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22 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT 



crements from the adult bees. Please examine closely this 

 half-tone print, which I photographed from a diseased comb 

 containing all Stages of foul brood. This comb came from 

 the last living weak colony of a once large and profitable 

 apiary. 



TREATMENT. 



"A bee-keeper who does not discover foul brood, before 

 his nostrils remind him that there is something wrong with 

 his bees, is not -the proper person to treat the case." Dr. 

 Howard, in his valuable book on foul brood, states : "I regard 

 the use of all drugs in the treatment of foul brood as a use- 

 less waste of time and material, wholly ineffectual, inviting 

 ruin and total loss of bees. Any method which has not for "^ 

 its object the entire removal of all infectious material beyond 

 the reach of both bees and brood will prove detrimental and 

 destructive, and surely encourage the recurrence of the dis- 

 ease." In Wisconsin I have tried many methods of treat- 

 ment, and cured some cases with each method, but the one 

 that never fails, if carefully followed, and that commends 

 itself is . the McEvoy treatment. Canada's foul brood in- 

 spector, has cured foul brood by the wholesale — thousands of 

 cases. 



MCEVOY TREATMENT. 



"In the honey season when the bees are gathering honey 

 freely, remove the combs in the evening and shake the bees 

 into their own hives ; give them frames with comb-foundation 

 starters and let them build comb for four days. The bees 

 will make the starters into comb during the four days and 

 store the diseased honey in them, which they took with them 

 from the old comb. Then in the evening of the fourth day 

 take out the new combs and give them comb foundation 

 (full sheets) to work out, and then the cure will be com- 

 plete. By this method of treatment all the diseased honey 

 is removed ;from the bees before the full sheets of foundation 

 are worked out. All the old foul-brood combs must be 

 burned or carefully made into wax after they are removed 

 from the hives, and all the new combs made out of the start- 

 ers during the four days must be burned or made into wax, 

 on account of the diseased honey that would be stored in 

 them. All the curing or treating of diseased colonies should 

 be done in the evening, so as- not to have any robbing done, 

 or cause any of the bees from the diseased colonies to mix and 

 ^o with the bees of healthy colonies. ' By doing all the work in 

 the evening it gives the bees a chance to settle down nicely 

 before morning, and then there is no confusion or trouble. 

 This same method of curing colonies of foul brood can be car- 

 ried on at any time from May to October, when the bees are 

 not getting any honey, by feeding plenty of sugar syrup in the 

 evenings to take the place of the honey-flow. It will start 

 the bees robbing and spread the disease to work with foul 

 brood colonies in warm days when the bees are not gathering 



