CHAPTER XII. 
DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF BEES. 
DIARRHEA AND DYSENTERY. 
In the chapter on wintering bees allusion has been made to certain 
conditions which bring about diarrhea in bees. Not only will soured or 
fermented honey produce this disease, but thin honey also, by requir- 
ing too great exertion on the part of the bees to get rid of the surplus 
moisture taken into their bodies, may indirectly cause the disease. 
Repeated complaints have been made by those located near cider mills 
that the apple juice collected by their bees was the cause of diarrhea 
and dysentery. Aphidid secretions sometimes have the same effect. 
Prolonged and intense cold in the interior of the hive, especially if the 
stores are not of the best quality, causes distention and resulting 
weakness and soiling of the hive and combs. Dampness and chilling 
of individual bees frequently cause it. The effort some make to avoid 
the dampness often results in the chilling, for the cover is removed, and 
also some portion of the packing or the quilt or honey board to let the air 
pass through to dry the interior. The true remedy is a cleansing flight 
and warmth in the hive. Should the weather not be favorable for this 
out of doors, the hive may be brought into a warm room and a cage of 
wire cloth 2 or 3 feet square placed over the entrance. When thoroughly 
warmed up the bees will fly in this and find their way back into the 
hive. Itis best to leave them in the warm room two or three days, 
lowering the temperature gradually before returning the hive to its 
outside stand. 
FOUL BROOD. 
This disease, being highly contagious, is dreaded most of all by the 
bee keeper. It is due to the presence of minute vegetable organisms 
in the body of the bee, the larva, or the egg, which prey upon its tissues. 
These, aS Prof. Frank Cheshire has shown, are bacilli, which, multiply- 
ing with marvelous rapidity by division and also by spores, are carried 
from hive to hive, until from a single infection the whole apiary is soon 
ruined. The particular bacillus which is commonly known as foul brood 
Professor Cheshire has described as Bacillus alvei, or hive bacillus, as it 
affects not only the brood but also the adult bees. (See Pl. XI.) The 
first symptoms noticeable in the hive are its lack of energy, then dead 
larve turned black in the cells, and finally sunken caps, some of them 
perforated slightly over larve and pup. All of these symptoms may, 
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