96 ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 
with American foul brood; but with European foul brood I have my 
doubts as to the honey being affected. 
I have given many combs of honey from colonies badly diseased 
with European foul brood to healthy colonies, and have never seen a 
case where it had a bad effect. This fact, and that of the honey, combs, 
and pollen of a colony badly affected with European foul brood becom- 
ing perfectly healthy when requeened with a young virgin, as I recom- 
mended in my cure for European foul brood, is strong evidence that 
the honey is not the means of spreading this disease. It is very easy 
to cure an apiary of European foul brood; but the old American foul 
brood is incurable. As I said before, you can save the bees by the 
McEvoy treatment, but you can not save the combs. 
I am well aware that on some points in the above I am crossing 
swords with those who are considered good authority; but on this sub- 
ject in question I write the same as on other subjects, simply from long 
and extensive experience. I don’t take any thing as fact until I have 
thoroughly tested it on at least 50 or 100 colonies for two or more years. 
This jumping at conclusions because some one says so and so, I think 
but very little of. 
European foul brood will spread much faster through an apiary 
than American foul brood, and kill the brood quicker than any other 
disease that I ever dealt with. Coming as it does before the colonies 
become very strong in the spring, it soon reduces them to a mere hand- 
ful of discouraged bees unable to accomplish any thing, and it is hard 
for their owner to realize that he will ever again have strong healthy 
colonies in those hives. 
But don’t be discouraged. I have been through it all, and what 
we have done you can do. All that is necessary is to follow the plan 
I recommended, and you will in a short time have as strong healthy col- 
onies as you ever saw. 
When we had this disease, black and hybrid bees were about the 
only ones affected. I sometimes think that, if the apiaries of some bee- 
Keepers were attacked with this disease it would be a blessing in dis- 
guise, for it would necessitate requeening their colonies at once with 
some good honey-gathering strain of Italian bees; and if this were done 
about the first of June these requeened colonies would be in a fine 
healthy condition for an August harvest; and then with a good working 
force of Italian bees their owner would secure a larger surplus than he 
could possibly have had if it were not for requeening to cure the dis- 
ease. I think these black and hybrid bees cost us nearly all we can 
get from them, and what they lack in squaring accounts with honey 
they make up in stinging and boiling over and under their hives when 
one attempts to handle them. 
February, 1907. 
