1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



167 



ican foul brood cured of that disease. You 

 might as soon expect a colony of bees to 

 clean out their combs if filled with paint as 

 to expect them to be able to remove the rot- 

 ten larva? from American foul-brood combs. 

 I will admit that there are some things seem- 

 ingly about the same inP^uropean foul brood 

 and American foul brood, but in other re- 

 spects they are no more alike than the mild- 

 est case of bowel trouble and the Asiatic 

 cholera. 



Many bee-keepers are continually speaking 

 and writing of these two diseases as one and 

 the same. Now, if it were not for the young 

 and inexperienced bee-keeper I would not 

 notice this mixing up of a very important 

 matter. Then when mv critics go still further 

 and speak of the cure 1 recommended some 

 time ago for European foul brood as failing 

 to cure American foul brood, and in that 

 way belittle that cure when I from the first 

 wrote that I did not think it of any use for 

 American foul brood, they do me injusticre. 

 You might as well expect to cure American 

 foul brood by throwing a cup of cold water 

 in the grass in front of yoiar hives as to ex- 

 pect to cure it by requeening as I recom- 

 mended for European foul brood. 



The reason why American foul brood has 

 never been cleaned out of a comb is because 

 a larva that dies from that disease is so much 

 like glue that the bees can not remove it in 

 its soft state; and before it dries down it 

 penetrates with its spores into the cocoons of 

 the cell until it becomes a part of the comb 

 itself, where it can not be reached by any 

 disinfectants, nor removed by the bees. Such 

 infected cell becomes ever afterward worth- 

 less to rear brood in. But not so with Euro- 

 pean foul brood. Even in its very worst 

 stages, after the larva dies with this disease 

 it soon dries up and cleaves from the cell, 

 and is easily removed by the bees; conse- 

 quently the cell is soon ready for another 

 egg which often matures into a healthy bee. 



Another point of difference is, a larva af- 

 fected with American foul brood seldom 

 dies until about old enough to l^e capped 

 over, or after it is capped by the bees, while 

 a larva dying from the effect of European 

 foul brood seldom lives to be capped over, 

 as it usually dies when from two to four 

 days old. There is only one course of 

 treatment for American foul brood, that 

 is of any use. This is now known as the 

 McEvoy treatment. That is, to remove the 

 bees from their combs and put them on comb- 

 foundation s'arters, and in two or thi-eedays 

 remove them again to full frames of founda- 

 tion. This treatment will save the bees, 

 but is no cure for the combs, which are worth- 

 less except for wax. Fifteen years fighting 

 this disease forty years ago, when this part 

 of New York State was l)adly affected by it, 

 gave me lots of experience. At that time I 

 lost several hundred colonies with American 

 foul brood, as we had no foundation then 

 to use, and our only way was to cut out 

 the combs as fast as it appeared and melt 

 them vip. and let the ])ees build new combs 

 again. We cut the comV)S across just above 



the brood, leaving the honey in the hive with 

 a strip of comb as a starter to build on. We 

 did not then think the honey diseased, but I 

 now know it was with American foul bi'ood; 

 but with European foul brood I have my 

 doubts as to the honey being affected. 



I have given many combs of honey from 

 colonies badly diseased with European foul 

 brood to healthy colonies, and have never 

 seen a case where it had a bad effect. This 

 fact, and that of the honey, combs, and pol- 

 len of a colony badly affected with European 

 foul brood becoming perfectly healthy when 

 requeened with a young virgin, as I recom- 

 mended in my cure for European foul brood, 

 is strong evidence that the honey is not the 

 means of spreading this disease. It is very 

 easy to cure an apiary of European foul 

 brood; but the old American foul brood is 

 incurable. As I said before, you can save 

 the bees by the McEvoy treatment, but you 

 can not save the combs. 



I am well aware that on some points in 

 the above I am crossing swords with those 

 who are considered good authority; but on 

 this sul)ject in question I write the same as 

 on other subjects, simply from long and ex- 

 tensive experience. I don't take any thing 

 as fact until I have thoroughly tested it on 

 at least 50 or 100 colonies for two or more 

 years. This jumping at conclusions because 

 some one says so and so, I think but very 

 little of. 



European foul brood will spread much 

 faster through an apiary than American 

 foul brood, and kill the brood quicker than 

 any other disease that I ever dealt with. 

 Coming as it does before the colonies become 

 very strong in the spring, it soon reduces 

 them to a mere handful of discouraged bees 

 unable to accomplish any thing, and it is 

 hard for their owner to realize that he will 

 ever again have strong healthy colonies in 

 those hives. 



But don't be discouraged. I have been 

 through it all, and what we have dime you 

 can do. All that is necessary is to follow 

 the plan I recommended in the Nov. 1st, 1905. 

 issue, and you will in a short time have as 

 str<mg healthy colonies as you ever saw. 



When we had this disease, black and hy- 

 brid bees were about the only ones affected. 

 I sometimes think that, if the apiaries of 

 some bee-keepers were attai-ked with this 

 disease it would be a blessing in disguise, for 

 it would necessitate requeeniug their (M>lonies 

 at once with some good honey-gathering 

 strain of Italian bees; and if this" were done 

 about the first of June these requeened colo- 

 nies would be in a fine healthy conditicm for 

 an August harvest; and then with a good 

 working force of Italian bees their owner 

 would secure a larger surplus than he could 

 possibly have had if it were not for requeen- 

 ing to cure the disease. I think these black 

 and hybrid bees cost us nearly all we can 

 get from them, and what they lack in squar- 

 ing accounts with honey they make up in 

 stinging and boiling over and under their 

 hives when one attempts to handle them. 



Delanson. N. Y. 



