1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



231 



scenery, its immense fishing and 

 boating resources. Between the 

 numerous "keys" and the main 

 shores, the weather is balmy, the air 

 is pure and one can forget there the 

 rest of the world and its troubles. 



Treatment of European Foul- 

 brood 



By W. S. Pangburn 



Read before the students of the 



Short Course at Anus. 



THE subject of European foul- 

 brood is a very important one 

 to the beekeeper. I think I am 

 safe in saying that it is the most im- 

 portant subject with which we have 

 to deal at the present time. 



Formerly, the producing of a maxi- 

 mum crop of honey, and disposing 

 of it to the best advantage, were the 

 two subjects that deserved our most 

 careful attention. 



Shortly after the European war 

 began, the selling of honey became 

 the least of the beekeeper's troubles, 

 and will be so long as it lasts. 



Producing maximum crops is still 

 a vital question, owing to the fact 

 that European foulbrood is ravaging 

 the apiaries in many spots, and 

 maximum crops are not produced in 

 localities where it exists. 



It matters not whether you have 

 had the disease, whether you now 

 have it, or whether you have never 

 had it. It is a menace to the indus- 

 try so long as is exists, for one never 

 knows when or where it will break 

 out, either for the first time, or 

 anew. 



I do not know of a man who would 

 make the statement that he knew all 

 about the ways the disease was 

 transmitted, and could give a treat- 

 ment that would cure it to stay 

 cured. 



It is true, there are a number of 

 treatments that will clean up. the 

 disease for the season, but no assur- 

 ance for the next year. 



It seems also to be true, that some 

 methods are a success in some lo- 

 calities and a failure in others. Why 

 this is so is not entirely clear. 



In my own opinion, the disease is 

 not so virulent in some localities as 

 in others, else it would seem that if 

 a treatment had merit in one locality 

 it should work in another, but we 

 know it is not always the case. For 

 instance, about the time the disease 

 broke out in my own yard. Dr. Miller 

 wrote an article for the American 

 Bee Journal, with the head lines 

 "European Foulbrood at Dr. Mil- 

 ler's." In this article he gave three 

 different methods that he had used 

 with success, two of which I tried, 

 with little success. 



Mr. Holtermann, of Canada, tried 

 his methods, also Wesley Foster, of 

 Colorado; that is. caging the queen 

 for ten days and then releasing her 

 on the same set of combs. 



Mr. Foster came out with an arti- 

 cle condemning the plan as not suc- 

 cessful with him. His opinion was 

 identical with mine, that the disease 

 reappeared in far too .many cases to 

 be relied upon. 



I also found that a queen caged in 

 the height of egg-laying for ten days 

 was, in most cases, quite as poor as 



jrass creeps over the white sands 

 two inches, and resembling 



a dead one. I have not been the 

 only beekeeper that has found this 

 true. 



Mr. Holtermann. in the American 

 Bee Journal, said he could not help 

 but think that Dr. Miller had the 

 disease in a very mild form to yield 

 to this treatment, and T thought so 

 too. Later I learned something that 

 verified that opinion. It was that 

 Dr. Miller had the disease in his 

 yard for three years before he knew 

 that he had it, and I am quite sure 

 that if the disease had been as viru- 

 lent as it was in my yard, he would 

 have realized before three years that 

 he had something, else he would 

 have had no bees. I am satisfied 

 that two years, without treating, 

 would have put us out of the bee 

 business. 



This statement is not given with 

 any intent of belittling Dr. Miller, 

 because I have not the slightest 

 doubt that the methods he described 

 were a success with him. But the 

 idea I wish to convey is that the 

 same treatment will not always work 

 in different localities, and also that 

 the disease seems more virulent in 

 some places than others. 



I fully realize that it is a very hard 

 matter to outline a treatment that 

 will suit any and all conditions. We 

 do not always follow the same line 

 ourselves in all cases. There are 

 many things to be considered, such 

 as the man, honey flow, weather con- 

 ditions, the time of year the disease 

 appears, the condition of the bees, 

 etc. So it is only possible to outline 

 the main points. 



First, if you have never reared any 

 queens, you should learn how at 

 once. Any beekeeper should know 

 enough about queen rearing to rear 

 his or her own queens, as a young 

 queen from a good vigorous strain 

 of Italian bees is the "sine qua non" 

 in cleaning up the disease. 



When you find a colony in your 

 yard is resisting the disease, natural- 

 ly you will want to breed from that 



