20 



SEVENTH ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



either the shapeless mass of dark- 

 brown matter, on the lower side of the 

 cell, often with a wrinkled skin cov- 

 ering as if a fine thread had been in- 

 serted in the skin lengthwise and 

 drawn' enough to form rib-like streaks 

 on either side. Later on it becomes 

 hardened, nearly black in color, and 

 in time dries down to be as thin as the 

 side-walls of the cell. Often there 

 will be a small dried bunch at the 

 front end of the cell not larger than 

 a part of common pin-head. To see 

 it plainly, take the comb by the top- 

 bar and hold it so that a good light 

 falls into the cell at an angle of 75 

 degrees from the top of the comb, 

 while your sight falls upon the cell 

 at an angle of about 45 degrees. The 

 scales, if present, will easily be seen 

 as above described. This stage of dis- 

 ease in- combs is easily seen and is 

 always a sure guide or proof of foul 

 brood. Such combs can never be used 

 safely by the bees artd must be either 

 burned or carefully melted. Be sure 

 not to mistalj^ such marked combs in 

 the spring for those soiled with bee- 

 dysentery. The latter have a some- 

 what similar appearance but are more 

 or less surface soiled, and will also be 

 spotted or have streaked appearance 

 by the dark-brown sticky excrements 

 from the adult bees. 



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 per- 

 son 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 

 useless waste of time and material, 

 wholly ineffectual, inviting ruin and 

 totial) loss of bees. Any method which 

 has not for its object the entire re- 

 moval of all infectious material be- 

 yond the reach of both bees and brood 

 will prove 'detrimental and destructive, 

 and surely encourage the recurrence 

 of the- disease." In Wisconsin I have 

 tried many methods of treatment, and 

 cured some cases with each method, 

 but the one that never fails, if care- 

 fully followed, and that commends it- 

 self is the McEvoy treatment. Cana- 

 da's foul brood inspector has cured 

 foul brood by the wholesale — 'thou- 

 sands 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 w'ith 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 aid comb. Then in the evenin-g of 

 the fourth day take out the new 

 combs and give them comb-foun- 

 dation (full sheets) to work out, 

 and then the cure will be complete. 

 By this method of treatment all the 

 d'iseased honey is removed from the 

 bees before the full sheets of. founda- 

 tion are worked out. All the old foul- 

 brood combs must be burned or care- 

 fully made into wax, after they are 

 removed from the hives, and all the 

 new combs made out of the starters 

 diiring 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 go 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 ibrood can 'be carried on at 

 any time from May to October, when 

 the bees are not getting any honey, by 

 feeding plenty of £u^ar 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 gather- 

 ing honey, and for that reason all 

 work must be done in the evenings 

 when no bees are flying. 



"When the diseased colonies are 

 weak in bees, put the bees, two, three, 

 or four colonies together, so as to get 

 a good-sized colony to start the cure 

 with as it does not pay to spend 

 time fussing with little, weak colo- 

 nies. When the bees are not gather- 

 ing honey any apiary can be cured 

 of foul brood by removing the diseased 

 cohibs in the evening and giving the 

 bees frames with comlb -foundation 

 starters on. Then also in the evening 

 feed the bees plenty of sugar syrup 



