THE DISEASES OF BEES. 133 



This circumstance throws a light on the contami- 

 nation of the different hives in an apiary, through one 

 that has become infected ; as, no doubt, during the 

 process of ventilation, many germs of the disease find 

 their way out of the entrances. It is probable that 

 robber-bees are also very frequently the carriers of 

 contagion. Taking advantage of the dwindling down 

 of a stock suffering from the disease, these plunderers 

 pilfer the honey, and, in so doing, receive on their 

 bodies the fatal seeds of the malady, which they 

 then carry to their own stocks. In this way the 

 existence of the pest in one community may become 

 the cause of its extension throughout a neighbour- 

 hood. It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that 

 the signs of the appearance of the evil should be 

 constantly watched, and very stringent measures 

 applied whenever its existence is ascertained. 



Until quite lately it was thought that no means of 

 cure, strictly so called, existed. The germs are so 

 minute, and are capable of such diffusion and adhe- 

 rence in a hive, that half-measures proved, as usual, of 

 no avail. The removal of the combs and bees to a 

 fresh hive, and thoroughly sprinkling them with salicilic 

 acid and water, has been recommended as a remedial 

 course ; but bee-keepers found that nothing short of 

 the complete destruction of the infected community 

 was likely to be really effective, and the first loss, in 

 such a case, might save the entire destruction of all 

 the stocks in the apiary. The very honey stored in 

 the combs had to be sacrificed also; for in it the 

 dangerous germs settle, and being used by the nurse- 

 bees for feeding the larvae, become the continued, and 

 possibly unsuspected, source of mischief to any hive 



