.THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



67T 



and to render available all discoveries 

 and appliances, both scientific and 

 mechanical, beekeeping would to- 

 day be where our fathers left it thirty 

 years ago. 



In this headlong rush of improve- 

 ment, as might be expected, mistakes 

 are often made, good things are con- 

 demned, and bad ones showed into 

 prominence ; yet through the agency 

 of a few patient and careful investi- 

 gators, assisted by the great corrector 

 — time— the truth finally emerges 

 from the confused mass of clashing 

 opinions all the brighter for having 

 passed the fiery ordeal. 



The subject under consideration 

 forms no exception to this general 

 method of treatment, but rather 

 stands as its chief representative. 

 Scores of theories have from time to 

 time been propounded, all confirmed 

 by some and exploded by others, and 

 still our " little pets " continue to be 

 starved, boiled and burned. 



It is the purpose of this essay to 

 suggest that probably the true theory 

 and radical, cure of foul brood has 

 already been discovered and con- 

 firmed, but either through prejudice 

 or faulty experiment, a suspicion of 

 " humbug" has been cast upon it, and 

 so, many suffering apiarists have 

 failed to avail themselves of its kindly 

 aid. I refer to what is known as the 

 " phenol cure " advanced by Mr. 

 Cheshire, of England, the details of 

 whose extensive experiments are 

 familiar to most apiarists. I will not 

 detain you by attempting to enlighten 

 you as to what foul brood is, its ap- 

 pearance and indescribable yet never- 

 to-be-mistaken odor, etc., but I will 

 recite my owa personal experience 

 and final complete triumph over it, 

 leaving others to judge the value of 

 the method employed. 



In October, 1885, I took charge of 

 an apiary in Cuba, numbering nearly 

 400 colonies in two-story hives, sit 

 uated on the side of a hill and 

 completely protected by wide, high 

 sheds from sun and vain. The utmost 

 cleanliness and good order prevailed 

 in all its appointments. The high 

 and dry country and delicious climate 

 left nothing in outward appearance 

 to suggest disease, and vet I found 

 nearly 100 colonies afflicted with foul 

 brood, fifty of which were very bad 

 indeed. The then superintendent 

 had for some time been boiling hives 

 and frames, burning combs and starv- 

 ing the bees, but had about given up 

 in despair, saying that he believed 

 the disease would continue to increase 

 until the whole apiary would be 

 utterly destroyed. I suggested that 

 now would be a fitting opportunity of 

 testing the phenol cure, but I was 

 assured that this cure had been thor- 

 oughly tested and found wanting ; 

 that its originator was either a hum- 

 bug, or that his bees had had a differ- 

 ent kind of foul brood. 



That phenol had been used with a 

 lavish hand was attested by numer- 

 ous empty bottles bearing that label, 

 and by others of larger size contain- 

 ing the liquid mixed ready for use, 

 but that Mr. Cheshire was a humbug 

 I could not tolerate for a moment, 

 and the idea of two distinct kinds of 



real foul brood was certainly very 

 doubtful. However, I determined on 

 entering on uiy duties as " new super- 

 intendent." to give the formula of 

 Mr. Cheshire a full and fair trial, and 

 if successtul to wait a sufficient time 

 for the disease to reappear, if it 

 would, before giving my experience 

 to the bee-keeping public. I procured 

 several bottles of pure phenol crystals, 

 dissolved them by placing the bottle 

 in hot water, and put one small meas- 

 ure full of the liquid into a tin pail, 

 then with the same measure 1 added 

 499 parts of a mixture composed of 3^ 

 pure honey and % water, and made a 

 plain mark on the inside of the pail 

 as high up from the bottom as the 

 liquid came, and so had a correct 

 measure by which 1 could make feed 

 rapidly. 



When heated to 150°, Fahr., the 

 bees would eat it with avidity. I 

 placed well filled combs of this feed 

 in open hives in all the infected 

 places, and besides visited the bad 

 cases regularly every three days, 

 taking out the combs one by one and 

 thoroughly sprinkling them with the 

 liquid. In two or three weeks I could 

 perceive a marked improvement, and 

 in three months the disease had 

 almost entirely disappeared, except in 

 three or four mild cases, purposely 

 left to see if they would get well with- 

 out treatment. As they did not they 

 were then taken in hand and cured 



Nearly a year has now passed, and 

 from frequent and very recent advices 

 direct from the apiary, I learn that it 

 has not reappeai ed, but that the bees 

 are in fine condition, and give promise 

 of great results when the season tor 

 surplus again arrives. In the experi- 

 ments made with phenol, before the 

 one I have recited, the solution was 

 entirely too strovg, as it turned the 

 combs red ; it was used too sparingly, 

 and lastly it was not half sweet 

 enough, nor warm enough, and the 

 bees would hardly eat it at all. 



Foul brood is not " indigenous" in 

 Cuba, there not being a case on re- 

 cord in all the native apiaries ; then 

 how could it occur in this particular 

 apiary i* From several circumstances 

 I am led to believe that it came 

 through queens imported from in- 

 fected districts in some of the British 

 North American provinces. I have 

 made many experiments, and have 

 satisfied myself that the baccilli pro- 

 ducing the disease belong mainly to 

 the queen's ovaries. I would like to 

 point out cases where requeening is 

 necessary in treating the disease, and 

 make several suggestions, but as my 

 essay is now longer than intended, I 

 will close by recommending all in- 

 terested to follow Mr. Cheshire's 

 formula literally and accurately, and 

 they will not regret it. 



R. L. Taylor said : I think that 

 the description generally given of 

 foul brood is not correctly interpreted 

 by some. Many think that before the 

 bees have foul brood the combs must 

 be full of dead brood ; that the dead 

 larvsecanbe drawn out to a yard in 

 length, and the odor so great that it 

 can be detected by walking past the 

 hive. Such are not the facts ; at least 



not in the first .stages of the diseas3. 

 At first but a few cells of diseased 

 brood will be found, the dead larvae 

 has a look resembling coffee with 

 milk in it ; it can be stretched out to 

 the length of an inch, while the odor 

 is not noticeable unless the nose is 

 brought close to the brood. The larvae 

 shrinks and dries up until it looks 

 like a speck of tar upon the lower side 

 of the cell. I do not feel competent 

 to criticise Mr. Frank Cheshire, but 

 foul brood, in my apiary, was spread 

 by thefeeaing(unknowingly)of honey 

 taken from colonies affected witn 

 foul brood. 



Wm. F. Clarke— I think that Mr. 

 Taylor is mistaken. The genuine 

 foul brood is of the color or coffee 

 without milk, and it does not dry up, 

 and the stench is so great that in- 

 stead of striving to use the nose, it 

 needs protecting. 



R. L. Taylor— When the disease 

 reaches an advanced stage, some of 

 the characteristics mentioned by Mr. 

 Clarke may be present. I am curing 

 the foul brood by the starvation plan. 



C. F. Muth agreed with Mr. Taylor. 



Mr. A. I. Root gave a history of the 

 breaking out in his apiary of foul 

 brood. He thought it probable that 

 it was brought there in honey that he 

 had bought, to which the bees in 

 some manner had gained access. 

 They were taking away the combs 

 from diseased colonies and burning 

 the combs. They first used a tent to 

 put over a colony when shaking off 

 the bees, but this practice was discon- 

 tinued, as flying bees that were out- 

 side the tent and belonging to the 

 diseased colony entered other hives 

 when unable to enter their own, and 

 thus spread the disease. By placing 

 the nose at the entrance of a hive, the 

 disease could often be detected very 

 quickly in its very earliest stages. 



Rev. W. F. Clarke then read the 

 following essay on 



THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF 

 THE N. A. B. K. SOCIETY. 



It is not my purpose to treat this 

 theme in a way of sentiment. That 

 has been done very skillfully by 

 another hand, and "the harp" of a 

 thousand strings " has been touched 

 into plaintive strains in view of the 

 lapse of time and the passing away to 

 " the beyond " of most of those who 

 were prominently active in founding 

 this organization. As one of the few 

 who yet remain, and must soon go 

 over to the majority, I might fitly 

 dwell on life's brevity, and the duty 

 of diligence while its little day lasts. 

 I might recall many reminiscences of 

 departed ones, read a chapter of lam- 

 entations on their loss, and, like 

 many a long-visaged divine, ply you 

 with exhortations on the uncertainty 

 of sublunary things, and the vanity 

 of man as mortal. But these topics 

 are not in my line. Neither my phil- 

 osophy nor my religion teach me that 

 there is any virtue in solemnity. I 

 can see some sense in being cheerful 

 and joyous. Gladness lubricates the 

 wheels of life, but solemnity is a drag 

 and a break. The most solemn ani- 

 mal is the ass ; the most solemn bird 

 is the owl. " Stupid as an ass," and, 



