CHAPTER XXII 

 BEE DISEASES AND ENEMIES 



THE honeybee is subject to several diseases which are at 

 times a serious handicap to the industry. Several years ago 

 these diseases were working insidiously, destroying the 

 industry in some localities and constituting a serious handi- 

 cap elsewhere. The recent agitation on this subject has, 

 however, brought about a wider knowledge of these diseases 

 and they are losing their destructiveness just so fast as the 

 beekeepers learn how to recognize them and how to treat 

 diseased colonies. 



The diseases of bees may be divided into two classes, those 

 affecting the brood and those to which the adult bees are 

 subject. The diseases of the brood are the more destructive 

 and more is known concerning their causes, distribution, 

 symptoms and treatment. 



BROOD DISEASES 



There are three recognized diseases of the brood, known as 

 American foul brood, European foul brood and sacbrood or 



NOTE. Various phases of the investigation of the brood diseases 

 are reported in publications of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture to which the reader is referred for additional informa- 

 tion. These publications deal with the symptoms, treatment, 

 geographical distribution and causes of the diseases as well as the 

 control measures provided by various States in the form of apiary 

 inspection. The present discussion of brood diseases is largely 

 drawn from the author's bulletin " The Treatment of Bee Diseases," 

 Farmers' Bulletin 442, since it seems useless to attempt a rear- 

 rangement of the material in this bulletin. 



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