DISEASES OF BEES 109 



before, considered very bad for them to winter 

 on. 



The most characteristic form of disease to which 

 bees are subject, however, is that known as Foul 

 Brood. This disease is caused by a bacillus, and 

 is extremely contagious. It takes various forms, 

 which are attributable to slightly different varieties 

 of bacillus, but in either case the affected members 

 of the colony are the larvae or grubs. At a certain 

 stage, instead of developing into bees, they be- 

 come flabby, turn brown, and shrivel up. In the 

 virulent form the larra, after decomposing, smell 

 most vilely, and, if a pointed stick is inserted into 

 a cell, it is found, when withdrawn, to have 

 a brown sticky substance adhering to it, which 

 can be stretched like rubber. 



This disease may exist in a hive in a mild form 

 for years. Many people who do not give the 

 attention to their bees which they should, have 

 found, when their hives have been examined by 

 an expert, many if not all of them, infected with 

 the complaint. The great cause of contagion 

 is the robbing of such hives. Naturally, when 

 a hive is suffering from this complaint, it tends 

 to become weaker in proportion to the extent of 

 the disease, and the weaker a colony is, the more 

 liable is it to be attacked and robbed by strong 

 colonies. These robber bees carry home the 

 germs or spores with which the honey becomes 

 tainted, and so transmit the trouble. 



