298 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



the hive. Of course, one swallow does not make a summer, and 

 this might not work in all oases. Neither would I in any bad 

 ease reco m mend the continuance of the old queen after treat- 

 ment. A queen that has been for some time in a foul-broody 

 colony seems sluggish, and is better replaced by a vigorous 

 youn§ queen. 



As between the McEvoy and the Alexander — or the Alexan- 

 der-Miller treatment as it has been called — there is so much to 

 be gained in the saving of combs that, even if the first plan 

 always succeeds and the other sometimes fails, it may be cheaper 

 to use the latter and treat over again the failures. But I may 

 remark in passing that among the 27 cases of 1910 some of 

 them were of those that had been brushed upon foundation the 

 previous year. 



With my present knowledge of the disease, here is the 

 treatment that I believe well worth trying for European foul 

 brood : Make the colony strong, preferably by giving sealed 

 brood so as to have abundance of young bees ; remove the queen 

 and at the same time give a ripe queen-cell or a very young 

 •\-irgin, which cell or virgin shall be of the most vigorous stock, 

 and trust the bees to do the rest. 



In a mild case I do not think it necessary to take so much 

 trouble: merely keep the queen caged in the hive for a week or 

 ten days, and then free her. In the year 1913 about one in 

 four of my colonies was slightly affected, and in nearly all 

 cases all I did was to cage the queen for about eight days. The 

 fact that in spite of the disease I averaged a little more than 

 266 sections per colony from 72 colonies, spring count, shows 

 that good crops may be obtained even where European foul 

 brood is present. Still, I am sure I could have done a little 

 better without the disease. 



In 1914, five cases showed up in the first week of June in 91 

 colonies. They were all mild, and were treated successfully by 

 caging the queen. 



Now please remember that 1 do not give this as a treatment 

 well tried and thoroughly reliable. My theory is only a theory, 

 aii<l the plan of treatment needs confirmation, as the newspapers 

 say. I only say that I think the treatment worth trying because 



