ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



19 



of the cell. According to its stage of 

 development, there will be either the 

 shapeless mass of dark brown matter, 

 on the lower side of the cell, often 

 with a wrinkled skin covering, as if 

 a fine thread had been inserted 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 

 bunoh at the front end of the cell, 

 not larger than a part of a 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, wihile 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 disease 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, and 

 must be either burned or carefully 

 melted. Be sure not to mistake such 

 marked combs in the spring for those 

 soiled with bee dysentery. The latter 

 have a somewhat 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 w'ho does not disicover 

 foul Jjrood, 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 

 useless waste of time and material, 

 wholly ineffectual, inviting ruin and 

 total loss of bees: Any method which 

 has not for its object the entire re- 

 moval of all infectious material beyond 

 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 rever fails, if carefully fol- 

 lowed, and that commends itself, is 

 the McEvoy treatment. Canada's foul 

 brood inspector 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 

 tihe 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 complete. 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 

 starters during the four days must be 

 burned or made into w'ax, 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 as no confusion or trouble. 

 This same method of curing colonies 

 of foul brood can be carried 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 rob- 

 bing and spread the disease, to work 

 with foul brood colonies in warm days 

 when the bees are not gathering honey, 

 and for that reason all work must be 

 done in the evenings W)hen 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 colonies. 

 When the bees are not gathering 

 honey, any apiary can be cured of foul 

 brood by removing the diseased combs 

 in the evening and giving the bees 

 frames with comb-foundation starters 

 on. Then, also, in the evening feed 



