Some results of co-operative experiments on races of bees to determine their power to resist European foul brood [microform]

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SOME RESULTS

OF

CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENTS

ON

RACES OF BEES

TO DETERMINE THE'R POWER TO RESIST

EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD

BY

MORLEY PETTIT

Provincial Apiarist, Guelph

(PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF AG. 'ULTURE)

ONTARIO

TORONTO
Printed by L. K. CAw^r^RON, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty

1915

63« 1543
■Ost

S( IE RESULTS
or

Co-operative Experiments on Races of Bees

TO DETERMINE THEIR POWER TO RESIST

European Foul Brood.

MoRLEY Pettit, Phovincul AI'IAHIST, (Juki,i>ii.

In conibatinjj the <lisoase of b«'s known as KuroiH'an Foul BriKxl, the resist-
ing power of the hecsi is an important factor. 'I'his power has been found to
varv in ililTerent colonies ami is Kenenill.v considered to he a ipu'stion of the
race of hees. and prohalil.v tlie "strain" within tlie race. Coninion hlnck bees
are usually poor resisters. Italian hees are -;enerall.v acnj.ted as tiu' hcst, and
Carniolana are favored hy some.

Since the year 1010, the writer has. under the auspices of the Ontario
Agricultural and Experimental Fnion. heen directinjr co-oiXTative experiments,
and ha.? also corresponded and conversed witli inde[iendent experimenter^ with
a view to securing answers to the followiuir (piestions:—

1. Are Carnolian bees as good resisters of European Foul Brood as Italians?

2. What strains of Ttnlians. if any, are lietter resisters than others?

3. After this disease has heen in a nei;;hhorhood a few years, i.s it more
easily controlled?

4. Does it become less virulent or is a strain of better resisters developed?
The co-operative experimenters are beekeepers located in the Europo^in F(uil

Brood districts of Ontario. As the Ontario Agricultural Polleffe is not included
in that district, experiments could not be conducted at the College apiary. The
?few York State Apiary Inspectors have also verv kindlv contributed results of
their investigations dating back to 1807. The queens sent to experimenters from
.vear to year are untested queens secured from well-known breeders whose bees
arereported to be good resisters. The experimenfer is left largely to his own
devices as to the methods of test, being merelv told to "introduce 'the queen to
a good average colony that is affected with European Foul Brood. Sometimes
there are colonies that seem to he immune to European Foul Brood for ? while
Do rot u.'^e these for experiment. If vou have treated vour bees bv the .hakin<'
method introduce the queen to a good colony that was diseased before treating"
There is probably no bettor way of predentin- the results of this investigatiw
than to qtiote from letters received, then draw conclusions. As queens' from
only a few of the well-known breeders in America hnve been under observation
the names of breeders are not published, but are desisnated bv letters of the
alpnaoet. .

Perhaps the first important letter came from Phas. Stewart. Johnstown N'T
a State Apiarv Inspector. He wrote Jan. 1R. 1010: «0f all the races of bees
the Italian resists disease the best, but we do not regard them as immune. aUho.urh
some_ strains are more nearly so than others. T would not sav a man with Italian
bees m a diseased locality would have no trouble, but that he would have lees than
others. When the disease breaks out in a new loaalitv it is much harder to
cure than after it has run for a time, when it yields to treatment more readily."

8

He wrote on Feb. 20, 1911, that he had one yard of bees which had not
k'on affected, althougli the disease huil I'U.-sed all uroiiiid liini. He was reanuj;
•liieens for sale from that vard, and wo s-hall rail lii.s stock U.

On Fell. IH, I'.MI, N.' I>. Wot, Mi.MI.'lnir;:, N.Y., ani.llier .Si.ite Apiary
Insin'cUir, wrutc: "The Mry villmv >liain-. of ItaiiaiLs do not .-.itni to stand the
diseaw.' like sonic of tiic liim-l.and.d ra.i/' (»n .Mar. IC, I'.'ll, in rclVrence
to Carniolans he wrote: "fapt. lli'tihiington th(.nj,dit well of tlu'ni wlien lie was
alive. Me tlionghl they wire good to iesi>i rino(»an Foul J*i-ood; but he had
passed over the worst of Kurupcan Foul Hroo.j Uduro ho tried lliein. .\s I find
them in my insiiectiou work a good .-tram of pure Italians is better to resist
Kuro|>ean Foul Urood."

(tn Mar. -^2, l'.»ll, Wheeler D. \Vri;;ht, of Altaniont, N.Y., anotliei New
York State Insjicctor. wrote: "1 have found by practical experience that the
{■(diowing strains of lialians r.'>ist the di-ea-e well, namely: A, B, t'. My pre-
ference is the A stock.

In Oct. I'Jll, A. T. JJrown, of Castletoii, Durham County, Ont., wrote that
a queen of the I) stock proved to be a good layer, but failed to rid the colony
of Fhiroiiean Foul Hroinl. lie eontinued by .-aying, "1 ha\e just one out of
lifty colonies that kept clear of Kun-ixan Foul Hrood, after one shaking, and
made a niee lot of honey. /< wa.s a black colony."

The following correspondence was received iluring the winter of l!»r2 and
11H3:

"The I'arniolan colony was not any better if as L,'ood as the blacks to resist
Kuro|>ean Foid Brood.'"— \V. T. Kinscella, (Jnniberland, Kussell ('ounty.

"In the latter part of the summer some disea>e cells developed in the Ci'rniolan
colony. She was the best colony 1 had for honey gathering so I w:is (|uite
disappointed. The Italian ipiecn I received from F has shown no signs of Foul
Brood whatever, though noi so good a> the (.'arniolans for b"n v gathering she
did gmid work." — Hector M. Wood, I'rookston, Hastings I'ol.i

"The Italian queen you had sent to me by F was receive in line shajie.
This vear I got four natural swarms from it. .Ml went in cellar in good shape.
I exaniiiu'd them at least ten times and no signs of H. V. 15., and I have five
colonies from that queen."— Wni. I'eik, 1,'t. No. I. Murray, I'rince Kdwar.l County.

"Our queen came from F. We introduied it on .lune Kith, lltll, into two
colonies which had been treated for Furopean Foul Brood. On June 21st, we
found F'oul Brood again, l>ut a month later and also when we put them in the
cellar wo could find no trace of tlu' di-ca-e. In 1".»r.', we found several cells
diseased, but they disappeared in a week or two afterwards. We have other
colonies which made more honey, but few with finer combs of brood or less
disease."— The S(ott Sisters. Meyersbur;:. Nortbuniberland County.

"I have learned more about Uces in the past year than all I have learned in
all the years I have ke|)t bees. Tlicy have always paid me very well, but I
knew verv little of what their ability was to make money until you proposed
to let me exiwrimcnt in regard to the mastering of Furoi)ean Foul Brood. I
think 1 have been most succi^ssful. I i\over saw a liner lot of bees than I have
produced in one year, and I had jjlenty of European ImiuI Brood. I have none
now, my hives are clean. .Ml Italians are not proof against it, but I have .some
that are. Within two weeks after the (jueen you sent began to send out her
brood there was no trace of Foul Brood. She filled the hive with brood, every
card was filled up. Tliis was in lltll. My bees came out fine in the spring of
1912, but it turned out to be one of tho worst springs I ever saw. Three of

them dwindled down badljr and « trace of E. H. B. could be leen. They madff
no honey as long a« the Foul Hiood wa* iu tlie hive, but u toon u the bee«
iiKTea«ed, the italiauM cleaued their hivet. 1 can gay that the beet italitiua are
iiM'iUiti of E. h\ H." He further gUtua that hu Italian bccg of the A strain
which was sent him i..i tcbtiug Imvu toiiiplftul) mastered European Foul Brood
Hlthougii it was very bad iu evur^ one of his black colonies before he introduced
I hem. 1'he above letter was from J. B. Stone, Norham, Northumberland County.
The following extracts ur> taken from some letters received during tlio winter
of 1!>14 and lUli, with reiVrcnce to queens sent out for testing in ll>i;{.

"I never had anything like the 1 strain of bees. They beai any bUck or
hybrid bees I ever had. 1 consider tluni practically immune to E. F. U., prolillc,
non-swarmmg, gentle enough, good honey gatherers, cap comb honey all right!
If I could have had such queens 5J5 years ago at $10.00 each 1 would have been
att-ay ahead now. The (J stock has proved to be absolutely worthless to me."—
It. Lowey, Woodrows, Prince Edward County.

"The queen I received from J iu ll»13, was bucceasfully introduced into
a colony with European Foul lirood. They cleaned it out and were well prepared
for winter. Wintered iu line coudiliou, and did well as honey gatherers iu 1914."
— G. M. Hern, Niagara Fulld, Lincoln County.

"The queen you sent me iu l'J13 from A was Introduced and did well. I
raised some nice queens irom her; some >£ them were dark, although one of
the dark ones was the cleanest and best to gather honey 1 had in 1914."— T. W.
F'rood, Renfrew, Renfrew County.

"Be queen received iu June, 1!)13, from E for testi. \j— may say that her
colony has so far resisted European Foul Urood and are excellent honey gatherers."
— J. H. Mills, Hichmond, Carleton County.

"In reference to the queen sent me in June, 1913, will say that I successfully
introduced her, built up a strong colony and they came through the winter in
first class shape giving me in 1914 about 40 lbs. of first class section honey.

"You will remember about lour years ago Foul Brood was the nightmare
of the bee-keeper. Since then hy tests and observations it has practical' become
the safety valve of the beekeeper. For the simple reason that if any be. eeper
allows his queens to become degenerate the disease appears. I claim that you
have done more to promote beekeeping in the past two years by the distribution
of queens than was done iu 20 years before. It gives any man, especially a
beginner, such a demonstration of facts that if he does not heed it, out he eoes "—
John Hay, Fort Erie, Welland County.

European Foul Brood was first reported in Ontario in 1907 in the apiary
of Warrington Scott, of Wooler, Northumberland County. About the same time
the disease was also reported in Carleton County. The spread has been from
those two centres of infection, and no isolated outbreak has been discovered with
the exception of W^elland County, where the disease is known to have 'come
across the Niagara River from New York State. In Northumberland and
Carleton the apiaries were practically all black bees, not very carefully kept
and It was found to run its course and destroy an apiary very rapidly For
example, one apiary of 118 colonics was reduced to 23 in two years Another
apiary of 180 coloni, s was reduced to 21 in one year. Another apiary of 60
colonies was reduced to 44 in one year and tlie balance all diseased the second year.
In 1910, the local inspector, Warrington Scott, reported: "I travelled over
the same ground as last year and found that all the bees had been treated except
one apiary, but very little Italianizing had been done, and consequently the

(liMtM returned in every apiary and tiestroyeil «ume of them lompietely. 1 found
the disease npn .fling very rapidly. It has mort; tiian doubled iince liiit year.
I think if the I'epartnient eould emuiiiugi: lliu beekeej-er* to Italianize ahead of
the di«easc it would pre\tiit u great deal of lo»«, u.* the di»ea«e does not affect
the ItalianH nearly to badly us the blueki*."

In tlie Canadian llorliculturixl ami Jtuweinr, for iluiie, l'J14, Mr. Scott
writcu: "If tb.,' d(M'ii>i- irtiini^ m iiii liiiliiiu cciwir, lo xwcii aii ' ftent that the
half of th« brocid in deiMJ. I haw- !< iiiid ihai ivn;owiii,' ^I'l' iiueeii for live daya
before iutrodi't fig ;\ new one svoik.s noil, ii> it giv.'..* the Lees a clianeu to clean
up the combs before the new niicii li,<. a eliance to lay. If more than half the
brood is dead 1 would treat tin; eoU.u) ;,y tlie shaking; method. The bent ailvice I
can give to all beekeepers is to Italiaiii/e. You will !»e able to save coiisiderable
loss by doing so if you use llulian tpieeus raited from vigorous stock. I have
used the Golden bee with >,'o<.d result., but 1 cannot say that the three-bandeU
or leather-colored Italians will nut do as well under the sumo conditions provided
they are of a vigorous strain. \'igor seems lo count more than color. The
successful honey producer of the future must keep his (pieena young. That is, ho
must not keep the (|ueen lon;;er than two seusons for the best results, and 1 am
not sure but it. would be well to renui-en every year. Ft is very important when
combating the disease to see that all (|ueens are young. The remedy for the
disease is exactly in line with the system of Imm kee|(in;,' lliat must be followed
in order to obtain the highe>t suire.-'s e\en if Koiii lirood never existed. Keep
your bees up to a high standard u( vitality Jmd it will nuike init little diff'renee.
whether your neighbors are eareiiss or not."

In March, l!)15, O. L. Ilershiser, of Kenmuie, N.V., tohl the writer that
«rhen European Foul Brood reaoheil his apiary he found that some of his colonies
resisted the disease, and he re(|Ueeuetl tlie re-t oT the apiary from them, thus
develo,jiug a resisting strain by selcetion. lie did not know the origin of the
sto<:k and is not selling (lueens.

W. A. Smith, Wooler, had his llrst outlniuk of Kiiropean Foul Brood in
)7, the same time as his neighbor, Mr. Scott.

In Jan. 1913, Mr. Smith wrote: "I received a queen from I) aU..ut July Ist,
liUl. 1 introduced her into a colony I had treated for K. V. B., and the disease
did not appear again that season, but in the spiini^ of lit!'.' her colony showed
the disease in all stages. I let tiiem j;c and they cleaned lioii-e and threw olf
a good swarm in clover flow and another in buckwheat. 1 would consider one
strain of Italians as good as anotlier as jar as ll^'iling disease is coneermd, but
I am certain the three-handed Itidians are by far ih best honey gatherers. Most
of my bees are of II stock."

In Jan. 1914, Mr. Smitli wote again: "I have had experience with several
different strains of Italians, naniely: B, I), 0, II, and wo need not expect anv
of them to fight off the disease in every <asu tli(! first year that they contract it.
I inoculat. i a colony of pure bred 11 st,„.l< wiih K. y. ]•,. ;„ ioi3. and it ^tavid
with them the season through. In 191,!, they were completely rid of it, so I
would not advise t ning any strain of Italians down if thoy do not fight off the
disease the first season.

"Probably it would not \>e out of phiee if I woul.i give you the results of an
experiment which I carried out in 19r.' and "1.3. I had several colonies with
disease in 1912 which I treat<>d F selected the weakest one to stack the brood
v"n. I placed three rirood nests on this one with the disoa.sed combs which were
taken from the oiiier three. T left them there for two we*>ks, then took the

brood iMit which wm on top »nd piked it on tho »tand. «h«lciri(r the hem into
it and IwiviiiK ttiom on the dincfcteil coriilw from whiih th« brood had hau-liinl.
I watchtHl them and tltey built up t.> u jjimhI utrorm <<>l<iny by tli« end of th«
*«'a««in (»f l!»li. and in l!M! tht-y did not 'low any iliv .iw iiml wtTo iiinoii)? th*-
k'xt lolonit* in th»' yard, m I do iiol think it i* ii.'i«'*«iry to destroy Ihf di^'ix-d
I'onilw if you havi! |>uri*-l)n-<l Ituiian Kt4M'k."

lu Munli, 1!II5, tiu' following <|UPKtionn wtTu m-nt to Warrington Srolt: "I
winh you woidd taku tin! tinu- to Ift nie know how you f«H'l intw alniut the ditTt-runt
ract^ of Ilaliaiw and their innnunity to thin ditoiixt;. Who are the bntnltTn wIiohc
ijuwiig you would retouiini'iMl nio.-t l:i>;lily at tho iirt»itt'ut time? U) you tounider
that Kuro|H>an Foul BriH»d Ihtoiui-h le»ti» virulent after it lias bien in a neigh-
borhcMKl for a few years? In other wonU, do you fee! that it i» ne<i'!*<ary for a
iKH'kceiMr after liavinj{ Italianized bin Ix-es in iid\anie of the dii*ea«e to have Iohm of
any atcount when the diseiw reai lien him? Knuii your kiiowled>?e of how this
dineast- liax oiH-rated in other jwi . do y(m lonsider that the variety which you
have had eviariente with I;, the miiiie ax what they have in \ew York State anil
elHewherc?"

Mr. Hcott replied nn follows: " 1 have usul the (J ctraiii with good results.
Mr. I nholm, of Wullbridge, riiiueeiied .ill of hi* coloiiiea with tlie (i ntrain
in hope, lat he lould avoid treating them when ihe ilisease arrive*!, und it worked
out very well. 1 examined his l)c«'.s the following *i>ring after Ituliani/ing them,
and although the diseaw- hml been jiniient alniut a year I found that the well-
bre<l goUkn* were quite free of the diseiwe, while the dark-colon-d bees were
quite badly alTeeted, but there were none of the colonies which I thought it ad-
vinable to treat. I hme always thought that the j^olden ntraln wa» nuire immune
from E.F.B. than the darker xtrain, and am i<till of that opinion.

"Yea, 1 feel sure that the di-^ease ia much lesa virulent after l»eing in an
apiary a few years. 1 have always thought when reading a description of E.F.B.
in the United States, that the disease there is much less virulent than what
we have here,

"i^ince the di»caj*e ban binoine lew vinilent in tliis locality I have chuMi^iHl
to the II strain of dark or three-bandctl Jialianc. as I thought this strain suHi-
ciently immune and Itelieve they live longer than the golden strain, which of
course i.s a lienotit during the honey flow as well as in wintering. European Fiml
Brood is still among my bee.s, anil there were <iuite a few eases Icu^t year whi<-li I
U'lieve wns due to the poor and adverse year mostly."

U. If. Roweii, of Niagara Falls, is one of the most successful comb honey
producers in the Province. Ilavi^ hjs ai)iary of 2tM) colonics well in hand when
the disease came along, his ' ih-s been very flight.

In March, liM.'i, he writes: "In llHl we pun-ha.sed a niiiiil'(>r of Italian
queens from (', and in 1!M"2 wt^ rtveived 75 nu»re queens from ('. and a few froui
II. In 1!)13, we received ')<• from I. I do- imt think any of thes<; strains can
be Slid to Ix" strictly immune, but I would liave no hesitation in sjiying that there
is very little fear from the disease with either H or 1 strains. We have had
(|Uite a numlKT of co-ses in cobinie.-? witli t' <|iieeiis. but F would not siy that they
are of no value in eradicating the disease.

'• I would like to give you a few extracts from my note-lMiok, mid you can
judge for yourself as to tlie results:

'• Hive No. •'il was given a V <pieeti, Sept. IStli. 1!M?. Eramined on May
ICth. l!li:{, and found a lot of E.F.B. May 2Hh, liH.I, took away all brood—

Ii'ft 'i i«iiilw horic.v itii.l 3 roiinilHti«n»i. Unw "I fmnii'H Ii.'rtlthy br.N.fl. On Juno
17th, l!»l.l. n littl.' i: K.H. -.inrtMl i|ii(.i<n, .liuf •il»t, pne qiiwti nil from Vo.
1«5, C HtcM-k, nnil t<«.k nwii.v oM «|ii.««.t». Auxiiot Ultli. qiiwu luviiijj linxxl O.K
Kxamincfl .Iiinc «itli. |!»| I. nml f. id no tliM>H*c.

"N'o. If)7. Mii.v l.'>tli. KM.l. iilrtik qiio«'n - on.' vt-nr oM linwHl I framM—
lonir K.F.H. .Fillip I'tli. ilniiuHiinl: .Filly 'i\M. jravo i|ii<fii ct'll from N'o. 1^.1;
.Fiilv '.'Jrti. ijiiffii laviiiv' Koiiii- K.F.H. M«> lOth. I'lll. n . ,Ii«.,i.c ii..ti.'«'il : .Inly
?n(l, lOM. a lot of K.F.R .Tuly 11 Hi. jravp qiKHMi jii-t Imtilif*! \... i\'i. a (l.iinrliti-r
or a r quwn: .Tiily .lint, qiiwri laying. I am not poMtivc, but think thin rolony
had no moro diiw-ano.

" Vo. 11.1. H..|.(. 7th, HMV. Mark Ih..>. ilh -..ni.> K.F.R. jravo a C qiiocn : .runt.

?nd. 1!H.1, a lot of E.F.n.: .Tiiiic «14 ..n nrd and jrav a <|>i<m'i M froi-i

.Vo. |-.'.'»; .Tilly KlHi, qtiri'M layiii}.'; .\ii' . 14. l.m.Hl aKpan-iitlv O.K • *:^'u*l
••'Tth. hrood O.K.: May HMli. I'H I. hroo.i O.K.

"You will notice that two of thosooolonifj. Vo. 5| and li:i, . ' i|U)'<'ns
j.'ivf>n them in S.'ptcuilipr. 101?. and holli had the dis-faw' quite had in . Thrw

of thoni wcro d<'<|iio.>ncd in .Tunc. 1t)1.1. and ..n th.- ^anw diiy. .Inn,. •>]>^\. .a. h wax
Kivon ft qiM'tn 'I fn.ni the same hivo. \o. I.'.', and two. Vo*. .Il and IM. wore
lurpd and sliowi , no siL'iH of tlip disoaso in 101 I.

"N'o. r.n was jrivrn an IT queen O.tol.er .'.th. 1!>|-.'. On May ICIh. lOIM. a f.-w
tells K.F.T^. were found. Ttiev were tfiven no troatnipnt at all. hnt elonnrd it all
out fheinselves and ni-' now free.

"Vo. inn h.id oni.e K.F.n. Mmv l!»fli. 1011. On .Tune .Ird. 101 (. K.F.R in
every frame of hriMid : de<|iieened. .Inne l?th. jiave layin;; Italian qiie«'n from
K stock. .Tuly .Trd. queen O.K.. a few cells of K.F.R. July 9?nd. hroo<l O.K.

"Owinjr to nnforliinati' circnmstances, was not r.We to follow tip the di.s^aw'
idosely in 1014, hut T am satisfied that we have it well in hand, am! we are not
iosiiip; any sleep over the E.F.T^. proMeni."

' oxcT.iisinvs.

The conclusion reache<l Iiy the wri' r w'lh •reni'c to raies and strains of
Im-ps is that resistance is more a ni:'tter of iuor (Imn of race or strain. T?esult,s
fif tests show, however, that conunon h'.>, !: 'tcs are exceediiifrly poor rwristprs. nn<i
that Ta/niolans are not sc 'allv as j., 1 is Tfnlians.

Of the eleven strains ,." 'talian.s le>f d none have hcen entirely condemned.
.Ml have heen found ihle i.. i« sist European Foul T\t«o<} nnder ."r?'n1 manaffe-
ment. Evidence in favor of leather-colored Italians is perhaps stronger than that
for the yellower strains, and as we arc cominir more and more to the eonehision
tlirtt the former are hotter as honey producers, they should prohahly ho jn'ven the
preference.

Tt is almost amnsinir to see occasional instances where hlaek heo<» stand ont
as (rood resistors, as in the case of the one colony owned hv Afr. Rrown, of ra<ftlo-
ton. .\t least two other similar cases have come under the ohservation of the
witer. aTid in l)oth cases they were small apiaries jivon very little eare. fmt ro-
maininjr free of disease, when lareor apiaries all around were hadlv affectod.
Tt would lie a matter of interest, if not of anv jrroat profit, to attempt to develop
a strain of black bees resistant to Eir .pean Fonl Brood.

"The successful honov-prodncor of the fntnro must keen his queens vonne
and his colonies stronjr and \n<roroiis. The remedv for the disease is oxaotlv in
line with the system of hookcopinor that must be followed in order to obtain the

highest success even if Foul Brood never existed. Keep your bees up to a high
standard of vitality, and it will make but little diifcrenre whether your neighbours
are careless or not. With vigorous stock and careful attention, it is not necessary
to destroy combs in the treatment of this disease.'"

The above words of Warrington Scott cannot be too often repeated.

So far ns it can be seen by the careful observer who is not a bacteriologist,
the disease diminishes in virulence after it has been in a particular locality for a
few years. It is also true that the resistance of the bees increases a? a result
of natural selection or " sjurvival of the fittest." On the other hand, apiaries pre-
viously Italianized and carefully watched when the disease arrives are not so
badly affected.

In 1010, West, of New York State, wrote favorinjr both reduced vinilence
and increased resistance. " European Foul Brood is not so virulent after it has
been in a colony for two or three years a? it is at first. Many weaker colonies
die off and some do not, and from such, a race more immune to the disease starts

up." . „

The fart that Stewart's "D" stock from an apiary of jrood resisters in New
York did not resist in Brown's apiary in Ontario, indicates greater vinilence in
tho newer disease district. Tliis is further supported when it is considered that
Brown's case of disease was of recent orijrin. while Smith, who had f.ie disease
for five years, found the T> stock to be jjood resisters. Scotf s stateme.it that he
now considers it safe to introduce n less resistant race and Wosfs statement that
Capt. Hetherin<rton's success with Caminlans may be accounted for by the fact
that "he had passed over the worst of E.F.B. before he tried them," indicate
diminishin,? virulence. Scott's further statement: "T feel sure that the disease is
much less virulent after bein? in an apiary a few years." and the fact that the
New York State outbreak was reported in 1897— ten years before it was heard from
in Ontario — probably accounts for certain miulvod differences in symptoms of the
disease as reported in New York and in Ontario.

One fact is clear, that, from whatever cause, European Foul Brood is more
easily controlled after it has been some years in a locality.

The educative value of this work is very pr.itifyinjr. For instance, the ex-
perimenter at Fort Erie, who t ivhs such, a hiirh tribute to the distribution of
queens, was just three or four v, irs a.TO violently opposed to apiary inspectors and
all their deeds.

v»-'