MINOR TROUBLES 221 
Another source of the disease is the use of second-hand honey 
containers. A large part of the western honey goes to market 
in sixty-pound cans. These cans when empty are sold at a very 
low price and many bee-keepers are tempted to make use of 
them. Honey placed in these containers is sometimes later fed 
to the bees, or while being refilled they have often been visited by 
the bees, with the result that foul brood has been carried to the 
apiary, often in a minute drop of honey. 
Bee-keepers have sometimes brought the disease home by 
the use of purchased honey for feeding in time of short supply 
of stores. The writer has been surprised at the extent of the 
complaint of the spread of disease from these two causes. There 
is so little to be saved by the use of a second-hand container that 
bee-keepers can hardly afford to take the risk. In case it becomes 
necessary to feed the bees, good sugar syrup should always be 
used unless the honey is known to be from apiaries that are free 
from disease. 
The use of hives, frames, etc., in which bees have died is not 
safe unless they have been disinfected. While disease sometimes 
appears from some unaccountable source, the bee-keeper should 
take every possible precaution to avoid its spread. 
The presence of foul brood in an apiary is a serious matter 
to the owner and cannot but result in serious loss. Frequent 
reports come to the writer of the loss of entire apiaries, some 
times of many colonies, from foul brood. 
MINOR TROUBLES 
Sacbrood has long been known by the name of pickled brood. 
The name sacbrood is, however, much more appropriate because 
the dead larvee do not melt down as they do in foul brood, but 
rather retain the full size, the body wall retaining the contents 
in the form of a sac. This disease is seldom serious in nature 
although it is mildly infectious and may be spread from one 
colony to another. As a rule no attention need be paid to it, 
as it usually disappears with the coming of a good honey flow. 
