MAASSEN, JUNE, 1906. 73 



4. He found in all the samples of foul brood examined, in wliich 

 Bacillus alvei was absent, another species present which offered diffi- 

 culties m its cultivation on artificial media and refers to the species 

 as Bacillus hrandenhurgiensis. 



5. He reports this species to be present in some of the samples, 

 together with Bacillus alvei. 



6. Pie used a large amount of the culture of Bacillus alvei in the 

 inoculation of healthy bees and did not produce disease. 



7. "Foul brood" was not produced Avith pure cultures of Bacillus 

 brandenburgiensis. 



8; He was inclined to the belief that bacteria are secondary 

 invaders in "foul brood." 



9. He believed that this view was strengthened by the finding of a 

 microorganism to which he gave the name Spiroclisete a^s. 



10. He reports this microstructure present in all samples of the 

 disease which he had examined up to that time. 



Maassen, June, 1906. 



Another paper appeared by Maassen,^ in wliich he briefly refers to 

 a disease which he says is known to the bee keepers as "stone brood." 



The condition, he says, is characterized by the hard, leathery, 

 brittle, odorless, and mummylike masses into which the larvae and 

 pupee of bees are transformed with no marked change in their form. 

 Accompanying the condition is a higher death rate among the adult 

 bees. 



The peculiar change in the brood was attributed to a fungus that 

 grows well at a warm temperature, and whose characteristics when 

 studied in pure cultures were found to be similar to those of Asper- 

 gillus fiamis. The method of transmission of this germ was not 

 determined. According to the observations that were made it was 

 supposed that bees were very susceptible to the disease. This was 

 especially true if the temperature was high or the hive was badly 

 ventilated, and it was therefore recommended that these conditions 

 be avoided m the treatment of the disease. Maassen expresses the 

 belief that "stone brood" has often been referred to by bee keepers 

 as "black brood," "new bee disease," "bee pest," and "pickled 

 brood." 



We are not familiar with the condition "stone brood," and we are 

 not aware of its presence in America. The symptoms given do not 

 correspond to those observed in the so-caUed black brood or in the 

 pickled brood that are met with in this country. It is intimated in 

 Maassen's paper that a publication on the mycotic diseases of bees 

 was being prepared. 



1 Maassen, Dr. Albert, June, 190C. Die Asperglllusmykose der Bienen. MItteilungen aus der kaiser- 

 lichen biologischen Anstalt fiir Land- und Forstwirtschaft. Heft 2, pp. 30-31. 



