CONTROL OF EUROPEAN EOULBEOOD. 11 



SO well in the mails, and even a breeding queen of the most resistant 

 stock might allow her colony to become infected simply because she 

 had been so injured in the mails that she could not keep up egg- 

 laying properly. The buying of untested queens is to be advised at 

 all times, for until more accurate work in breeding is done the indi- 

 vidual beekeeper can choose breeding stock as well as most breeders. 



It would be possible to recommend certain stock as the best were 

 it not for the fact that the stock of the various queen breeders is not 

 constant. The stock which in one year makes the best showing possi- 

 bly can not be duplicated by the queen breeders the next year. The 

 best course therefore is for each beekeeper, or possibly a group of 

 beekeepers, to try out several strains of Italian bees to find which is 

 best. Having done this, they can continue to breed from the best 

 stock obtained, and they can do as well by that means as they can if 

 they continue to buy queens from the queen breeders. 



(2) Strength of colony is fully as important as resistant stock. 

 Unfortunately too many beekeepers fail to provide conditions neces- 

 sary to the bees in order that the colonies may be at the proper 

 strength in time to combat European foulbrood successfully. It is 

 good beekeeping to have all colonies strong, and nothing leads to 

 large honey crops as does this factor, yet throughout the country 

 there are thousands of beekeepers who annually fail to get half the 

 crop through failure to have strong colonies at the right time. When 

 the honey-flow comes early in the season, as is the case throughout 

 most of the United States, it is important that every colony be at 

 maximum strength early in the spring. Since European foulbrood 

 appears in the spring and early summer, good beekeeping practice 

 again coincides with the requirements for preventing the ravages 

 of this disease. 



One difficulty arises from the fact that there is no standard for 

 strength of colony and what one beekeeper considers a strong colony 

 may be considered weak by another and better beekeeper. At the 

 opening of the honey-flow every colony from which a full crop is to 

 be expected should be strong enough to have 10 full combs of 

 Langstroth size filled with brood. Of course this brood may be in a 

 larger number of combs, since the bees usually store some honey at 

 the top of each comb, but it is easy to estimate the brood in terms 

 of full combs. If now we accept the same standard for the desired 

 strength of colony for the purpose of resisting European foulbrood, 

 we will have a condition under which (assuming resistant stock) this 

 disease will never get a start in any colony in the apiary. It is of 

 course recognized that such a standard is seldom realized before or 

 at the beginning of the honey-flow, and this fact is the reason for 

 the loss of so much honey as well as the fullexplanation of the rav- 

 ages of European foulbrood in so many places. It is suggested that 

 each beekeeper in a region where European foulbrood exists ask 



