12 HISTORICAL NOTES ON BEE DISEASES. 



European foul hrood. — European foul brood is the disease which 

 Cheshire and Cheyne (p. 25) described in their studies of foul brood. 

 Howard (p. 44), of Texas, made a very brief and unsatisfactory 

 study of this disease at one time and named it ''New York bee dis- 

 ease" or "black brood." We are strongly inclined to believe that 

 Burri (p. 68) was working with this disease for the most part during 

 his study of the condition which he refers to as "sour brood." Euro- 

 pean foul brood is less widely distributed in this country than is 

 American foul brood. In European foul brood one finds, as a rule, 

 most of the diseased brood as yet uncapped. In general, the brood 

 dead of this disease presents various shades of yellow. Usually there 

 is no ropiness; at times, however, there is. That degree of ropiness, 

 however, which is so characteristic of American foul brood is seldom 

 present in European foul brood. There is frequently a slightly sour 

 odor to the diseased brood. The rapidity with which this disease 

 spreads in a new territory and the marked destructiveness of it are 

 features which most bee keepers have experienced who have been 

 so unfortunate as to have the malady affect their apiary. The dis- 

 ease is clearly, therefore, an infectious one. The exciting cause is 

 not known. Claims are made by some that certain species of bacte- 

 ria stand in direct etiological relation to the disease, but satisfactory 

 evidence to prove such contentions are wanting. 



The so-called "picTcled hrood." — Howard (p. 42), of Texas, described 

 what he chose to call pickled brood. His findings have never been 

 confirmed. The name ''pickled brood," however, is very frequently 

 used by bee keepers in referring to a diseased condition of the brood. 

 Howard's description of "piclded brood" (p. 43), however, does not 

 apply to such a condition. Since the name "pickled brood" is not 

 accurately applied and is, moreover, entirely inappropriate for the 

 condition which we find, we prefer for the present to use the expres- 

 sion "so-called pickled brood." In this condition the brood dies 

 about the time of capping. The body wall of the larva, in a case 

 which might be called typical, is intact and rather tough. Wlien 

 this wall is broken, one often finds a watery content in which is sus- 

 pended a granular substance. As a rule a very small proportion of 

 the brood is affected. The disease does not seem to be infectious. 

 The loss to the colony in comparison with European foul brood and 

 American foul brood is slight. This disorder, therefore, should 

 arouse no great amount of fear. Wliile the number of colonies lost 

 from this disease is comparatively small, in the aggregate many bees 

 die as a result of the condition. The disease has a very wide dis- 

 tribution. The exciting cause is not known. 



There is very little that is definitely knowai about the diseases of 

 adult bees. They have not been sufficiently investigated to make it 

 possible to classify them with any degree of satisfaction. 



