218 



and control measures have reduced the numbers below injurious 

 infestation. Wherever egg-clusters have been found they have been 

 soaked with creosote, and in the case of larger infestations all brushwood 

 has been cut and bm'nt. Tanglefoot bands were apj)lied in the follow- 

 ing spring to all infested trees and those within a radius of 100 feet of 

 infested trees. Large infestations, where larvae were present, were 

 sprayed in June with arsenate of lead. 



Care (E. G.). Some New and Practical Methods for the Control of 

 European Foulbrood. — Jl. Econ. Entom., Concord, N.H., x, no. 1, 

 February 1917, pp. 197-200. 



The essential factors in the treatment of European foulbrood of 

 bees without destroying the combs are, a strong colony, the cessation 

 of brood rearing in the diseased combs for a time, and good Itahan 

 stock. Since young bees are credited with cleaning up the combs, 

 it is desirable that the colony be strengthened in this respect. This 

 may be done by shaking combs of bees in front of the colony ; the 

 young bees enter the colony needing them, while the old bees fly 

 back to their hive. To stop brood-rearing, the queen is removed or 

 caged within the hive for a time, in order to give the colony an oppor- 

 tunity to clean out the diseased larvae. In re-queening, a young 

 queen should be chosen from a disease-resisting stock, preferably an 

 Italian one. An alternative method to that of deposing the queen is 

 to cause the bees to construct a new brood nest, thus bringing about 

 a temporary cessation of brood-rearing in the infected combs. This 

 plan cannot be successful unless there is a heavy honey flow at the 

 time. The principle of this method is that the cessation of egg-laying 

 reduces the food for the bacillus of the disease, while the honey flow 

 furnishes abimdant healthy food for the larvae, stimulating the cell 

 cleaners, so that the cells which contained diseased larvae are quickly 

 cleaned out in preparation for the incoming nectar. The method of 

 operating in this case is to put the queen in a hive with full sheets of 

 foundation, over this an excluder and the diseased combs over all. 

 The fact that bees have often proved very active in clearing out foul- 

 brood during a nectar flow from buckwheat has led to the conclusion 

 that a mild acid should be fed to diseased bees and this has been tried 

 with some success. Further experiment is needed to prove the 

 value of the acid treatment. A good deal of skill and knowledge is 

 required for the successful carrying out of these methods, and for bee- 

 keepers who cannot succeed with them the destruction of the diseased 

 colony is the only remedy. 



ScHOENE (W. ,7.)- The Weakness of our present System of Inspection 

 with Regard to Foreign Shipments. — Jl. Econ. Entom., 

 Concord, N. H., x, no. 1, February 1917, pp. 216-217. 



Entomologists who endeavour to develop inspection work in the 

 United States always have to contend with the fact that each State 

 has authority to regulate the control of injurious pests according to 

 the desires of the citizens composing that State, and the policy of one 

 State is frequently radically different from that of its neighbours. In 

 particular, the ideas of the importer or buyer of foreign produce rarely 

 agree with the opinions of entomologists, as regards the restrictions 



