ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



187 



daily? Answer — iMuch depends on lo- 

 cation. Generallj"^ plenty of stores. 



Question — Is a colony over too large 

 at close of honey flow, or beginning 

 of winter? Jacob Huffman, of Wis- 

 consin, answered that in his talk on 

 wintering. 



Question — Is it possible to feed when 

 weather is warm and no honey flow 

 and keep down robbing? Yes, feed 

 inside the hive. Miller feeder. 



Question — How about wintering bees 

 outside in Danzenbaken shallow super 

 hives? Answer — Can be done in the 

 south. 



Question — Has the Alexander treat- 

 ment been effective for black brood 

 with amateurs? Mr. Wright, of N. 

 Y., answers The Alexander method of 

 treatment for European foul brood 

 has not been adopted nor likely to in 

 N. Y. 



Question — ^If nearly all my bees were 

 requeened this year from purchased 

 good breeder, will it pay me to next 

 year buy another breeder to rear 

 queens from, or use same one? An- 

 swer — Yes, I recommend purchase of 

 second breeder to rear better drones 

 for mating in apiary. 



Question — What is best way to keep 

 Alexander feeder in place? Let the 

 weight of hive rest on feeder. 



10:00 P. M. On motion of Mr. South- 

 worth, seconded by Mr. Dadant,. the 

 convention adjourned until Thursday, 

 9:00 A. M. 



Morning Session. 



Thursday, Sept. 23, 1909. 



At 10:15 the President, Mr. Hilton, 

 took the -chair and said: The Con- 

 vention will please come to order. The 

 first thing on the program is "Fooil 

 Brood," by R. L. Taylor, of Lapeer, 

 Mich. I think there is a paper from 

 him to be read. 



Mr. France — Mr. President, Mr. Tay- 

 lor, of Michigan, unaJble to be here, 

 has mailed, itftirougta our Secretary's 

 kindness, his paper here. I have not 

 read it, tout, as best I can, I will give 

 you the paper. It is as follows: 



FOUL BHOOD. 



To attempt to write anytihing new 

 upon the subject of foul brood must 

 be the despair of any one not scien- 

 tifically trained, as -well as scientific- 

 ally equipped; you would not expect 

 one, therefore, to undertake it, nor 

 would it be useful for me to detail 



in your ears what you have heard a 

 hundred times about the character- 

 istics of the disease, or the proper 

 •method of its cure, so you will be re- 

 lieved, then, to know tlhat I must re- 

 strict myself to the making of a few 

 remarks which may be of some inter- 

 est to some of you. 



What is the appearance of the 

 larvae of the bee when they first be- 

 come affected with foul brood? For 

 myself, I cannot undertake to say 

 definitely, but I find it is a point which 

 causes uneasiness in the minds of 

 many when tlhey first find themselves 

 confronting this disease. The dead 

 <brood, wthich is by no means uncom- 

 mon in most apiaries in the ^irly part 

 of the year, seems to be the cause of 

 considerable concern, on account of a 

 lurking fear that it is tfhe effect of the 

 early stages of the disease. To sat- 

 isfy one person in. such a case, I sent a 

 sample to Washington, where it was 

 diagnosed as "pickle brood." No 

 doubt, as McEvoy teaches, there are 

 often cases where larvae are found 

 dead on account of want of . proper 

 nourishment, as well as from chilling, 

 too. TIhe roplness of the dead matter 

 is the only sure sign, so far a,s I know, 

 that applies in all cases. % 



May we be allowed to harbor the 

 hope that we are eventually to be 

 master of this disease, and to finally 

 exterminate it? It is not an uncom- 

 mon thing to (hear, or to read remarks 

 revealing the conviction that that is 

 a consummation that may reasonably 

 be expected. Take tuberculosis, a 

 disease of mankind, is that to be soon 

 eradicated? Yet by as much as man's 

 interest iu the eradication of that 

 disease is greater than his interest 

 in the extermination of foul brood by 

 so much must his efforts to master 

 that disease exceed his efforts to root 

 out this one; yet there is no one so 

 far rash enough to look for the ban- 

 ishment of the great white plague iu 

 the near future. No more are we to 

 look for complete freedom from the 

 ravages of foul brood in this genera- 

 tion. But there is no cause for de- 

 spair, though the price of this free- 

 dom, in the case of particular apiaries,, 

 is, like the price of liberty, eternal 

 vigilance. If one were in a position 

 to learn, Ihe would be surprised at the 

 nu'miber of colonies that have their 

 abode in buildings and in fiollow trees. 

 In this fact lies a difficulty which 



