Brood Diseases of Bees, their Treatment and 



THE Law for their Suppression in 



Massachusetts.' 



Burton N. Gates, Ph.D., Inspector of Apiaries, Amherst, Mass. 



There is undeniable proof of the occurrence in Massachu- 

 setts of two distinct brood diseases of bees, American foul 

 brood and European foul brood, which cause inestima- 

 ble loss to beekeepers, and indirectly to orchardists and 

 growers of cucumbers under glass. Each of these diseases 

 attacks the developing brood, and each results in a marked 

 reduction of the population of a colony, if not its death. 

 Also, the adult bees are rendered inactive, making diseased 

 colonies of bees unproductive. Each disease, if untreated, 

 may destroy entire apiaries, as has been commonly experi- 

 enced. 



A preliminary study of the occurrence of these diseases 

 in Massachusetts was published in 1908 as a bulletin en- 

 titled " Bee Diseases in Massachusetts. "^ Since then there 

 has been enacted by the General Court a law ' ' to provide 

 for the appointment of an inspector of apiaries and for the 

 suppression and control of contagious bee diseases," which 

 appears on page 10. The Inspector of Apiaries solicits 

 the co-operation of each beekeeper in the State, and will 

 gladly examine samples of broods believed to be diseased. 

 These should be mailed according to directions on inside front 

 cover. 



1 This paper baa been compiled largely from "Brooil Diseases of Bees," by E. P. 

 Phillips, Ph.D., Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, Cir- 

 cular 79, and from the present writer's publication, referred to below. 



2 " Bee Diseases in Massachusetts," by Burton N. Gates, Bureau of Entomology, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 75, Part III., and also published by 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station as Bulletin 124. A copy may be 

 had free by addressing Director, Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Amherst, Mass. To these the reader is referred for more detailed accounts of brood 

 diseases. 



