THE TREATMENT OF BEE DISEASES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The diseases which attack the honey bee may be divided into two 

 classes, namelj', tliosu att'ecting the brood and those to which the 

 adult bees are subject. The diseases of adult bees have not been in- 

 \estigated sufficiently to make it possible at the present time to recom- 

 mend methods for their treatment. In the present bulletin, tlierefore, 

 only a brief statement concerning these diseases will be made, mainly 

 for the purpose of indicating the present state of knowledge on these 

 subjects. Concerning the diseases of the brood more is known, and 

 this is particularly fortunate since they are far more destructive in 

 American apiaries than are the diseases of the adult bees. 



The causes of bee diseases will not be discu.ssed here. For informa- 

 tion on this phase of the subject the reader is referred to other pub- 

 lications of the Bureau of Entomology, which are listed at the end of 

 this bulletin. The aim of this bulletin is to give information that 

 can be used by the practical beekeeper in combating bee diseases. 



THE BROOD DISEASES OF BEES. 



The brood diseases of the honey bee are already widely distributed 

 in the United States and seem to be spreading rather rapidly. The 

 loss to the beekeepers of the country, owing to the actual death of 

 colonies by disease, is estimated conservatively at $1,000,000 annually. 

 This does not include the loss of crops, resulting from the destruction 

 of colonies, or the discouragement to the beekeeper which often 

 causes him to give up the business. A considerable part of this loss 

 is due to the indifference of the beekeepers to these diseases and a lack 

 of knowledge concerning them. 



It frequently happens that colonies in an apiary become infected 

 before the owner realizes that disease is present. He may errone- 

 ously attribute the losses observed to'some other cause. In this way 

 the disease gets a start which makes eradication difficult when once 

 the cause of the loss has been discovered. In view of the widespread 

 distribution of these diseases, it is most desirable that all beekeepers 

 learn to distinguish the diseases when they appear and to know how 

 to keep them under control. 



It is often a matter of surprise to beekeepers to learn that bees are 

 subject to disease. The most frequent source of confusion is the 

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