Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 March 1911 — Farm and Garden [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Farm and Garden

FIGHTING BEE DISEASES. Work of Department of Agriculture In Keeping Down Pests. The honeybee annually produces a crop of honey worth at least $20,1)00,000, and there are vast opportunities for increasing this output. The most serious handicap to beekeeping in tfie United States is the fact that there are contagious diseases which attack the brood of the honeybee. There are now recognized two such diseases, known as American foul brood and European foul brood. From data recently obtained by the United States department of agriculture it is known that American foul brood exists in 282 counties in thirty-seven states and European foul brood in 160 counties in twenty-four states, and it is estimated conservatively that these diseases are causing a loss to the beekeepers of the United States of at least $1.1810.000 annually. This estimate is based on the probable value of the colonies which die and the approximate loss of crop due to the weakened condition of diseased colonies. The distribution of these diseases is by no means fully known, and they are co .stautly spreading. The cause of American foul brood has been found by the department to be a sjiecific bacterium, and enough Is known of the cause and nature of European foul brood, which is also a bacterial disease, to make it possible to issue reliable recommendations concerning treatment for both diseases. Both attack the developing brood- and

AMOX l THE HIVES. as the adult bees die from old age or other causes the colony beeohies depleted since there are not enough young bees emerging to keep up the numbers. When the colony becomes weak bees from other colonies enter to rob the honey, and the infection is spread. Both of these diseases can be con trolled with comparative ease by the progressive beekeeper, but the chief difficulty encountered in combating these diseases is the fact that the majority of beekeepers are unaware that anj' such diseases exist. They therefore often attribute their losses to other sources and nothing is done to prevent the spread of the infection. It is therefore necessary in most cases to point OUt the existence and nature of the diseases as well as to spread information Concerning the best methods of treatment. Several states have passed laws providing for the inspection of apiaries for disease, and the beekeepers in other states are asking for the same protection, so that careless or ignorant beekeepers can be prevented from endangering their neighbor’s bees. This Inspection is a benefit in the spread of information concerning disease in so far as the inspection can cover the territory. The department of agriculture is helping in this work by sending out publications to the beekeepers in infected regions by examining samples of brood suspected of disease and by sending out information concerning tbe presence of disease, so that beekeepers will be informed that their apiaries are in danger, the co-opera-E tion of agricultural colleges, state beekeepers' associations and other similar agencies being urged. Every person interested In beekeeping should find out as soon as possible how to recognize and treat these maladies and be on the lookout for them. A publication containing a discussion of the matter will be sent on request by the department of agriculture. Watch Your Alfalfa Seed. ■ Many farmers are willing to take risks in buying cheap alfalfa seed, iwhich frequently contains enough jweed seeds to affect the stand very •seriously. Russian thistle can hardly be-detected in alfalfa seed, nor can it be blown out or removed by screening, and it is the same way with the dodder. '

Photograph by C. M. Barnitz.