376 
FOUL BROOD 
European foul brood was rampant all 
around him in the black and hybrid colo¬ 
nies. In spite of the fact that it was with¬ 
in reach of his bees he had no fear of it. 
He wrote a series of articles for Gleanings 
in Bee Culture in 1911, and among them 
was one, on page 330, giving his method of 
treatment that is similar to Alexander’s. 
This attracted considerable attention at the 
time. The editor of Gleanings was severe¬ 
ly criticised by some of the State inspectors 
for giving publicity to such heresy; but 
old Father Time has demonstrated that Al¬ 
exander and Mr. House were nearly right. 
In later years European foul brood 
broke out in the apiary of Dr. C. C. Miller 
of Marengo, Ill., an authority referred to 
many times in this work. The author ad¬ 
vised him to follow the Alexander or, bet¬ 
ter, the House treatment, which he did, with 
marked success. By accident he discov¬ 
ered that it was not necessary to have the 
colonies queenless more than ten day^; 
that a vigorous strain of bees would do a 
good clean-up job in the period named. 
After experimenting with the disease for 
two or three years he finally announced the 
following modified Alexander-House-Miller 
treatment, which is much the same as that 
used by S. D. House. Dr. Miller says: 
First, no matter whether the case be se¬ 
vere or mild, make the colony strong. In a 
severe case, kill the queen; and as soon as 
the colony recognizes its queenlessness, say 
within 24 hours, give a ripe queen-cell, or 
immediately at the time of killing the 
queen, give a virgin not more than a day 
old or a cell in a protector. That’s all; the 
bees will do the rest. In a mild case, make 
the colony strong, and cage the queen in a 
hive for a week or ten days—only that. But 
don’t expect the disease to be at once and 
forever stamped out. Last year I had the 
disease in a mild form in about one colony 
in four; this year in about one in twenty. 
It will be noticed that Dr. Miller, like 
Mr. Alexander, emphasized the importance 
of making all colonies strong, in the treat¬ 
ment of either a severe case or a mild one. 
Later on, after considerable discussion, he 
added this: 
A correspondent asks, ‘‘What do you do 
to save the combs?” Nothing. Just use 
them the same as if there had been no dis¬ 
ease. Vigorous bees with a vigorous queen 
will clean them out. Spores may be left, 
and here and there the disease may break 
out again; but in the long run the loss will 
be less than if the combs were destroyed, 
and possibly the returns of the disease will 
be no more frequent than if all combs are 
destroyed. In my own apiary I think there 
were no more fresh outbreaks where the 
old combs were left than where the bees 
were thrown upon foundation. 
A large number have followed Mr. House 
and Dr. Miller and have been very success¬ 
ful. This does not mean that every trace 
of the disease will be wiped out after treat¬ 
ment, but it does mean that the disease will 
be brought so nearly under control that a 
case only here and there will show up, and 
even then in a very mild form. It is possi¬ 
bly true that some queens of a resistant 
strain are not quite so resistant as others. 
In that case dequeening for ten days and 
requeening again will complete the cure. 
In this connection it should be noted 
that the presence or absence of an early 
honey flow makes considerable difference 
in the response of this disease to treatment. 
Mr. House and Dr. Miller were able to re¬ 
duce the period of queenlessness because 
their locations furnish an early honey flow 
from white clover, which in itself causes 
the bees to clean out the dead larvae more 
vigorously, while Alexander’s experiments 
were conducted in the buckwheat region 
where the honey flow does not begin until 
August, but little if any honey being gath¬ 
ered from white clover in June. This 
longer period before the honey flow in the 
buckwheat region or in any region where 
the honey flow comes late gives European 
foul brood a better chance and increases 
the difficulties in treatment. 
SACBROOD. 
For many years there has been recog¬ 
nized a form of dead brood under the name 
of pickled brood that is neither European 
nor American foul brood. It comes and 
goes at certain seasons, but is never as 
destructive as either one of these dis¬ 
eases. Sometimes it has the appearance of 
foul brood so far as color is concerned; 
but it is never ropy like the American 
type; and, while similar to the European, 
it seldom gains very much headway in a 
colony. 
It is mildly infectious, and the infected 
larvae turn yellow and then brown. Some¬ 
times the color is gray. The dead speci¬ 
mens may be in unsealed cells, but are gen- 
