APRIL 1, 1916 



273 



tically stamped out of several other badly 

 infected areas also. I am now serving the 

 state in the capacity of aj^iary inspector. 



Any one conversant with the bee literature 

 of today knows that more confusion is re- 

 sulting eveiy day from the many so-called 

 treatments for the cure of European foul 

 brood, and all the time the disease marches 

 triumphantly on. It has swept over whole 

 counties and states, and bids fair (as I 

 understand) to sweep over the whole of 

 Canada. Some of the best beekeeping coun- 

 ties of Pennsylvania are practically deplet- 

 ed of bees by its ravages, and the end is 

 not yet. This is true of other states also. 

 Shall we ever be able, then, to conquer and 

 bring under control this scourge among 

 bees, or shall we throw up our hands and 

 give up beekeeping as a bad job? I say, 

 give up — never! It can be stamjaed out of 

 an apiary or community. 



As to eradicating this disease from the 

 country, that is a question of right legisla- 

 tion backed up by adequate funds and the 

 employment of experts who will use radical 

 methods of treating it. Up to date I know 

 of no state that possesses that happy com- 

 bination. But I have faith enough in the 

 bee business to believe that the time will 

 come, at no distant day, when it will be 

 recognized and cared for adequately. 



I do not wish to add anything to the 

 confusion and losses resulting from the im- 

 proper treatment of European foul brood; 

 but I do wish to pierce Mr. Holtermann's 

 cloud of gloom with a ray of hojDe and 

 comfort. Before I knew how to handle this 

 disease, and while experimenting with many 

 so-called cures, I lost hundreds of dollars' 

 worth of bees. Others have done the same 

 thing. I know it is a serious jiestilence ; 

 but, on the other hand, I know jjositively 

 that it can be stamped out. To do this 

 involves the fundamental principle used in 

 fighting many diseases with which we are 

 familiar — i. e., sanitation. Sanitary mea- 

 sures used in combating epidemics of ty- 

 phoid, cholera, smallpox, etc., need no dis- 

 cussion. The simple expedient of remov- 

 ing the bees away from all infected material 

 into a clean hive where they can build up 

 anew, if properly done, will positively cure 

 European foul brood with no danger of its 

 recuiTence unless the bees rob it somewhere 

 or have it carried to them. 



I want to go on record, without fear of 

 successful contradiction, that the beekeeper 

 who treats his bees infected with European 

 foul brood exactly as he would for Amer- 

 ican foul brood (two shakes) will eradicate 

 the disease from his apiaries. Those who 

 advccate many of the so-called short cuts 



(most of them long cuts) have n<it been 

 able to i)rove to the satisfaction of the bee- 

 keeping world that they can eradicate the 

 disease. The very fact that they are con- 

 tinually looking for it and expecting it to 

 break out again shows that something is 

 wrong, either with the men or the methods. 

 Why don't they get rid of it? 



I might give my long list of exjieriments 

 and failures as well as the ruined apiaries 

 I have found as a result of unsuccessful 

 treatment, but it would take too long. We 

 have had it in this locality as badly as any- 

 where, but it is here no longer. 



We must all admit that some experts in 

 some localities and under some conditions 

 may do some things that we common mor- 

 tals can't do. Now, if they can cure Euro- 

 pean foul brood by dequeening and re- 

 queening, etc., that is the thing for them to 

 do. I must admit that I can't do it without 

 a feeling that it is pretty sui-e to recur some 

 time in the future. From what I have seen 

 in my visits in hundreds of infected api- 

 aries, I know that the rank and file of bee- 

 keepers can't do it either. I could show 

 that the shaking treatment is the most 

 economical, anyway. Dequeening and re- 

 queening, Italian bees, etc., are of no avail 

 so far as a sure cure' is concerned. They 

 are helps, and should be used in connection 

 with a cure, but helps only. In order to 

 keep your bees clean it is necessary, of 

 course, to have the surrounding tenitory 

 clean so that your bees will have no place 

 from which to carry it by robbing. 



MY METHOD IN BRIEF. 



Any colony showing the disease is shaken 

 at once. If the infection is general in the 

 apiary, which is probable in an outbreak of 

 European foul brood, all colonies are shak- 

 en in order to run no risk on those that do 

 not show it. Good combs of honey are ex- 

 tracted, and the combs, with all other emp- 

 ty combs, are melted up. Combs containing 

 diseased brood, if bad, are burned. Enough 

 bees are left on the brood to care for it, and 

 this brood is then stacked up two, three, or 

 four stories high, in an isolated corner of 

 the yard to be shaken in 21 days. The en- 

 trances to these stacks of brood must be 

 small so that the bees can protect them. 

 The cover and the whole thing, in fact, must 

 be bee-tight excepting the small entrance. 

 There is no danger of robbing if well done. 

 Strong colonies will result from this brood 

 when shaken. The combs are then to be 

 melted up. 



The first shake is on starters attached to 

 strijDS of lath. Three oi- four are all that 

 is necessary. The second shake at the end 

 of three days is on full sheets of foundation. 



