BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY. 271 



t 



Ijiillotiiis of a practical nature were published — Farmers' Bulletin 

 1012, on the care of bees when wintered outdoors, and Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin 1014, on Avinterin^ bees in cellars. These bulletins give explicit 

 directions for the care of bees during the winter season and contain 

 recommendations applicable to the entire country. It is gi-atifying to 

 report that beekeepers throughout the country are paying more at- 

 tention to the careful wintering of their bees since the bureau took 

 up this subject for investigation. 



Diseases of bees, — During the year a paper (Department Bulletin 

 780) was published on Nosema disease, a malady of adult bees which 

 may at times cause some loss, A bulletin (Farmers' Bulletin 975) 

 was issued on the preventive and remedial measures to be emplo^-ed 

 against European foulbrood, and in this bulletin for the first time 

 detailed attention is given to the factors which may successfully be 

 used by the beekeeper to prevent the inroads of this disease. Papers 

 on the etiology of American foulbrood and European foulbrood 

 were also prepared, and a paper on the beliavior of bees in the clean- 

 ing out of Euroj^ean foulbrood, a phase of investigation which had 

 previously been neglected, but one which now promises to yield most 

 important results from the standpoint of control of the disease. An 

 investigation was made of the peculiar manifestations of European 

 foulbrood in California, where, because of the climatic conditions 

 and the character and time of the honey flow, and perhaps especially 

 because of the methods of beekeeping employed, the disease is un- 

 usually destructive and shows characteristics not often encountered 

 elsewhere. During the year 563 samples were received from apiary 

 inspectors and from beekeepers for diagnosis. 



EFFECT OF THE WAR ON BEEKEEPING. 



In the last annual report attention was called to the effects that 

 the war had on the beekeeping industry. The increased demand for 

 honey for export has continued ever since the cessation of hostilities 

 and there is reason to expect that this market will continue to be an 

 important factor in American beekeeping. During the period of 

 severe sugar shortage, the home consumption of hone}'^ was greatly 

 increased, but beekeepers were worried for fear that when sugar 

 became plentiful this demand would cease. If beekeepers are able 

 to produce enough honey to meet this increased and increasing de- 

 mand this enlarged home consumption will continue. The local 

 sales of honey, near tlie points of production, increased more rap- 

 idly than sales in the larger markets, but this can readily be reme- 

 died by the further development of the larger bottling trade in 

 honey for which there is demand. 



After the winter loss in the white clover region during the winter 

 1917-18, the beekeepers of this region found themselves short of 

 bees in the spring of 1918, just at a time when there was the greatest 

 opportunity to build up their business. This produced a gTeat de- 

 m.and for bees in combless packages fi^om the Southern States and 

 resulted in the building up of a large business of this character, 

 which will continue and will be an important factor in beekeeping 

 in the future. The supply of bees from the South in 1918 probably 

 did not fully replace the winter loss during the summer of 1918, 

 but because of the increase made by beekeepers there are probably 



