88 BEES FOR PLEASUKE AND I'KOFIT. 



Ptobbing must be carefully guarded against when disease 

 is present or suspected, as it is a most fruitful source of 

 spreading the contagion. 



Prevention Better than Cure. 



Naphthol beta and formalin are the two remedies now 

 most generally used for the cure of foul brood, but the bee- 

 keeper should remember the old adage that " Prevention is 

 better than cure " ; and if he knows that foul brood exists 

 in the neighbourhood or in the apiary, he must immediately 

 take steps to prevent the other hives from catching it. A 

 very good preventive is naphthaline (do not confound this 

 with naphthol beta, which is used in the bees' food ; naphtha- 

 line is quite a different thing, and must never be used in 

 this way) ; it possesses a strong smell, and can be obtained 

 in white crystalline flakes and in sticks ; whichever form is 

 used, care must be taken to have it quite pure. Of flake 

 naphthaline, as much as can be heaped on a sixpence should 

 be placed on the floor-board, at the back of the hive, as far 

 from the entrance as possible. If we are using the stick 

 naphthaline, one or two pieces as large as a small nut will 

 be found sufficient. IS^aphthaline evaporates, especiall}^ the 

 flake naphthaline, and the supply of it must therefore be 

 renewed in the hive every ten or twelve days — in winter it 

 does not evaporate so quickly, and so will not need to be 

 supplied to the bees so often. 



Cleanliness. 



Both in the prevention and in the cure of any bee disease, 

 whether it be simple dysenter}'^, foul brood, or Isle of Wight 

 disease, cleanliness is of the greatest importance. Floor-boards 

 should be kept clean and well scraped, and no debris of any 

 kind should be allowed to accumulate about the apiary. 



Isle of Wight Bee Disease. 



Isle of Wight bee disease, or Microsporidiosis, as it is 

 sometimes called, is the most terrible scourge to which bees 

 are subject. It appeared first in the Isle of Wight in 1904, 

 and, spreading to the mainland, it gradually worked its way 

 up northwards to Scotland and Ireland, carrying devastation 



