ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



37 



order to keep the young bees from 

 going to the hives on either side, I 

 spread a sheet right down in front 

 and brushed them down on that, and 

 I thought almost every bee went in, 

 but in about three or four weeks — 

 maybe not to exceed two — I looked into 

 both hives, right and left, and found 

 foul brood in the one to the left. I 

 was crestfallen — to have foul brood 

 creep into a colony where it had not 

 been before! And what had caused it? 

 A bee or two went into that hive and 

 carried some honey wit'hi them. If I 

 had my way about treating foul brood, 

 I would' close up the hive, and at the 

 dead of night take them', say, two 

 miles from the apiary, away from the 

 possibility of its being spread by that 

 means. Where you are situated so you 

 can do that, I believe that would be 

 the safest plan. The foul brood I had 

 to deal with, I sent a specimen to Mr. 

 France, and he pronounced it Amer- 

 ican foul brood. To confirm what he 

 said, I sent a sample to Dr. Phillips, 

 and he said it was American foul 

 brood. I knew that it was foul brood, 

 and I must adopt some means of get- 

 ting rid of it. Dr. Miller may get rid 

 of what he calls European foul brood, 

 but I don't believe it is 'as hard to get 

 rid of European foul brood as it is 

 American, and that the plan he sug- 

 gests will not succeed with American 

 foul brood. 



I kept watching my hives, inspect- 

 ing them closely, and treated those 

 colonies that had foul brood in the 

 second and the third time. I tried the 

 McEvoy plan, and found that to be 

 successful in instances, and also tried 

 the Baldridge plan. I like this very 

 much if the bees are all of a size, and 

 they never slip past the bee- escape. 

 You can save many colonies by that 

 method, providing the bees don't get 

 in there and get out again and carry 

 the diseased honey. 



I have tried putting them into a new 

 hive, and have put coal oil, or kerosene, 

 on some hay in the old hive, and set 

 fire to it, so as to destroy everything 

 of living kind inside. You have got 

 to stamp the disease out; you have got 

 to destroy the germ! Foul brood is 

 not curable by any medicine or appli- 

 cation that you can use on the combs, 

 or feed to the bees. There is nothing 

 known now by which you can reach 

 the disease in the way of medicinal 



application. You have got to do the 

 same as you do in the case of small- 

 pox. The patient is quarantined, and 

 if the patient gets well or dies, the 

 place is disinfected; you disinfect the 

 premises and everything about the 

 patient, and you have to do the same 

 thing with your hives. Now, I don't 

 know about this thing of disinfecting 

 hives, whether it is necessary in every 

 case or not; I don't believe it is. Some 

 timies all that is necessary i? simply 

 to lift the bees out of the hives, take 

 the combs away, and brush them down 

 in the hive. Give them comb-founda- 

 tion, say, a strip nearly two inches 

 wide, and fasten that to the top of 

 the frame, and give them six or seven 

 strips, and leave them in possession 

 of that from 36 to 48 hours. They 

 will consume all the honey that may 

 have been spilled about the interior of 

 the hive. If you leave them in from 

 24 to 48 hours, then take that away 

 from them and give them full sheets 

 of comb-foundation, the disease ought 

 certainly to be considered cured. You 

 take the" strips away and give them 

 the full sheets of foundation; I have 

 never had it reappear again when 

 thus treated. 



I have it about stamped out. I have 

 two colonies I have an eye of sus- 

 picion upon. I have marked them, and 

 I shall watch them in the spring, 

 every day; that is what we have all 

 got to do. If you don't use every pre- 

 caution and care, you will have foul 

 brood creep into a colony where you 

 have never had it before, and what 

 will cause this? A bee or two will 

 get into the h'ive, from a diseased hive, 

 and carry some of the honey with 

 tbem. I have decided that the safest 

 way, when j'ou have a colony infected 

 with foul brood, is to take the hive 

 clear away to a location beyond your 

 apiary. As for the combs, I put them 

 into gunny- sacks as fast as I cut 

 them out of the frames, and burn the 

 frames up; some I put in boiling wa- 

 ter; boil them for half an hour or 

 more, and I don't know but what I 

 will burn them up yet. I understand 

 these microbes will live from 15 to 

 25, or even 30 minutes in boiling water; 

 carbolic acid does not destroy them; 

 nothing except to put them in hot 

 water and boil them persistently for 

 half or three-quarters of an hour. 



You have to cut ofC every avenue of 



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