I, 



18 



SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



originates from chilled or dead brood. 

 Dr. Howard, of Texas, one of the best 

 practical modern scientific experi- 

 menters, a man of authority, has prov- 

 ed beyond a doubt that chilled or com- 

 mon dead brood does not produce foul 

 brood. I have, in the lasit five years, 

 also proven his statements to be true 

 in Wisconsin, but I do believe such 

 conditions of dead brood are the most 

 favorable places for lodg^ment and 

 rapid growth of diseases. Also, I do 

 not believe foul brood germs are float- 

 ing in the air, for, if they were, why 

 would not every brood-comb cell of an 

 infected hive become diseased? I be- 

 lieve that this disease spreads only as 

 the adult bees come in contact with it, 

 which is often through robber-bees. 

 Brood-combs should not be removed 

 from any colony on cold or windy days, 

 nor should they be left for a moment 

 in the direct rays of sunshine on hot 

 days. 



2. The foul brood may be caused by 

 the need of proper food and tempera- 

 ture. Generally this disease does not 

 appear to be serious during a honey- 

 flow, but at the close of the honey sea- 

 son, or at times of scarcity, it is quite 

 serious, and as ithe bees at such times 

 will ,rob anywhere they can find stores, 

 whether from healthy or diseased 

 combs, it is the duty of every bee- 

 keeper to keep everything carefully 

 protected. Hive-entrances contracted, 

 no old combs or any article with a 

 drop of honey in where the bees can 

 get ito it. While honey is coming in 

 from the various flowers, quite a por- 

 tion is used direct as food for the lar- 

 val bee, and with such no disease 

 would be ^ed to the bees. Such fed 

 bees, even 'in a diseased hive, will hatch, 

 as is often the case. I never knew a 

 case where a bee hatched from a 

 brood cell that had ever had foul brood 

 in. If the germs of disease are there 

 in the dried scale ajttached to the lower 

 side walls, bees will store honey there- 

 in, the queen will deposit eggs, or the 

 cell may be filled with pollen, or bee- 

 bread, as some call it. Said honey or 

 pollen, when it comes in contact with 

 those germs of disease, or the food 

 given to the young bee, if in ithe 

 proper temperature, said germs of dis- 

 ease will grow and develop rapidly. 



Causes of Contagion. 



I fully believe that if the history of 

 foul brood in Wisconsin were known, 

 nearly every case could be traced to 



contagion from diseased combs, honey 

 or from some diseased queen-breeders' 

 cages. Here are some instances where 

 I have traced the history of contagion 

 in Wisconsin: 



1. Diseased apiaries, also single 

 colonies, sold either at auction or pri- 

 vate sale. Several law-suits have re- 

 sulted in the settlement of some of the 

 cases. 



2. Brood-combs and various imple- 

 ments from diseased hives, used by 

 other bee-keepers, and borrowed ar- 

 ticles. 



3. All the bees in an apiary dead 

 from foul brood, and the hives having 

 an abundance of honey in the brood- 

 combs, said combs placed out by the 

 side of hives so that neighbor's bees 

 might get the honey. From those 

 combs I lined robber bees to seven other 

 apiaries, and each time became dis- 

 eased and were treated. 



4. Robber bees working on empty 

 honey-packages in the back-yards of 

 grocery stores and baking factories. 

 Said honey came from diseased apiar- 

 ies, some located in far distant States, 

 even Cuba. 



5. Loaning of hives, combs, extrac- 

 tors, and even empty honey-packages. 



6. Buying honey from strangers, or 

 not knowing "where it was produced, 

 and feeding it to bees without boiling 

 the honey. 



7. Too common a practice of using 

 old brood-combs from some apiary 

 where the owner's bees have died from 

 "bad luck," as he calls it. 



8. Queen-bee — by buying queen-bees 

 from strangers and introducing her in 

 the cages they came in. I have traced 

 several new outbreaks of the disease 

 to the hives where such queens were 

 introduced, and the queens came from 

 distant States. To be safe, on arrival 

 of queen, put her carefully alone in a 

 new and clean cage with good food in 

 it. Keep her in there, warm and com- 

 fortable, for a few hours before intro- 

 ducing. The shipping cage and every 

 bee that came with the queen should 

 be put in the stove and burned. I do 

 not think there is any danger from 

 the queen so treated, even from, dis- 

 eased hives, but I do know of many 

 cases where disease soon appeared in 

 the hives where the shipping-cage and 

 bees were put in with the colony. The 

 great danger is in the food iij»<«Baid 

 cage being made from diseased honey. 

 I was called to attend a State bee- 

 keepers' meeting in another State and 



