202 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



believed a strain of bees could be 

 bred tbat was practically immune to 

 foul brood. Whether this may be so 

 or not, I am not, prepared to say, but 

 certain it is, that some strains are al- 

 most entirely immune. So that you 

 will use considerable care in select- 

 ing a strong, vigorous strain of Ital- 

 ians. This, in connection with the 

 shaking treatment, which you are all 

 more or less familiar with, and which 

 has been laid down in our bulletins, 

 seems to be the key-note for the erad- 

 ication of bee- diseases, that is, so far 

 as it may be, to produce a crop. It 

 is a question if foul brood will ever 

 be thoroughly eradicated, any more 

 than the time will come iwhen you will 

 never hear of that contagious disease 

 called smallpox. The germs are al- 

 ways present somew^here, and it is 

 liable to break out under favorable 

 conditions. The favorable condition 

 to ifloul brood .is, bees weak in vitality. 

 One of your inspectors can go Into a 

 yard and tell you pretty nearly what 

 would be the result of foul brood 

 started in on that particular yard, 

 by observing the bees carefully. If 

 ■they were inbred blacks, those small, 

 little bees, and your hives' were rather 

 antiquated and unhealthy, he would 

 tell you in one season it would pretty 

 nearly wipe out your apiary. If, on 

 the other hand, they were pretty 

 strong and vigorous, he might say 

 he would give you about two sea- 

 sons before: it cleaned out the yard. 

 In case you didn't use vigorous meas- 

 ures, if they were strong at times, 

 with a low vitality, he would tell you 

 that the disease might go all around 

 you, and you might find little, if any 

 at all, in your yards. I have known a 

 man who wasn't a very good bee- 

 keeper, in fact, way under the average 

 as a bee-keeper, who had a large num- 

 ber of colonies, something over 100, 

 perhaps 150, and he had one fad, and 

 that was purchasing Italian queens, 

 and he would buy them promiscuously 

 from all over; thereby he crossed up 

 his bees and had a vigorous strain of 

 Italians by crossing, and he passed all 

 through this disease in eastern New 

 York, and while I visited his yard 

 frequently I never found a case of 

 disease that it was necessary to treat. 

 In iflact, I never found a case of dis- 

 oase in his yard. This is a strong 

 endorsement for the Italian bee. I 

 merely tell you these things, and I 



think they will be endorsed by all 

 inspectors. If you wish to be on the 

 riglit side, Italianize. 



Mr. McEvoy — This gentleman has 

 come out squarely on that. Italianize. 

 This black brood originates among the 

 blacks and other crosses, and it is 

 the outcome of neglected and uncared- 

 for brood. The blackss are poor feed- 

 ers and caretakers, and what this gen- 

 tleman has said about them dwindling 

 down, and the disease making head- 

 way, is correct. The best cure for 

 that is to Italianize, and don't let the 

 disfease get headway. You can't save 

 combs from foul brood, that is, once 

 the matter is dried down and glued 

 fast, because it is there as long as a 

 comb lasts. 



Mr. Wright — iMost of the members 

 know where I stand on that question, 

 because I ihave given it a number of 

 times to the National) Association. I 

 also believe in Italianizing In advance 

 of the disease. That is the best pre- 

 ventive measure. After the disease 

 gets in, in handling it, about the only 

 way to do is to Italianize as soon' as 

 possible, and if your bees are all 

 Italianized you will have very little 

 trouble afterwards. I have had many 

 examples of Italian bee-yards in dis- 

 eased territories, and I have gone in 

 and found very ifiew diseased colonies 

 in the yards. If the disease is prev- 

 alent Ve nearly always look into the 

 black and hybrid colonies, and that is 

 generally where we find it. 



Mr. 'McEvoy — The Italians are the 

 greatest house -cleaners. If a little 

 larva dies, they will clean it out; they 

 are the greatest feeders and the great- 

 est house-cleaners, and it is to every 

 person's interest to work the Italians. 

 I can endorse what Mr. Wright says, 

 every word of it. 



Mr. Stewart — Another point I want 

 to call your attention to, and that is' 

 along the lines of the Italians that are 

 not so vigorous as others. It was 

 a puzzle at one time how black brood 

 spread so rapidly, and rather by ac- 

 cident than long series of experiments- 

 we discovered how it spread. I was 

 traveling in the northern part of the 

 State, of farther north than this, 

 where there was one man had some 

 very fine Italians among the rest, and 

 a few colonies of goldens, and in trav- 

 eling over the country we found these 

 golden Italians got very badly dis- 

 eased. About four miles away, we 



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