CHAPTER XII 

 Bee Diseases. 



ALTHOUGH bee diseases are quite prevalent throughout 

 the southern states, fortunately but a small percentage of 

 the total infections have been found to be American foul- 

 brood. Consequently the losses to commercial beekeepers who 

 use Italian stocks are slight. On the other hand, in the Appala- 

 chian mountains, where the hundreds of "beekeepers" have 90 

 per cent black bees, European foulbrood is endemic and fre- 

 quently epidemic, causing the losses of thousands of colonies 

 at least once in a decade. This was noticeably true in the year 

 1909, when the regions mentioned were visited by a European 

 foulbrood epidemic. Most of the South is as yet unorganized 

 to fight bee diseases, and if American foulbrood had ever gained 

 a substantial foothold in this section, the bees would probably 

 have been lost in a short time. In one case the writer visited in a 

 southeastern state for one month in 1916 and found actual evi- 

 dence of European foulbrood in every one of forty- two counties 

 visited. In this state there was no inspection or extension service 

 for bee culture and consequently but few real commercial bee- 

 keepers. Such conditions do not obtain in most of the South, 

 however, and fortunately the writer does not remember of hav- 

 ing seen but one or two cases of American foulbrood in seven- 

 teen months spent in this territory, investigating such conditions 

 for the U. S. government. 



A Prospect. 



Since European foulbrood is considered to be primarily a 

 spring disease and to often cure itself when settled warm weather 

 comes, one might think its ravages in the South might be nil. 

 Such, however, is not the case, as it is the opinion of the writer 

 that more losses, winter and summer, are due to European foul- 



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