THE TREATMENT OF. BEE DISEASES. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The diseases which attack the honey bee may be divided into two 
classes, namely, those affecting the brood and those to which the 
adult bees are subject. The diseases of adult bees have not been in- 
vestigated sufficiently to make it possible at the present time to recom- 
mend methods for their treatment. In the present bulletin, therefore, 
only a brief statement concerning these diseases will be made, mainly 
for the purpose of indicating the present state of knowledge on these 
subjects. Concerning the diseases of the brood more is known, and 
this is particularly fortunate since they are far more destructive in 
American apiaries than are the diseases of the adult bees. 
The causes of bee diseases will not be discussed here. For informa- 
tion on this phase of the subject the reader is referred to other pub- 
heations of the Bureau of Entomology, which are listed at the end of 
this bulletin. The aim of this bulletin is to give information that 
can be used by the practical beekeeper in combating bee diseases. 
THE BROOD DISEASES OF BEES. 
The brood diseases of the honey bee are already widely distributed 
in the United States and seem to be spreading rather rapidly. The 
loss to the beekeepers of the country, owing to the actual death of 
colonies by disease, is estimated conservatively at $1,000,000 annually. 
This does not include the loss of crops, resulting from the destruction 
of colonies, or the discouragement to the beekeeper which often 
pauses him to give up the business. A considerable part of this loss 
is due to the indifference of the beekeepers to these diseases and a lack 
of knowledge concerning them. 
It frequently happens that colonies in an apiary become infected 
before the owner realizes that disease is present. He may errone- 
ously attribute the losses observed to some other cause. In this way 
the disease gets a start which makes eradication difficult when once 
the cause of the loss has been discovered. In view of the widespread 
distribution of these diseases, it is most desirable that all beekeepers 
learn to distinguish the diseases when they appear and to know how 
to keep them under control. 
It is often a matter of surprise to beekeepers to learn that bees are 
subject to disease. The most frequent source of confusion is the 
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