ALEXANDER’S PLAN 219 
Detection by Odor.—In some localities European foul brood 
is said to be attended with a decided odor, although unlike that 
of American foul brood, being more like that of decayed fish, 
according to Morley Petit, of Ontario. 
Resistant Bees.—For some reason Italian bees seem to be 
much more resistant of this disease than the hybrids or blacks, 
and the best insurance against this malady is to re-queen all 
colonies with vigorous Italians. Some strains seem much more 
immune than others, so that it is desirable to secure a strain 
that has demonstrated its disease resistance. 
Treatment.—Dr, Phillips of the U. 8. Department of Agri- 
culture strongly recommends the shaking treatment for this dis- 
ease the same as for American foul brood. However, there is 
a growing sentiment among bee-keepers in favor of what is com- 
monly known as the Alexander plan. The essential element of 
this plan is the saving of the combs instead of melting them up 
as in the case of the other disease. There are many modifications 
of the plan as proposed by the originator. 
Alexander’s Plan.—To begin with, the queen is removed 
from the diseased colony in order to check brood rearing. The 
bees being relieved of nursing young brood, turn their attention 
to cleaning out infected matter from the hive with the result 
that given a new queen a few days later they often remain free 
from the disease. Mr. Alexander believed it to be necessary 
for twenty-one days to elapse from the time the old queen was 
removed before the new queen began to lay. Of late many bee- 
keepers have found that under favorable conditions a much 
shorter time is sufficient. In order to be successful with this 
method several things must be borne in mind. First the new 
queen must be a vigorous young Italian. Then the colony must 
be very strong and the treatment must be given in early stages 
of the disease. If the combs are fairly rotten with decaying 
larvee it is too much to expect that the bees will clean them up 
again. Hybrids or black bees are seldom, if ever, able to rid 
