94 Farmers’ Bulletin 1216. 
DISEASE CONTROL. 
It is unfortunately true that both of the brood diseases of bees, 
American foulbrood and European foulbrood, are widely distributed 
throughout the buckwheat region, and the beekeeper must so plan his 
work as to have the control of these diseases constantly in mind. 
There is no hope of the eradication of these diseases from the region. 
European foulbrood is a disease of weak colonies of bees, and is 
prevalent in the spring and early summer, especially in colonies 
of black bees. If the practices of beekeeping herein given are fol- 
lowed carefully, the beekeeper will find that this disease will not 
cause him any anxiety. In case the disease persists in the apiary, 
this is conclusive proof that the beekeeping methods followed are 
not such as to get the maximum honey-crop. For remedial meas- 
ures in getting the disease under control the reader is referred to 
Farmers’ Bulletin 975 of the Department of Agriculture. The 
reasons for the development of the colony strength in the spring 
as a preventive of this disease have already been pointed out. 
American foulbrood can not, unfortunately, be prevented by the 
development of the colony strength, and the shaking treatment is 
necessary if this disease appears. This treatment is described fully 
in Farmers’ Bulletin 1084 of the Department of Agriculture, to 
which the reader is referred. If this disease is found to be bad early 
in the season, the treatment should be given preferably during June, 
in order to permit the colony to build up for the buckwheat harvest. 
If not enough honey is coming in at this time, the treated colonies 
may be given combs of honey from healthy colonies not earlier than 
four days after treatment, or they may be given sugar sirup if star- 
vation is imminent. If a mild case is discovered early in the season, 
and if there is no clover honey-flow, it may be best to wait for treat- 
ment until the buckwheat honey-flow, but precautions must be taken 
to prevent the robbing out of such colonies. Treatment for this dis- 
ease should, if possible, be given only during a good honey-flow. 
While with the beekeeping practices herein outlined European 
foulbrood will constitute only a minor trouble of the apiary, it is 
essential that the beekeeper keep a constant watch for American 
foulbrood and treat every case as soon as practicable after its dis- 
covery. In localities where this disease is present he should inspect 
the brood-nests of every colony at least once a year, in connection 
with some other manipulation of the colony. This should, if pos- 
sible, be done about June 1. No colony should ever be packed for 
outdoor wintering in which this disease is known to be present. If 
discovered late in the season the fall treatment described in Farmers’ 
Bulletin 1084 may be used. 
