The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-05-27
What is Foul Brood i?
A paper read before tho Addison county Bee
Keepers Association, at Middlebury, MAY ~
BY II. L. LEONARD Of Brandon.


disease of bees, which is confined to the
brood. The larvn after being sealed
over, and 10 some instances before, be
come dead and putrid, and ia advanced
stages of the disease emit very offensive
smell
The cause oft has never yet been def.
nitely ascertained Soue claim it TO be
the effect Of cold Mr. Kidder Of Bur.
liDgton Is Of that opinion Some claim
it to be caused by tc,mcnted pollen !;
some by poor honcy, gathered from the
emissions Of aphides. All good author
ity. When doctors disagree, who shall
decide But what docs it matter what
has been the cause of cancer, 50 long as
it must be cut or drawa out root aud
germ before cure can be effected
How is it detected ? Tho most sure
way is to examine the sealed brood, and
if the caps Of few cells here aud there
scattered through the brood appear IL
little sunken, or older and darker thai
the others, open them with the poin Of
knife. If white, there is life il dark
there is death and if you are a novice,
and careless one, it means destruction.
not only to that stock, but perhaps to
your whole apiary. II the disease pre- .
walls to any great extent in nn apiary,
there will be noticed by any common
observer dwindling down Of some stocks
even in the best Of the season, to outward
appearance some like tho spring dwiu-
ding that has decimatcd so many apiaries
all over our country and Canada the past
few years, and if not attended to at once
it will be fatal in the extreme, because
contagious, on account of the robbing
propcnstes of bees As soon as flowers
cease to yield nectar, bees begin to plum.
der those dwindled stocks, and carry the
seeds Of disease not only through the
apiary, but to neiehboring ones also for
the stores Of the diseased stocks are all
infected with the virus of the disease.
To one who has had experience this
disease is not so alarming, but the oxper
fence | have had has cost mo more than
| would like to sacrifice again for an ex.
perience so unpleasant.
Seven or eight years ago | purchased
Of Mr.. Quimby two Italian queens in the
fall. Tho next spring thought to raise
a queen from one of them, though neither
we're pure. | removed the queen and
succeeded in raising one. But the stock
seemed not to increase ia number during
the seasons and in the fall they were SO
weak | concluded they could not winter,
so | shook the bees out on the snow. and
observed in the brood nest capped cells.
AT that season Of tho year the brood
should have been all Matched. opened
few cells and observed dead larvae.
had a suspicion that it might be foul
brood, but bad never seen any before.
So put the combs away by themselves.
In the spring these combs were all bright
and clean, and thought my suspicious
were untimely, after all. Surely, such
bright, clean combs were not foul broody.
So inserted them in different stocks,
and changed them again in swarmiug.
In the fall | had foul brood seed enough
to satisfy me as long as l live, even
should | attain to the ago of Methuselah
Had the disease spread little further |
should have got rid of it as quickly as |
was getting it, because | should have lost
all my bees. That fall and the next
season | had to destroy, or tho foul
brood did destroy, nearly bali oil my api
airy, consisting OF about fifty stocks. 1t
took mo about three years to get entirely
rid of it.
Perhaps you ask, How did you cure
it? did not cure it, l destroyed the
bees, strained the honey (sliugers had not
yet been invonted), melted the comb into
wax, and burned some of the hives. But
can it not be cured i? DR.. Il. p. Able
says it can be, aud his prescription is n
solution of hyposulphite of soda as
wash for eaca cell, frame, and hive. |
believe Mr.. Burbank oil Kentucky tried
it, and worked two days on four combs
without success but after reducing the
number OF combs one half and COG inuing
experiments through the season he sue.
ceeded with the two combs But few
apiarans could afford to save combs at
such expense. They could be raised for
less than one.tenth the cost of cleaning.
Had not the monopoly Of the manufac.|
ture of comb foundations been secured
artificial comb could have been purchased
cheaper.
Then, shall We destroy at once all
diseased stocks?
If the "harvest is past and tho summer
is ended" | know of no better way to do
II the disease is detected in the early
part Of the season, as the bees that are
hatched are not diseased, they can be
saved By treating them as a new swarm
yet there is great danger OF the queen
carrying with her to the new hive some
germ of the disease. If the stock is not
badly diseased the queen can be destroy
ed, and all remain till all the young bees
are Matched then probably the swarm
will have young queen. Put the bees
in new hive, on the old stand, and
remove the foul comb and honey away,
never to be used in the apiary again
under any consideration. After few
days remove all the comb in the new
hive, and as soon as possible change the
queen for one you know is healthy If
the season is not too far advanced, or the
bees too few, We may reasonably hope
for good healthy stock to winter Yet
We need to watch closely, for some germ
of the disease may have been carried
with tho bees into the new hive, which |
will develop the following season, and we
shall have to repeat the process again.
1t is my sincere hope that none of you
may ever be under the necessity of ex.
perimentinR with this disease.