484 DISEASES OF BEES. 



Those who ha-ve lived through the trying days of 1918, 

 when the "VTorld YZar caire to an end and an unexpected con- 

 tagion called "Spanish influenza" spread upon aU civilized 

 countries, taking a toll, in spite of doctors, and destrojdng 

 five or six per cent of the population of some unci\dlized spots 

 can have a faint idea of the danger of any contagion. 



Laws have been passed concemin;^ foul-brood, in many 

 countries and in the greater number of the states of the Union, 

 but these laws are of difficult enforeem.ent. Inspectors of 

 apiaries have difficulty in reaching every infected spot. When 

 they do find them, it is another diCculty to secure action on 

 the part of every bee-keeper. One man who neglects to treat 

 his bees when they are diseased causes the continuance of the 

 trouble. So it behooves every lover of apiculture to help 

 spread the information which vvill enable every one to eradicate 

 the disease. 



The writer once i-isited apiaries in the mountains of the 

 West, where disease was kno^^Ti to ex-ist, in order to become 

 acquainted -wath its appearance and methods of cure. He 

 called upon two bee-keepers only three miles apart, the one 

 with a thri^dng apiary, the other with neglected colonies. The 

 first was constantly watching for disease and treating it as soon 

 as it showed itself. The other did the treating in a half-hearted 

 manner and indolently stated that "when a bee-keeper has 

 found foul-brood among his bees he must never expect to get 

 rid of it." So this man soon went out of business, while the 

 other succeeded. 



An incident mentioned by a country physician, in Europe, 

 is to the point, in the necessity for thoroughly treating an 

 apiary where disease is found. A laborer had come to the old 

 doctor for an ointment to cure the "itch." He had caught this 

 — now uncommon and ever disgraceful — contagious skin disease 

 while working as a harvest hand in the country. Directions 

 were given him for using the ointment, and he was told that 

 his wife should anoint with this also, as a preventive. But 



