80 



Bee-lxcep'infi in Victoria. 



and the same treatment is necessary to effect a cure. Whether foul- 

 l)rood in Australia is caused by li . pliiton or ]i . iarvre has up to the 

 present not been scientifically tested ; probably both are present. 



To describe diseased brood to any one not well acquainted with the 

 subject it is best to contrast its appearance to the e.ve with that of 

 brood in a healthy state. Normal healthy brood shows in compact 

 masses in the comb, that is to saj', considerable numbers of ad.i'oining 

 cells contain larvaj of the same age (Fig. 1). In a diseased comb the 

 brood appears irregular and scattered. Healthy larva are of pearly 

 whiteness, plump, and lie curled up on the cell bottom almost in the 

 shape of the letter C. Diseased larvna are pale j^ellow, and, further 

 on, tTirn brown; the grubs appear flabby, and are not so much ciu'led 

 up as healthy larva3 of the same size. 



When the larva^ do not die till after the cells have been capped 

 over, cells will be found here and there darker in colour than healthy 





»•»»••>.«.•'.•>. 



L^: 





3 N J « ^ SM? 





Tig. 1. — Comb of Healthy Brood; Queen Cells also Shown. 



ones alongside ; the cappings usually will be indented instead of convex, 

 and will frequently show irregidar holes. (Fig. 2.) If these cells 

 are opened, a brown mass is visible which, when touched with a match 

 or straw, draws out stringy or ropy. The ropiness is the surest prac- 

 tical way of identifying the disease, and the test should be applied to 

 any suspicious-looking cells which may appear amongst the brood. I 

 would here point out that, although the cappings of brood, particularly 

 those of black bees, have, when healthy, the appearance shown in Fig. 

 1, there are some bees of the yellow races which cap the cells quite 

 flat; also, that the scattering of the brood is by itself not necessarilyt 

 an indication of disease, and may be due to the irregular lajdng of an 

 inferior queen. 



In view of the heavy losses resulting from foul-brood, when once 

 it has obtained a good start in an apiary, and the great amount of 

 labour involved in its eradication, as well as to the fact that it has 



