MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

92 DR. MILLER^Sincrease; btit the wrong kind does; as when a comb is taken froma diseased colony and given to a healthy one. I don't mean thatgiving a frame of brood from one colony to another is wrong manipulationin all cases, but it is wrong where the brood is takenfrom a diseased colony.Q. Is it safe to use section-boxes over again with drawncomband without comb, that have been on colonies that hadfoulbrood?A. I should not be afraid to use them in case of Europeanfoulbrood, but with American foulbrood there might be danger.Q. How can I tell foulbrood?A. The chief symptom in American foulbrood is the ropycharacter of the dead larva ; stick a toothpick, into it, and whenyou draw it out it will string an inch or two. If Europeanfoulbrood, look for larva: that instead of being nearly whiteare quite yellowish. If you write to Dr. E. F. Phillips, Departmentof Agriculture, Washington, D. C, he will send you, gratis, valuableprinted matter about foulbrood, and also a box so that youmay send sample of diseased brood for expert diagnosis.Q. You have written several plans for curing foulbrood. Now,if half of your colonies were diseased next spring, what treatmentwould you choose?A. If they had American foulbrood, I would use the McEvoyplan. If it was European, I would wait till perhaps the beginningof clover harvest, and first see that each colony to be treatedwas made strong by uniting or by giving frames of brood well advanced.Then I would remove the queen and give to the colonya ripe queen-cell or a virgin queen of best stock.Q. Is there anything that could be fed to the bees to preventfoulbrood?A. In this country drugs are generally considered of no accountin foulbrood. In England it is a common thing to addnaphthol beta to the bees' food, with the idea that it helps toprevent foulbrood.Foulbrood, American.—Q. What are the ' chief causes ofAmerican foulbrood? I have never heard of a case in this section.A. The chief and the only cause is the presence of a microbe,bacillus larvae, and the disease is generally conveyed to a healthycolony by means of honey from a diseased colony. A drop of infectedhoney no larger than a pin-head is enough to start thedestruction of an entire apiary.