September 1, 1863, ] JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE aAEDENEE. 



181 



in the combs, tlie cocoon left in the cells again strengthens 

 them, so that they become nearly as tough as leather, and 

 you can knock them about as you like, provided you give 

 them plenty of air. 



" It win be a gratification to me to hear that I have been 

 the means of saving you your propei-ty, and the lives of the 

 poor bees, and am, &c. — Wm. Cakk, Clayton Bridge Apiary, 

 near Manchester." 



" Mr. Carh. " Lincolnsliire, August 13th. 



" Dear Sir, — It is impossible for me to return you suffi- 

 cient thanks for your information about taking my bees to 

 the heather. I purchased some strong cap-net and con- 

 veyed my bees as you directed, and I had not a single 

 accident, and they all arrived safely at the moors. I had 

 some of them svispended, and others jjut on some straw in a 

 light cart, and the pony trotted very quickly for about 

 five miles over a very rough road, and as you said, the 

 hives were kept cool, and there was not a single comb 

 damag-ed in any of the swarms whatever. If you should at 

 any time be so unfortunate as to lose your bees, I shall 

 have great pleasure in presenting you with a new stock, and 

 am, &c." 



FOUL BEOOD— WOODEX HIVES. 



Beins a victim of this greatest of all plagues to the 

 apiarian, and consequently desii'ous of knowing as much as 

 possible respecting it, I have been subjecting portions of 

 the infected combs to microscopic examination, and the 

 residt is that I am led to believe that whatever may be the 

 anterior cause, the disease itself is the result of the action 

 and presence of fungi. I have found in the bottoms and 

 sometimes on the walls of the cells minute whitish spots, 

 iiTegularly distributed and of various sizes, the largest 

 not more than 2 lines in diameter, and wliich on being 

 viewed under various magniij'ing powers of from 200 to GOO 

 diameters, present the appearance of waxy circles composed 

 of globular pai-ticles, and reminding one in appearance of 

 the white cloud cumuli, sometimes visible in bright but 

 stormy weather. In the most highly developed specimens 

 these rings of globules seem to leave the interior space quite 

 vacant, while in those of smaller size the masses appear more 

 or less solid. This I take to be a fungus ; and both its ap- 

 pearance and eflects seem to me in unison with those of fungi 

 generally, and I should be very glad to know the ideas of 

 more experienced apiarians on the matter, believing that a 

 correct apprehension of the natiu'e of the disease will go 

 very far towards suggesting remedial and curative mea- 

 sures. The subtle nature of the spores of fungi is well 

 known, and the globulai' development is also very common 

 in many classes of these pseudo-vegetables. The cu-cular 

 distribution is a feature conspicuous in some fungi, and 

 their absoi-ption of oxygen and distribution of carbon may 

 well be supposed to be highly detrimental to animal life, 

 especially in so confined an atmosphere as the interior of a 

 hive. It may be that this is not sufficient to destroy the 

 vital powers of fully-developed bees perpetually passing 

 into fi'esh air ; but when it is at work in so confined a space 

 as the sealed cell of the bee-crysalis, it may be sufficient to 

 prevent fm-ther growth, and thereby produce " abortive 

 brood." 



Fungi are thought by some physiologists to be capable of 

 being evolved from animal or vegetable decomposition. Is 

 it not possible, therefore, that cliilled brood in the process of 

 putrefaction may some time or other have produced the 

 fungus !" Once jjroduced, its dissemination on my hypothesis 

 of its nature is but a matter of course. That the disease 

 is infectious no one v/ho has been unfortunate enough to 

 have any experience of it can doubt, and this may easily 

 ai-ise from the diffusion of the spores by means of the bodies 

 of bees in passing from liive to hive. 



I think Mr. Woodbui-y has been unjustly suspected by 

 Mr. Lowe and others of having prodiieed the disease by 

 over-expeiimenting. It has occuri'ed with me in two swarms 

 of black bees that came off naturally, and neither parent 

 hives nor progeny had ever been the subjects of the mildest 

 inspection or process. I attribute their failm-e to their 

 proximity to the Ligurian hive received from Exeter in the 

 spring, whose diminished numbers and activity rendered it 

 an easy x^rey to marauders of any description, and some of 



which pirates, doubtless, were denizens of the two swarms 

 that subsequently became victims. 



I should like to corroborate the opinion of " A Lanaek- 

 SHiBE Bee-keepek " as to the superiority of wooden hives. 

 Like him, I have for some years had both kinds in use. The 

 wooden ones, being home-made, are quite innocent of any 

 ™'tues commonly deemed necessai-y, excepting strength, and 

 I never yet had a casualty with them, though exposed to all 

 weathers, which is moi'e than I can say of some of my straw 

 hives, whether protected or exposed. It seems to me that 

 success in bee-keeping depends on something not affected 

 either by shape or material of hives. — G. F. B., Spalding. 



BEE-EEEPEES OF THE OLD SCHOOL- 

 FOUL BEOOD. 



While I do not doubt the sincerity of the sympathy 

 manifested by yom' correspondents towards Mr. Woodbiu-y 

 in his difficulties with foul brood in his apiary, stOl I cannot 

 help thinking that some of the old-school ajjiarians — those 

 who are averse to all changes — are like many of those who, 

 witnessing the first ship propelled by steam, declared, with a 

 knowing shake of the head, that it would " never do," was 

 "contraiy to custom," and "against nature." Why, it went 

 in spite of adverse winds; and notwithstanding the ships did 

 make voyages to other countries and back, they would fail 

 some day. And how these people would chuckle over the 

 fii'st disaster which occurred to the said ship ! son-owing, 

 I have no doubt, for the sufferers, but pleased at the same 

 time that their pet notions had been verified by the (to 

 them) apparent failm-e. It was the same with Harvey when 

 he announced his theory of the circulation of the blood; 

 the same with Dr. Jenner when he declared vaccination to 

 be a remedy for smallpox, because it was " against nature." 

 And it was not the ignorant, but the learned as well, who 

 joined in the cry against all improvements. Whether based 

 on sound principles or not, it was all the same to them — it 

 interfered with their preconceived notions of what was 

 " against nature." 



And it appears to be the same now to all those who attempt 

 to go beyond the beaten track, as in the case of Mr. Wood- 

 bury — one who has always been willing to lend a helping 

 hand or give advice to any who asked for it concerning their 

 apiaries ; bvit as soon as he has a failure in his own apiai-y, 

 and asks for advice, he has a host of critics about his ears, 

 telling liim it is all owing to his own management — he is 

 all against "nature" — he uses too much science to accom- 

 plish his ends — he will not let well-doing alone. He may 

 well exclaim, " Save me from my friends ! " 



When he asks for intelligent assistance, he is told by 

 Jonas Jackson that he ought not to overlook what the 

 people do in Cheshire, " not to neglect telling his bees that 

 a relation or friend has ceased to live," and such nonsense. 

 But sm-ely Jonas Jackson is joking when he asks him to 

 perform such absurdities. I pity the dai-kness of mind 

 which must possess the people of Cheshire if they believe in 

 such mummeries ; and I would rather believe that Jonas 

 Jackson has drawn the pictm'e a little too strong, that he 

 may enjoy the pleasm-e of the idea that non-interference 

 with the bees is stiU the best plan. 



An il even my friend Mr. Lowe cannot resist giving Mr. 

 Woodbm-y a poke in the side, attributing all his faUiu-es to 

 excessive meddling with the natm-al habits of his bees, and 

 doubts that it is really a disease with which Mr. Woodbury 

 is troubled in his apiary. 



I wdl now relate a few cases of foul brood — not in my own 

 apiary, as I am happy to say I never had it, but in that of a 

 neighbour who lives about a quarter of a mUe from this, and 

 whose troubles with foul brood I have been a witness to for 

 eight years back ; and dm-iug all that time, imtD I saw Mi-. 

 Woodbury's first ai-ticle on the subject, hke Mi-. Lowe 

 I believed it to be caused by a chOl to the young brood. My 

 neighbour, however, would never admit it, having tried 

 plan after plan to get clear of it, and all had failed. He has 

 kept bees upwards of thirty years, has paid great attention to 

 them, has read few works (if any) on the subject, and is, per- 

 haps, the best manipulator of bees to be found. All bees seem 

 to know him— at least, they do not sting him as they do 

 others ; and we have dubbed him Professor on account of 



