418 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Bee Diseases. 



We now come to the grim part of our theme. For a man 

 to say that the bee moth has injured his apiary, is a frank 

 admission of ignorance or neglect on his part ; for him to 

 bewail his atiiictions from robbing, marks him as one who is 

 careless if not slovenly in his methods ; for him to say that 

 his bees have foul brood, carries as yet no stigma, for we 

 do not know how it originates or Avhere it comes from. 

 This tells us simply that he is unfortunate. 



Brood diseases and dysentery were known in the days of 

 Aristotle. Baron Dzierzon, in 1848, lost his entire apiary 

 of 500 colonies from an epidemic of disease. 



A condition commonly called dysentery sometimes ap- 

 pears in an apiary, generally among the weaker swarms, 

 especially in the early spring or after a long period of con- 

 finement of the bees within the hives. Bees normally void 

 all excrement on the wing and outside the hive, but under 

 the above conditions they may soil the hive, combs and one 

 another with 3"ellowish-brown stains. This may go on until 

 the whole colony perishes, a mass of mouldy bees in the 

 bottom of the hive. 



Of course a good many bees may die, especially in unfav- 

 orable weather, of old age and Aveakness in the early spring, 

 and we should not be surprised to find possibly a quart or 

 two dead in front of a hive at such times. I have never 

 known it to go farther than this, unless the entrance be- 

 came closofed Avith dead bees. Generallv, if the bees are 

 able to fly freely for a day of bright, warm weather, the 

 trouble disappears, and, with a little help in scraping the 

 bottom board, etc., the bees clean up the hive in short 

 order. This is generally done as a matter of com'se during 

 the first warm days of spring, Avhen the bees begin to fly. 

 In exceptionally bad cases, it may be advisable to shake the 

 bees onto clean combs in a clean hive. 



In severer cases, bad food, especially honey made by the 

 bees from " honey-dew," is probably at the root of the diffi- 

 culty. Honey-dew is excreted by aphides or plant lice, 

 which often cover the leaves of trees in dry seasons with a 

 sweetish substance, giving them the appearance of being 



