European Foul-brood Bee Disease. 247 



after themselves with very little attentiou ; aiid in tlie case of large 

 apiaries it may be more profitable, under the prevailing- labour condi- 

 tions, to risk occasional heavy losses than to go to the trouble of 

 guarding against them. 



To ascertain if the improvement in 1917-18 had been continued 

 I wrote to a number of prominent Western Province bee-keepers in 

 the past October. The leading Malmesbury District bee-keeper, in 

 the course of his reply, stated: — 



Last year my apiaries, bar the infected one, came through 

 all right and gave me a good crop. This season swarms are all 

 strong, even in the infected a])iary, and I expect a heavier crop. 

 There are very few signs of any colonies liaving European foul- 

 brood, so that, in my opinion, the disease, has not come to stay. 



The person who probably keeps the largest number of colonies 

 in the Caledon District replied, inter alia: — 



I have to report that my bees wintered well. I have not 

 yet come across any symptoms of the disease, but have not yet 

 handled all the colonies. . . Where the disease was present 

 in a few cells of the brood of certain colonies last autumn T have 

 found the bees to have recovered entirely, liaving built up 

 rapidly during tlie last month. In cases of weak colonies I have 

 found this to be due only to old queens. 



Another Caledon bee-keeper wrote : — 



In the spring a year ago my bees were in a \ery bad way from 

 foul-brooil and 1 suppose insufficient stores for the winter. Ten 

 out of thirty colonies had dwindled away and died, and the rest 

 were weaker than 1 had ever known them (I have kept bees here 

 since 1911). By last autumn (May, 1919) 1 had increased my 

 bees to thii'ty strong colonies, and I left a super jjartially filled 

 with honey on each for their winter supplies. I examined my bees 

 on the 21st October and found all except two colonies pretty 

 strong, and some very strong indeed, with supeis quite full of 

 honey. The two weak colonies have foul-])rood ; the others I 

 have not examined this spring, tliough last s})ring every hive had 

 foul-brood. 



Conditions under which European Foul-jjrood Occurs. 



It was pointed out in Bulletin No. 10 that European foul-bicod 

 is far more in evidence during the spring and early summer thai! at 

 other times of the year. On this phase of the subject Dr. E. E. 

 Phillips, the Chief Apiculturist of the U.S.A. Department of Agri- 

 culture, wrote to the Division of Entomology, under date of 18th 

 August, 1919, as follows: — 



. You will, I am sure, find European foul-brood more 

 prevalent in poor seasons, especially those in which the earlier 

 honey-flows are meagre. In 1918 there was an epidemic of the 

 disease in Michigan, when the clover honey-flow failed, and this 

 year New York and Indiana are hard hit, in both States the 

 clover honey-flow being rather poor. This probably accounts 

 for conditions with you in 1915-17. AVlien the early honey-flows 

 fail all colonies are weakened, making them easy prey for the 



