Bee Disease Control 17 



At the beginning of 191 3 it was decided to select a part of the 

 State, thoroughly inspect it and reinspect to learn what the result 

 would be. Because of their geographical location, Cape May, Cum- 

 berland and Salem Counties were chosen, as it .was believed that 

 the danger of reinfection from outside sources was not great. 

 Another inspection was made in 191 5, and the results of these in- 

 spections are shown in Table II. 



In 191 3 European foulbrood was found in each of these three 

 counties, and American foulbrood also appeared in Salem County. 

 The number of apiaries in each county, although not large, was about 

 the same. Salem led in the number of colonies. In Cape May 

 County the percentage of both diseased apiaries and diseased colo- 

 nies was greater than in either of the other two counties. In one 

 apiary in Salem County both form of the disease were found. The 

 combined figures for the three counties for the year show 34.1 per 

 cent of the 129 apiaries infected and 18. i per cent of the 836 

 colonies diseased. 



In 191 5 in this area no case of American foulbrood was found. 

 The percentage of diseased apiaries in each county was reduced 

 and the percentage of diseased colonies had dropped in each 

 county. The greatest reduction both in diseased apiaries and dis- 

 eased colonies is shown in Cape May County. Each county shows 

 an increase in the number of colonies ; the greatest, 57 per cent, is 

 in Cape May County. The increase in Salem County is 45 per cent. 



Taking the combined figures for the three counties, we see that 

 there is a slight increase in the total number of apiaries. American 

 foulbrood has entirely disappeared from the area, and the pro- 

 portion of diseased apiaries is reduced to 25.9 per cent. The 

 number of colonies increased from 836 to 1,136, or a gain of 35.8 

 per cent. The reduction in the number of diseased colonies is 

 more rapid than is true of the diseased apiaries, the percentage in 

 the whole area falling from 18.1 per cent in 1913 to 6.2 per cent 

 in 1915. 



It is readily seen that in this, area three desirable changes have 

 taken place. ( i ) ' American foulbrood has entirely disappeared. 

 (2) European foulbrood has greatly decreased, and (3) the number 

 of colonies of bees has increased. These are some of the tangible 

 results of bee inspection — results which usually follow bee inspec- 

 tion. A fourth result, which is not shown in these figures and for 

 which no definite data are at hand,' is an increased honey crop due 



