CHAPTER XXII 
BEE DISEASES AND ENEMIES 
The honeybee is subject to several diseases which are at 
times a serious handicap to the industry. Several years ago 
these diseases were working insidiously, destroying the 
industry in some localities and constituting a serious handi¬ 
cap elsewhere. The recent agitation on this subject has, 
however, brought about a wider knowledge of these diseases 
and they are losing their destructiveness just so fast as the 
beekeepers learn how to recognize them and how to treat 
diseased colonies. 
The diseases of bees may be divided into two classes, those 
affecting the brood and those to which the adult bees are 
subject. The diseases of the brood are the more destructive 
and more is known concerning their, causes, distribution, 
symptoms and treatment. 
BROOD DISEASES 
There are three recognized diseases of the brood, known as 
American foul brood, European foul brood and sacbrood or 
Note. Various phases of the investigation of the brood diseases 
are reported in publications of the United States Department of 
Agriculture to which the reader is referred for additional informa¬ 
tion. These publications deal with the symptoms, treatment, 
geographical distribution and causes of the diseases as well as the 
control measures provided by various States in the form of apiary 
inspection. The present discussion of brood diseases is largely 
drawn from the author’s bulletin “ The Treatment of Bee Diseases,” 
Farmers’ Bulletin 442, since it seems useless to attempt a rear¬ 
rangement of the material in this bulletin. 
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