THE APIARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 4029, 2 June 1931, Page 11

THE APIARY.

BROOD DISEASES OF BEES. .. 'Lo prevent the false impression being lonned that because bees are subject to disease some honeys might not be good for tood, it is most important, at the outset, to draw attention to the fact that what affects bees has absolutely no affect on human beings, and that, therefore, all honeys are perfectly safe for food, says A. 11. W. Birch, Central Experimental I'arm, Ottawa. Further, it should be noted that honey, instead of promotin'* disease, tends to retard it, for most of the disease organisms that affect man cannot live m honey, which draws the water of ther construction from them and kills them. Diseases of the brood are of three kinds —American foulbrood, European foulbrood, and saebrood. They cause far greater loss to the beekeeper than do the diseases of the adult bees. Since this is the case, it is most desirable that all who do not already have a good knowledge of these diseases should know somethin" of them. °

Of these three, the first, American foulbrood, is by far the most destructive, tor this disease if not eradicated by the beekeeper will destroy the colony in a comparatively short time. And it is a disease which is very easily spread, as it is carried in honey which may be taken into the hive of a strong colony by its own bees who have robbed it from an infected colony, or it may be carried by bees which have drifted from an infected to a clean colony. This honey is then fed to the larval or young of the bees, which it kills in the brood cells, and since it is only the young that are destroyed, the term _ brood disease ” is applied. The wary beekeeper, therefore, will when examining his colonies watch carefully, and should he see any abnormallooking cell cappings, such as ones that are very dark, greasy-Jooking, or depressed, or cappings that perforated, he will immediately test the contents of a cell by thrusting a sharpened match or toothpick into it. And he will notice when it is withdrawn whether that part of the contents which adheres to the match strings is brown in colour, or has an odour similar to that of glue. If there are any of these symptoms present he should immediately get in touch with the Provincial Apiarist of the province in ■ which he resides, who has charge of the disease inspection work of the province, and who will advise him regarding the, treatment he should employ. ° Though diseased colonies may with great care be successfully treated, it has been found that the average beekeeper, though doing his best, usually does more harm than good, for in the shaking of the combs, which is part of the treatment, there is a great danger of bees carrying infected honey drifting into neighbouring hives and of the strange strange bees getting honey that may fall from the combs. The beekeeper, therefore, will likely be advised by his Provincial Apiarist that his best course is to destroy the bees. This is usually done by pouring a cup of gasolene into the hive, and closing it tight, or by the use of Cyanogas, the fumes of which will kill the bees. And if there are not enough combs to warrant treating them profitably .to destroy them also by burning them. Should, however, there be a sufficient number of combs to warrant his treating them, he will be advised of the best method of doing so. Although the bees and combs may have to be destroyed, the hive, cover, and bottom board may be saved by first scraping and then scorching them with a torch until they become light brown in colour. This treatment may seem drastic, but it is in the end most economical, for unless the disease is completely eradicated it will return with added vigour, and eventually put the beekeeper out of business, to say nothing of infecting all neighbouring bee yards. Whatever treatment is prescribed by the Provincial Apiarist should be carefully carried out, and all attempts to save material that may seem all right abandoned, as time and again it has been found that the saved material has been responsible for carrying over the disease and reinfecting on a much larger scale. An example of this is the saving of super combs, which, though seemingly clean, have had infected honey in them. Turning now to European foulbrood, the next most important of the brood diseases, we find that though swifter in its action than American foulbrood, it is not feared so much, since the commonly I prescribed treatment if given in time will cure it.

The symptoms of this disease are usually exposed to full view in the uncapped cells, though they are also found in the capped ones. In this case, too, abnormality is an indication of something wrong. When larvae, which should be pearly white, are seen to be yellow, when the normal straight position of the larvae in the cell is changed to a twisted one, and when the segments of the larvae show up very clearly, one can suspect European foulbrood to be present. The usual treatment for this disease is to strengthen .the colony, to remove or cage the queen for 10 to 15 days to allow the bees time to clean out infected material before it infects newly hatched grubs, and if the bees are “blacks ” to requeen them with a vigorous Italian queen. Of saebrood this authority says, little need be said, as it is not very troublesome, and usually with time disappears. Tile symptom of this disease is the saelike appearance of the larvae when withdrawn from the cells. Anyone in doubt as to any disease affecting their bees should get in touch with the bee expert in charge of the provincial district.