FOUL BROOD 
375 
strong colonies of good bees. Not only 
that, but they should be strong in the 
spring. In order to have such colonies it 
means good wintering; and good winter¬ 
ing, in the northern States at least, implies 
an abundance of natural stores and protec¬ 
tion. This protection, if the bees are win¬ 
tered outdoors, may be in the form of 
double-walled hives, or winter cases de¬ 
scribed under the head of “Wintering Out¬ 
doors” at the close of this work. In con¬ 
nection with this protection there should 
also be a good windbreak. Protection may 
also mean putting the bees in a good cel¬ 
lar, the essentials of which are described 
under “Wintering in Cellars.” 
In the milder climates, to have strong 
colonies in the spring requires a larger 
amount of stores to the colony; because 
when the bees can fly two or three times a 
week, many old bees are lost in the fields, 
never returning. The others that do return 
with nectar and pollen start breeding, and 
this calls for a large reserve of stores—at 
least double the amount required in the 
colder States. The author is convinced that 
a moderate amount of packing could be 
given to advantage in addition. 
In the treatments now about to be given 
for the cure of European foul brood, after 
it once finds lodgment, it will be seen that 
the fundamentals are strong colonies; de- 
queening to allow the bees to clean up the 
infected material, and requeening with a 
resistant strain. Before we proceed to the 
exact details of treatment, the history of 
how the best methods were discovered is 
important. 
In 1899 and the early 1900’s, when Euro¬ 
pean foul brood was known in New York as 
a foul brood that was different from the 
old-fashioned kind, the shaking method was 
applied exclusively. It was soon discov¬ 
ered that the disease was continually com¬ 
ing back. Later it was learned that shak¬ 
ing was effective in most Italian colonies. 
Then it was discovered that some Italians 
were more resistant than others. Finally 
the inspectors advised that shaking and 
Italianizing should be applied. If colonies 
were not strong it was recommended to 
double up until they were. Then a few 
beekeepers began to notice that the mere 
introduction of a resistant strain of Ital¬ 
ians would effect a cure. 
In 1904 E. W. Alexander of Delanson, 
N. Y., referred to in several places in this 
work, reported to the author that one of his 
neighbors had blundered upon a cure which 
he thought was effective. At that time he 
was not prepared to state whether it would 
bring about a cure or not; but after he had 
experimented with it on some 500 colonies 
he gave out what has since been called the 
Alexander treatment, which is now the basis 
of all the modern methods of control for 
the European foul brood. In brief the Al¬ 
exander treatment is as follows: 
Every diseased colony in the apiary not 
very strong is doubled up or united with 
other weak colonies until all are made 
strong. In some cases building up or 
strengthening of the weak can be effected 
by taking frames of emerging brood from 
the stronger and giving them to the weaker. 
The next procedure is to remove the queen 
from every infected colony, and in nine 
days destroy every mature queen-cell, or 
any virgin if emerged. In the meantime a 
quantity of cells are to be reared from the 
best Italian breeder in the yard. These 
cells, when ripe, are given to the colonies 
made queenless 20 days before. During 
this interim of queenlessness the bees clean 
out the combs, polish up the cells, and when 
the new queen starts laying, which will be 
on the 27th day, approximately, the new 
brood will be healthy from that time on. 
It is not necessary to remove any combs 
from the hives nor apply any kind of dis¬ 
infection. The old queens that were re¬ 
moved in the first place are to be destroyed. 
In a series of articles which Mr. Alexan¬ 
der wrote defending his treatment—for he 
encountered all sorts of opposition from 
those who failed—he laid strong emphasis 
on the importance of making all colonies 
extra strong, using a vigorous resistant 
strain of Italians and keeping the colony 
queenless for at least 20 days, at the end 
of which time a ripe queen-cell or a virgin 
just emerged was to be given. 
S. D. House of Camillus, N. Y., told the 
author that a vigorous strain of Italians 
would almost alone clean out European 
foul brood after the colony had been queen¬ 
less for a period. He showed colony after 
colony that had been rotten with the dis¬ 
ease, and which at the time of our visit 
were entirely free of it. He stated that 
