SECTION IV 

 CHAPTER I 



DISEASES 



Foul brood and dysentery are the only two diseases at 

 all likely to cause serious trouble in the apiary ; the 

 former especially so, and it behoves the beekeeper to 

 exercise the utmost vigilance to prevent his stocks from 

 becoming contaminated. Should such unfortunately 

 occur, it is important to detect the disease in its earliest 

 stages, as once the disease gains a firm footing, to eradi- 

 cate it is well nigh impossible. 



Foul brood is due to the presence of a distinct micro- 

 organism named bacillus ahei, which in a diseased colony, 

 is found not only in the brood, but also in the bees and 

 queen. Under favourable conditions as regards nutri- 

 ment and temperature, two generations can be raised in 

 an hour, or one single parent can give rise to no fewer 

 than 536 generations in one week, each individual 

 bacillus thus produced again multiplying itself at a 

 similar rate. 



The bacilli having increased to such an extent as to 

 exhaust all the nutriment upon which their existence 

 depends, change in both form and character, turning 

 into spores, in which state they lie dormant, preserving 

 their vitality for an indefinite period, successfully resist- 

 ing changes of temperature, from extreme cold up to a 

 heat of 300° F. Chemical reagents which would readily 

 destroy the bacillus are without effect upon the spores. 



