35 



do not know how it originates or wliere it comes from. This tells us 

 simply that he is unfortunate. 



Brood diseases and djsenter}^ were known in the days of Aristotle. 

 Baron Dyierzon, in 18-18, lost his entire apiary of 500 colonies from an 

 epidemic of disease. 



A condition commonly called dysentery sometimes appears in an 

 apiary, generally among the weaker swarms, especially in the early 

 spring or after a long period of confinement of the bees within the 

 hives. Bees normally void all exci'ement on the wing and outside the 

 hive, but under the above conditions they may soil the hive, combs and 

 one another with yellowish-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 unfavorable weather, 

 of old age and weakness in the early spring, and we should not be sur- 

 prised to find possibly a quail or two dead in front of a hive at such 

 times. I have never known it to go farther than this unless the entrance 

 became clogged with dead bees. Generally, 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 course 

 during the first warm days of spring, when 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 difficulty. Hone)'-dew is 

 excreted by aphids or plant lice, which often cover the leaves of trees 

 in dry seasons with a sweetish substance, giving them the appearance of 

 being varnished. Bees do not ordinarily collect this, if they can find 

 nectar in the flowers, but as a last resort in seasons of scarcity they may 

 attempt to use it for winter stoi'es. As stored in the combs, such honey 

 is commonly very dark and has a nauseating taste. Careful bee keepers 

 in preparing the bees for winter generally remove the frames containing 

 such honey and either feed sugar syrup or supply, in good season and 

 carefully placed, combs of clean and wholesome honey. 



In this connection a word of caution is in order against allowing bees 

 to soil washings on the line. With bees in cities this nuisance often 

 causes ill feeling among neighbors. To prevent this simply confine the 

 bees on wash days or until all clothes within the danger line, say within 

 a radius of a hundred feet, are taken in. 



By far the most serious diseases of bees are those which attack the 

 brood. They may occur any time in the summer and are known under 

 the popular names of "foul brood," "pickled brood," "bad brood," 

 "black brood "or "the New York bee disease," and so on. Of these, 

 the diff'erences, if any, are so slight and technical that we cannot here 

 consider them. For simplicity then, we will speak of the brood disease 

 which has gained a firm hold in certain localities of Massachusetts as 

 foul brood. 



A foul brood colony in a neighborhood should be regarded as danger- 

 ous to the bees as a case of smallpox is to man. The strictest laws 



