44 HISTOEICAL NOTES ON" BEE DISEASES. 



although not mcluded in his paper, was, as he says, satisfactory to 

 himself. 



6. The description which Howard made of the fungus is not suf- 

 ficient to identify it. 



One at once observes that Howard brought forth no convincing 

 evidence that the disorder with which he was working was infectious, 

 nor that the fungus which he named Aspergillus poUini was a new 

 one, nor did he prove that any etiological relation existed between 

 the fungus and the disorder. 



Inasmuch as the disorder wliicli Howard described was declared by 

 him to be due to a fungus, Aspergillus pollini, it is certain that the 

 disease known to bee keepers as pickled brood is not the ''pickled 

 brood" of Howard. It is the opinion of the writers that the "pickled 

 brood" described by Howard does not exist. 



Howard, February 15, 1900. 



Another paper ^ by Howard appeared in 1900, discussing still an- 

 other disease which he supposed was not "foul brood. " The disease, 

 as will be learned later, was in all probability European foul brood. 



He quotes a description of this disease by Mr. N. D. West, an able 

 bee inspector of the State of New York. In this quotation Mr. West 

 says that the disease appears in the spring about the time the apple 

 is in blossom, breaking out all at once and spreading with amazing 

 rapidity. The young larva has a yellow speck on the body, about 

 the size of a pinhead. The older larvae are lengthwise in the cell, 

 wliite, and uncapped. After dying the brood is either removed 

 by the bees or flattens out and becomes at first a cream-colored and 

 later a coffee-colored mass. Later in the season some brood, which 

 had died after capping, becomes coffee colored and of the consistency of 

 heavy honey. Wlien this is tested with a toothpick, the decaying 

 mass stretches out to the extent of one-half inch to 1 mch. In some 

 cases the odor is sour, while in others cases, especially if the capped 

 stage has been reached by the dead brood, it has a somewhat rotten 

 odor. The odor is not especially disagreeable at any time. The 

 colony either dies out entirely from this disease, or the condition 

 improves so that later in the summer no diseased brood can be found. 

 With plenty of stores and a good flow, the disease seems to abate. 



Mr. West's many years of experience as a bee keeper, his experience 

 as an inspector of apiaries, and his ardent enthusiasm on questions 

 relating to bee diseases, make his description of the appearance, of 

 this disease of much value. 



Although Howard quotes from West the symptoms that are found 

 in the so-called black brood, one finds him deviating far from them in 



I Howard, Dr. Wm. R., Febraary 15, 1900. New York bee disease, or black brood. Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture, Vol. XXVUI, No. 4, pp. 121-127. 



