THE TREATMENT OF AMERICAN POULBROOD 6 



used beekeeping equipment should make sure that it is free from 

 disease material. Some States wisely restrict the sale of used bee- 

 keeping equipment to that which is known to be uncontaminated. 



SYMPTOMS 



In the apiary American foulbrood can be detected only by the 

 presence of brood remains. The spores of the disease organism can 

 be recovered and identified only by bacteriological technic. 



The disease may be recognized by the sunken and perforated cap- 

 pings and the isolated sealed cells in the midst of recently emerged 

 brood. The dead larvae have a melted-down appearance and are 

 usually extended lengthwise in the cells (fig. 1). Occasionally the 

 bees die while in the coiled stage, and in this condition the brood may 

 resemble that dead of European f oul%rood. Dead larvae are slightly 

 yellowish or dirty white in color at first, but become chocolate brown 

 or black upon further decay. Shortly after death of the larvae, and 

 until the contents of the cells become too thick, the brood remains 

 can be drawn out with a toothpick into fine silklike threads, and are 

 quite ropy and gluelike. Upon drying, the brood remains, called 

 scales (fig. 1, F, G) , become tough or brittle and adhere so tightly to 

 the floor and base of the cells that the bees cannot remove them. The 

 scales are very thin and in old, dark brood combs are easily over- 

 looked. 



Pupae that die of the disease undergo similar changes in color and 

 consistency and in the final formation of a scale (fig. 2). Occasion- 

 ally the tongue of a dead pupa adheres to the roof of the cell. This 

 is a significant, but not an infallible, symptom. 



Bees remove many of the cappings from cells containing dead 

 brood, and this makes it appear that the larvae or pupae died before 

 being sealed. 



American foulbrood has a characteristic odor, which is pronounced 

 when the disease is in an advanced stage. 



Although adult bees are not attacked, loss of brood causes an 

 infected colony to become gradually weaker, and usually to die 

 during the second year of the disease. 



The constancy and the uniformity of the symptoms characterize 

 this disease more than does any one symptom. Isolated sealed, 

 sunken, or perforated cells in the midst of healthy emerging brood 

 should be examined whenever disease is suspected. It is not diffi- 

 cult to make a reliable diagnosis in the apiary except perhaps when 

 only 1 or 2 recently dead larvae or pupae are present. In such 

 cases a portion of the comb containing the suspected brood should 

 be sent to a competent inspector. In the meantime the entrance 

 of the suspected hive should be contracted and the colony left undis- 

 turbed until the nature of the trouble has been determined. 



OTHER BROOD DISEASES SOMETIMES MISTAKEN FOR AMERICAN 



FOULBROOD 



Many colonies have been destroyed or treated in the erroneous 

 belief that they were infected with American foulbrood. On the 

 other hand, the disease has been spread when American foulbrood 



