22 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



CURING FOUL BROOD WITHOUT MEDICA- 

 TION. 



The Alexander Treatment for Black Brood 

 Successful with Foul Brood in England. 



BY SAMUEL SIMMINS. 



I am glad to see by your issue of Nov. 1 

 that Mr. Alexander has been able to apply 

 to the cure of black brood the very same 

 treatment which I have for many years ad- 

 vocated as a certain cure in the case of foul 

 brood. 



In my 1888 edition of a "Modern Bee- 

 farm," and again in the issue for 1893, I laid 

 great stress upon the necessity of removing 

 the old queen where disease was found, and 

 then introducing a young and vigorous one 

 after an interval which would allow of the 

 bees removing the foul matter. 



In Bee Chat during 1898, '9, I repeatedly 

 insisted upon the great necessity of this all- 

 important point, and in the issue for August, 

 1899, this fact of allowing an interval with- 

 out breeding was again set forth in the 

 clearest possible manner, pages 27 and 29. 



The several propositions then published in 

 Bee Chat were reproduced in the 1904 edition 

 of "A Modern Bee- farm," and on page 121 

 you will find these words: "These, being 

 queenless for a period, cleaned up every ves- 

 tige of the disease before the young queen 

 again made up a brood-nest. . . Make a 

 note of this last fact in big capital letters, 

 for I have never known Italian or Carniolan 

 bees (with a virgin queen), when fairly nu- 

 merous, to refuse to clear out all evidence 

 of disease during the active season of honey- 

 gathering. . . It is simply a question of 

 manipulation by the bee-keeper at the right 

 moment; for, strange as it may appear, the 

 above results were attained without medi- 

 cine in any form." 



Again, on page 123: "The disease was not 

 only once but repeatedly disposed of without 

 destroying the combs, without medicine, and 

 with no manipulation of the diseased cells 

 whatever. ' ' 



' ' There was in each case granted an in- 

 terval of two to three weeks without a lay- 

 ing queen, during which space of time, the 

 population being numerous, and honey com- 

 ing in, all the diseased matter was disposed 

 of. Even then we have been taught to be- 

 lieve the bees could not dispose of every 

 cause of infection. But what are the facts? 

 The bees having thoroughly cleared out ev- 

 ery particle of soil suitable for the germs to 

 thrive in — and this they will not readily do 

 all the time they have a laying queen, etc." 



The foregoing, including the italics, is re- 

 produced from Bee Chat for 1899; but where- 

 as Mr. Alexander destroyed his queens right 

 away, I find, except in extreme cases, the 

 better plan is to keep them going with 

 swarms upon new foundation so that there 

 will be no loss of brood. I have also shown 

 in my work, and in a previous article in 

 Gleanings, how these swarms may be made 

 with no danger of carrying disease; while 

 the young bees left on the old combs with- 



out a queen (or with a queen-cell or virgin) , 

 are even better situated for cleaning them 

 out, and there is not so much fear of fresh 

 honey clogging the cells. 



Moreover, in suitable weather two or three 

 lots can be swarmed into one to great ad- 

 vantage, in that there is little if any loss of 

 actual honey- gathering, and rather an in- 

 crease instead of a ruinous stoppage in 

 breeding; while the old queenless stocks may 

 or may not be doubled up according to the 

 requirements of the apiary. 



The introduction of a young and vigorous 

 queen after the interval without a fertile 

 queen is a principle I have strongly advocat- 

 ed for the past twenty years; and though I 

 have shown how it can be made effectual, 

 even without medicine, very few would be- 

 lieve me; while in your own case, while ad- 

 mitting that I had made a study of the sub- 

 ject, you apparently went on to think the 

 bees in England must be more immune than 

 those with you, which, however, is not the 

 case. As a matter of fact, my law will 

 hold good for all who care to follow it. 



Then why advocate the izal treatment? 

 Because, first of all, it is a preventive, and 

 immediately checks infection, so that one 

 knows that, in using it, he is keeping every 

 thing clean. Next, it is useful when ordi- 

 nary manipulations are not possible and the 

 bees are not sufficiently active to help them- 

 selves. Thus if a stock is fed up with izal 

 in the syrup in autumn, they have a safe- 

 guard all through the dull springtime, and 

 are probably cured before the honey season 

 opens. Lastly, it helps those bee-keepers 

 who can not make up their minds that, even 

 in the active season, the bees can be helped 

 to get rid of the disease without medication. 



In conclusion I will now say that I have 

 been able to go a long step beyond all these 

 manipulations, in that I am curing with no 

 medicine, no swarming, and no broodless in- 

 terval. I am able to put my queens right 

 on to combs full of brood more or less dis- 

 eased, and these queens walk right through 

 it, and bring the stock out clean every time. 

 I don't think there is any class of bee dis- 

 ease to which they will not put a stop. 



Broomham, Heathfield, England, Nov. 24. 



THE ALEXANDER METHOD FOR CURING 

 BLACK BROOD ENDORSED. 



Also a Cure for Foul Brood. 



BY E. M. GIBSON. 



It was with a great deal of interest that 

 we read the cure for black brood in Glean- 

 ings, page 1125, by E. W. Alexander, and 

 our interest was all the more intense as it 

 corroborates some experiences we have had 

 with foul brood this past summer. We had 

 foul-brood colonies in two apiaries which 

 were queenless for some time on account 

 of our discontinuing queen- rearing, think- 

 ing that our apiaries were as good as lost 

 when we found we had foul brood. Just at 

 this critical time Gleanings came to the 



