42 HISTORICAL NOTES ON BEE DISEASES. 



His reference to the gross appearance of the disease material with 

 which he was working strongly suggests that the disorder was Amer- 

 ican foul brood. In every case that he examined he reports the 

 presence of Bacillus alvei. 



Howard, September 10, 1896. 



Having gotten Howard's conception of foul brood and Bacillus 

 alvei, we shall pass to another paper ^ by the same writer. 



The term "pickled brood," which is often used by bee keepers, 

 had its origin apparently in an article by Howard m which he reported 

 a condition in the brood of bees as a new disease. Since the term 

 "pickled brood" is so frequently used in beekeeping literature it 

 may be well to consider Howard's work somewhat in detail. 



The trouble which he calls pickled brood he says had often been 

 mentioned by writers in bee papers. Two years before his paper 

 was written he himself had two colonies to die during the winter, and 

 when in the spring the combs were examined they were found to be 

 moldy, especially those containing pollen. These combs were given 

 to other colonies with no bad results, until the brood which was being 

 reared was about ready to be capped. By watching this brood he 

 observed that it did not decay like "foul brood." When the larvse 

 are dead, he says, they have a swollen appearance, with neither end 

 touching the cell as a rule. After a few days some of the larvae settle 

 down and change to a dark brownish mass which is watery, not ropy, 

 and without odor. 



From the combs and dead brood there was isolated a species of 

 fungus to which he ascribed the cause of the trouble, and to wliich 

 he gave the name Aspergillus pollini. Concerning his convictions as 

 to the etiological relation existing between the fungus and the 

 disease he writes: "Several experiments were made during the sum- 

 mer which fully satisfied me that my conclusions were correct." 

 This condition suggested to Howard the possibility of its being the 

 form of foul brood which responds to the shaking treatment and the 

 drug method, and the form which disappears of itself when fresh 

 pollen is consumed by the bees. He says that the fungus finds a 

 good medium in food which contains pollen in the alimentary canal 

 of the larvse. The fungus, he says, breaks through the wall of the 

 alimentary canal, permeates all the liquids of the body, and there 

 produces acetic acid. The larva dies in about three days and is 

 pickled in its ovm. juices containing this acetic acid. Such a supposi- 

 tion suggested to Howard "pickled brood" as a name for the disease. 

 On account of the acid reaction of the larvae thus "pickled," he 

 beheved that no putrefactive germs entering from the air could grow 



1 Howard, Dr. Wm. R., September 10, 1896. A new bee-disease— pickled brood or white fungus. Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, vol. 36, No. 37, pp. 577-578. 



