and its Economic Management. 129 
hives. I eventually found the combs almost denuded 
of bees, and one mass of foul brood which by all 
appearances died immediately after the combs were passed 
through the extractor. As every comb in the respective 
brood chambers had been operated upon, the bees had 
become disheartened and could not remove so much dead 
matter, and after starting another smaller brood nest their 
efforts appeared to have been gradually restricted, until 
the conditions culminating in a state parallel with those set 
forth in my proposition, the combs were in the worst stage 
in which the disease of foul brood is known. 
But how do I know this wholesale death-rate was the 
foundation of the complaint? Juz the first instance the 
disease was found only in those hives operated upon during 
that early morning process. It was first brought to my 
notice by another stock robbing one of the above, and 
henceforth foul brood was revealed to me. The robbing 
stock was the next to show signs of the disease. This 
was in early Spring; and then in one hive after the other 
specks of the disease began to show themselves. This, I 
have since found, was in some cases because I was not in. 
the first place sufficiently cautious in cleansing my hands 
and implements after each manipulation. 
Some of the hives within a few feet of those badly 
diseased, and whose brood combs were not disturbed at 
any time, remained perfectly healthy. The rest of the 
apiary was finally renovated by starting the bees on new 
combs in new frames, after the so-called “ starvation ” 
treatment. 
I do not stand alone in my conviction that foul brood 
may originate in a'district where hitherto it has not been 
known, and without being imported from an_ infected 
source. Mr. McEvoy, in particular, has offered much 
convincing evidence on this point, from extensive experi- 
ee 
