604 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Sec. 2. Certificate of health. No common carrier shall accept colonies 

 of bees for delivery at Iowa points unless the said bees be accompanied 

 by a certificate of health signed by some duly authorized state or gov- 

 ernment inspector. 



Sec. 3. Violation — Penalty. Any person convicted of a violation of this 

 act shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more 

 than one hundred dollars ($100.00). 



DISEASES OF BEES. 



The worst thing with which the bee keepers of Iowa have to 

 contend at" present is the brood disease known as foul brood. 

 This occurs in two forms, called American foul brood and Eu- 

 ropean foul brood. Both diseases are present in the state. In a 

 few instances both are present in the same county and possibly 

 in some eases in the same apiary. Where these diseases are 

 present, large numbers of the young bees die in the cells, with the 

 result that the colonies are greatly weakened, and eventually 

 perish from the disease. The following description of the two 

 forms is by Dr. E. F. Phillips of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. 



American foul brood (often called simply "foul brood") is distributed 

 through all parts of the United States, and from the symptoms published 

 in European journals and texts one is led to believe that it is also the 

 prevalent brood disease in Europe. Although it is found in almost all 

 sections of the United States, there are many localities entirely free 

 from disease of any kind. 



The adult bees of an infected colony are usually rather inactive and 

 do little toward cleaning out infected material. When the larvae are 

 first affected, they turn to a light chocolate color, and in the advanced 

 stages of decay they become darker, resembling roasted coffee in color. 

 Usually the larvae are attacked at about the time of capping, and 

 most of the cells containing infected larvae are capped. As decay pro- 

 ceeds, these cappings become sunken and perforated, and, as the healthy 

 brood emerges, the comb shows the scattered cells containing larvae 

 which have died of disease still capped. The most noticeable character- 

 istic of this infection is the fact that when a small stick is inserted 

 in a larva which has died of the disease, and slowly removed, the broken- 

 down tissues adhere to it and will often stretch out for several inches 

 before breaking. When the larva dries, it forms a tightly adhering scale 

 of very dark-brown color, which can best be observed when the comb is 

 held so that a bright light strikes the lower side wall. Decaying larvae 

 which have died of this disease have a very characteristic odor, which 

 resembles a poor quality of glue. This disease seldom attacks drone or 



