a well-known 

 bee-keeper who was at that time advertising 

 "sage queens " for sale. It happened that 

 he was not at home, so I wandered around 

 and investigated his queen-rearing outfit, 

 and found foul brood. 



On another occasion, while at the home 

 of a prominent New York bee-keeper, I met 

 two of the State insi)ectors. In the course 

 of our con\ersation they stated that, a short 

 time before, they had visited a well-known 

 queen-breeder iii whose ai)iaries foul-brood 

 existed. He was then advertising queens 

 for sale in the principal bee-journals, and 

 continued to do so during the rest of the 

 season. 



Among bee-keepers throughout the coun- 

 try L have found the idea quite prevalent 

 tliat certain i)hysical conditions will i^roduce 

 foul brood. One tokl me that moldy combs 

 placed in the brootl-nest are its cause. An- 

 other thought that sour honey, if fed to the 

 brood, Mould have that effect, and still an- 

 other, that a spell of damp rainy weather 

 during the svimmer is the cause. 



In answer to these arguments it is only 

 necessary to state that, if they are true, spon- 

 taneous "generation is a reality. However, 

 careful exi)eriments have been made to find 

 out whether life can l^e produced spontane- 

 ously, and they have always failed to jmo- 

 duce even the" germ. So, Mr. Bee-keeper, 

 if you have foul brood in your apiary you 

 got the germ somewhere. 



Banning, Cal. 



EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD IN NEW YORK 

 STATE. 



Some Instances Showing that Italian Blood is Ab- 

 solutely Essential in Permanently Curing the 

 Disease; Not Necessary to Destroy Combs. 



BY S. D. HOUSE. 



Since in many apiaries the disease known 

 as foul brood will appear for the first time 

 this year, ])erhaps it may be well to give 

 some of my experiences with Kurojiean foul 

 brood and its cure. I understand that it 

 exists in forty-five counties in New York, 

 and in thirty-nine States in the Union; also 

 in Canada; and a disease so widespread and 

 destructive in its work can not be given too 

 much attention if we are to check so great a 

 loss. I believe in the old saying, that "fore- 

 warned is forearmed;" therefore I will state 

 a few cases to ])rove that the cure and exter- 

 mination of Euroi)ean foul brood must de- 

 pend ui)on Italian bees, and that the spread 

 of the disease will not cease until the bee- 

 kee})ers of this continent Italianize their 

 apiaries before the appearance of the trou- 

 ble. Many bee-keepers neglect to grasp the 

 advantage of some system or method given 

 by those who have been through the siege 

 and gained their experience at a great loss 

 of time and money. 



I have had this remark made to me often, 

 of late: "If I had only taken your advice, 

 and Italianzed my bees, I would have saved 

 several hundred dollars." I do not wish to 

 convey the idea that the Italian bees are en- 

 tirely immune to the disease, for they are 

 not; and I find that the different strains 

 vary in combating disease as much as they 

 do in other characteristics. However, I will 

 say that a i)ure Italian apiary will not con- 

 tract the disease unless it is directly intro- 

 duced. On the other hand, the disease can 

 not be cured to stat/ cured ujjon the same 

 ground, no matter what method is followed, 

 unless i)ure Italians are introduced. Final- 

 ly, the disease will not destroy a normal 

 IHire Italian cojony, even if no assistance is 

 given them except a natural how of honey. 

 Fig. 1 shows an Italian colony in my home 

 apiary, one of three that never haci Euro- 

 pean foul brood, although it raged in this 

 a])iary for three years. At one time 160 col- 

 onies* were badly affected. The (jueen of 

 this colony, at "the time the ])icture was 

 taken, was seven years old. and a grand- 

 daughter of the A. I. Root Co.'s red-clover 

 (|ueen that was so renowned for honey-gath- 

 ering i)ropensities. Fig. No. 2 is one of her 

 frames of l^rood. She was superseded some 

 three weeks later. Figs. '^ and 4 show one 

 of the hives and a frame of brood that the 

 Euroi)ean foxil brood first appeared in, in the 

 spring of 1905. This hive was one of four- 

 teen that were i)urchased in the fall of 1904, 

 and the only one I have holding this style 

 of frame, the combs of which I should judge 

 to be 1 wenty-five or thirty years old. I have 

 kei)l this liive and combs to show to visi- 

 tors, and prove that European foul brood 

 can be cured to stay cured, icithout destroy- 



