26 ARKANSAS EXPERIMENT STATION 



fined to worker larvae, very rarely attacking drone larvae or 

 queen larvae. The larvae when attacked by the disease loose 

 their waxy white color and gradually assume a brown or coffee 

 color. They usually die after the cells have been capped over. 

 When the larvae fail to emerge the workers either remove the 



FIG. 4. American Foul Brood (Notice the sunken and scattered cap 

 pinus) (Electrotype furnisiied by Dadant and Sons) 



cappings or puncture them. 



These punctures in the cell cappings, the large number of 

 uncapped cells, the brown color of the larvae, and an odor some- 

 what like burnt glue, are indications of American Foul Brood. 

 By inserting a toothpick in one of the dead larvae and draw- 

 ing it out the material will often string out for an inch or more. 

 This is known as ropiness. Ropiness is not present at an early 

 stage of the disease; it develops after the larva has been dead for 

 some time and has dried down to some extent. 



American foul brood unlike European foul brood attacks all 

 the different races and strains of bees. 



Treatment. When proceeding to treat colonies for foul 

 brood two things should be borne in mind. One is that the 

 organism causing the disease is very difficult to kill. It takes 

 30 minutes to kill it in boiling water. In the combs the disease 

 cannot be treated with disinfectants. The other thing is that 

 all honey gathered while the disease is present in the colony is 

 contaminated. 



Therefore, the only treatment is to take all the infected 



