64 



EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



know what it was. And this summer 

 I sent some to"' Mr. France and he 

 didn't know what it was. Whether it 

 was American foul brood or what. He 

 suggested changing queens. 



I had it a number of years but didn't 

 notice it till last year; they would 

 dwindle down, but this season it was 

 bad. 



I had quite a good many hives set- 

 ting and after each swarm there was a 

 hive died out. 



Two or three years ago, when I 

 found them, I cleaned the hive out and 

 gave them a comb of honey and a hive, 

 and put in some comb-foundation, 

 filled frames about half full. They went 

 to work and built up strong. After 

 they began to breed I noticed this hive 

 was worse affected than any. Toward 

 the last of the season they built up 

 and grew strong. During the later 

 part of the season they diminished. 

 About the first or second week in Sep- 

 tember I sent to Mr. York for some 

 Italian bees, and for a few days they 

 seemed all right and seemed to do 

 very well. What it is I don't know. 

 I know it is very destructive. I know 

 it has been in my apiary for a number 

 of years. 



The President: Any further discus- 

 sion on this? , 



A Member: Was your brood with 

 black heads? 



A Member: Black head sometimes, 

 and part of the -bees black. 



A Member: Were they watery? 



A Member: No, sir. I don't know. 

 I cut down part of the frame and comb 

 and boxed it and sent it away. 



A Member: Weren't they shy of 

 pollen? 



A Member: I don't know. 



A MenTb6iu^_ It is nothing but starve 

 brood. All bees in that stage get 

 watery and the heads turn black. 



•If you will change queens and feed 

 powder sugar, by that treatment you 

 can clear them of it. If it doesn't ap- 

 pear next spring it is a total cure. 



In some places I find two or three 

 colonies. I double them up till they 

 are strong, then I recall the queen and 

 that colony is as strong as any colony. 

 And a good deal of the cause is where 

 there is no pollen. 



Mr. Kildow: I think it is impossible 

 for bfees along a river to be without 

 pollen. 



A Member: Every now and then 



you could see one come home with a 

 little pollen, and once in a while with 

 a little smart-weed pollen on it, but a 

 good many wouldn't have any pollen 

 at all. 



Mr. Kildow: My idea was we have 

 more than we need. That is an ex- 

 ception then. 



A^Ieiftber: Yes, sir; that is an ex- 

 ception. 



Mr. Ernest: I had the same kind of 

 a ease. That is what I did. The 

 queens would lay and instead of 

 gaining they would lose. There would 

 be three dead and five alive, and then 

 another week there would be seven 

 dead and five alive, and then twelve 

 dead and five alive. 



Destroy those queens after they have 

 worked out the foundation. One queen 

 will do. 



I introduced a queen to a good 

 nucleus, then I put another good 

 healthy queen from a good colony and 

 put it in a foul brood colony and now 

 it is cleaned out. 



This was all done this year, I had 

 forty colonies different ways. I had 

 foul brood in the first, second and third 

 stages. And this year we had some 

 foul brood too. • 



If it reappears next spring, but we 

 can't tell, we live near a timber, we 

 can only check the thing. 



Mr. Holekamp: What I have refer- 

 ence to is not foul brood. 



Mr. Moore: Anything in the nature 

 of starve brood is easy to combat with. 

 Bees often will not uncap enough honey 

 to feed the brood. But if we look 

 after the bees in the spring of the year 

 and they uncap, and there is not 

 enough pollen, put out something in 

 the place of the pollen and they will 

 feed themselves. 



The queen has nothing to do with it, 

 only to extent that some other queens 

 will breed bees that are a little better 

 in uncapping honey. 



It cannot be from his description 

 anything but starve brood. But Mr. 

 Holekamp's, from his description, is foul 

 brood. 



In the fall and summer we find a 

 good deal of dead brood, and if there 

 are no indications of foul brood it dis- 

 appears in a very short time. 



Mr. Holekamp: In parts of the 

 county, not by me, but in other parts 

 of the county, it is very destructive. 



The President: Probably in another 

 year we will know more' about it. 



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