TREATMENT OF BEE DISEASES. 19 
Introduction of Italian Stock. 
Since, as stated previously (p. 11), Italian bees seem to be better 
able to withstand European foul brood than are other races, it is 
recommended that apiaries in regions where this disease is prevalent 
be requeened with young, vigorous Italian queens of good stock. 
This should be done whether or not the shaking treatment is given. 
Dequeening. 
It has been found that the removal of the queen and the keeping 
of the colony queenless for a period often results in the disappearance 
of European foul brood. The length of time that this should be done 
is in dispute. Mr. E. W. Alexander, who advocated this method. 
recommended that the colony be kept queenless (by cutting out all 
queen cells at the end of 9 days) for a period of 20 days, at which 
time a cell containing a queen of Italian stock ready to emerge is to 
be given the colony. The young queen will thus begin to lay in about 
27 days after the old queen has been removed, or in at least 3 days 
after the last of the drone brood has emerged. Other writers have 
advocated a shorter time. 
The dequeening treatment is not always successful, and it is there- 
fore recommended that care be exercised in trying it. Since there is 
_a considerable percentage of successful results, this would indicate 
that there is an important principle involved. It should not be for- 
gotten, however, that European foul brood often disappears in the 
late summer of its own accord if,the case is not severe (p. 11), and it 
is probable that in many of the cases of dequeening reported as suc- 
cessful the disease would have disappeared without the treatment. 
This treatment is suggested only for the experienced beekeeper. 
INSPECTION OF APIARIES. 
Several States have passed laws providing for the inspection of 
apiaries for contagious disease and creating the office of apiary 
inspector. The men holding these offices are usually practical bee- 
keepers, capable of giving excellent advice regarding disease, and 
it is desirable, when disease exists in a community, that the owners 
of apiaries take steps to learn who the inspector is and to notify 
him of the existence of disease. The Bureau of Entomology of this 
department can usually give information concerning the inspector 
and is always glad to be of service in bringing the beekeepers and 
inspectors in touch with one another. 
Apiary inspection has proved beneficial to the beekeeping industry 
in spreading information concerning the nature, symptoms, and 
1 Alexander, E. W.—How to rid your apiary of black brood. Gleanings in Bee Culture, 
vol. 33, pp. 1125-1127, 1905. 
442 
