Introduction of Vigorous Italian Queen of Resistant Stock—Un- 
fortunately bee breeding has not as yet been carried to the place 
where anyone can safely say his bees are European foulbrood proof. 
Indeed this time may be far distant. The best, then, that can be 
done is to secure queens from a reputable dealer unless the bee- 
keeper is so situated that he can get pure matings in his own 
locality. If the beekeeper can rear the queens for this operation 
it will prove beneficial if mature queen cells rather than virgins 
or laying queens be introduced to the colony under treatment. The 
period of expectancy and preparation when the queen is due to 
emerge from the cell and until she has had the mating flight appears 
to stimulate the cleaning-up process. Of course it is necessary 
to have good Italian stock from which to rear the queens. 
A bountiful honey flow will serve to stimulate the clean-up, and 
a meager one will have a deterrent effect. 
Sacbrood 
Sacbrood is a disease of the larvae of honey bees which, ac- 
cording to White*, is caused by “a filterable virus.” This causes 
the death of the larva at the stage of its development just after 
sealing when the larva is extended in the cell. The bees soon re- 
move the cappings from cells containing the dead larva, exposing 
to the view of the beekeeper the dead larva with head pointed, 
curled upward away from the lower cell wall, Chinaman shoe 
fashion, and the forward quarter of the larva darker than the 
posterior portion. The color of the forward portion is a dirty 
brown, somewhat mottled. The posterior portion is usually only 
slightly discolored with brown. If these larvae are burst the contents 
are found to be watery and somewhat granular. 
Aside from the position in the cell the most characteristic symp- 
tom of this disorder is the fact that if the head is carefully grasped 
the larva can be lifted from the cell entire, whereas in American 
or European foulbrood a like procedure would result in lifting from 
the cell only that portion of the larva grasped. 
Seldom in New Jersey does sacbrood cause any appreciable de- 
crease in strength of the colony attacked. The reason for a discus- 
sion of this disorder is that the beekeeper may be able to recognize 
it and not confound it with foulbrood, either American or European. 
and needlessly treat the colony. 
Remedial Measures—Since the cause of this bee disorder is not 
known no definite directions for treatment can be given, and the only 
*White, G. F., 1913. Sacbrood a Disease of Bees. United States Depart- 
ment Agriculture. Bureau Entomology Bulletin, 169. 
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