DISEASES AND ENEMIES. 
537 
occasion of spreading far and wide that which for- 
merly existed, though confined to narrow limits. In 
ancient days, bees did all their own travelling, and 
that at swarming time; then they rarely changed 
hands, except at the death of the owner, for the 
selling of a hive was discountenanced as unlucky 
even half a century back ; but now bee-dealing is a 
well-established industry, both here and on the con- 
tinents of Europe and America, so that bees are 
continually passing, not only from district to district, 
but, in the persons of queens and attendants, even 
from one country to another. Man, then, suffers not 
alone from diseases propagated by modern civilisa- 
tion, but the animals which he has associated with 
himself necessarily suffer with him. Let us consider 
the matter under three heads : Firstly, the symptoms 
and nature of the disease; secondly, the means of its 
propagation ; and thirdly, the methods of its cure. 
First, The symptoms and nature of the disease. 
My readers are acquainted with the appearance of a 
comb removed from a healthy brood-nest during the 
breeding season. If the larvae are all unsealed, those 
most advanced occupy the centre, presenting to view 
the sides of their well-fattened bodies, as they lie 
curled, in precisely similar positions, at the bottom of 
their cells, which they, in large part, fill ; the younger 
and less grown, also curled as they feed, lie around ; 
while beyond are the recently laid eggs, which 1 have 
had the honour of discovering may be the subject 
of the disease even before they leave the body of 
the mother. 
Most careful microscopic examination is needful to 
