?6 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. 



