POOL-BROOD. 479 



diseased honey that may be stored in them. All the curing 

 or treating of the colonies should be done in the evening, so as 

 not to have any robbing, or cause any of the bees from the 

 diseased colonies to mix and go with 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. 



"All the difference from the McEvoy treatment that I prac- 

 tice, I dig a pit on the level ground near the diseased apiary, 

 and after getting a fire in the pit, such diseased combs, frames, 

 etc., as are to be burned are burned in this pit in the evening 

 and then the fresh earth from the pit returned to cover all from 



sight I also cage the queens while the bees are on the 



strips of foundation." — (N. E. France, in Bulletin No. 2, 

 Wisconsin Bee-Keeping.) 



The above method is called the starvation method. That 

 is to say, the bees are transferred and forced to build comb 

 until they have used up all of the honey they had in their 

 stomachs from the diseased hive. 



This method is based on the theory, quite well proven, that 

 honey is the main transmitter of the disease, in spite of Cheshires 

 conclusions. Although the spores of the bacillus may not be 

 very numerous in the honey, they are there in the very best 

 position to spread the disease, since out of the honey and pollen 

 is made the food which goes to the larva and it is the larva 

 which suffers from the disease, in most cases. However, 

 according to the bacteriologists who have made a study of 

 the matter, the bacillus may also be found in the organs of 

 the bees and of the queen, and some even assert that 

 bees and queens (796) have been killed by the disease. 

 McEvoy asserts that it is not necessary to disinfect 

 the hives that have contained the diseased colonies. In 

 this he is sustained by many others, but in very virulent cases 

 we believe it is advisable to do it. Although the Bertrand- 

 Cowan method has been used successfully we believe that 

 the destruction of the combs of the diseased colonies wiU 

 prove most effective. Such combs as contain brood should 

 be burnt up, but those that contain no brood may as well 

 be made into wax (858-862). Care should be taken 



