THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



21^ 



BLACK BROOD. 



It Appears to Be Spreading in Different 

 Parts of ttie Country. 



New York bee-keepers tiavecertainlj' 

 had a serious time in the past few 

 years with what has been called blnck 

 brood, but what the scientists now de- 

 clare is the real foul hrood, caused bj' 

 Bacillus Alve?; while ^'.cy declare that 

 what we Americans h.i\e been contend- 

 inR- with an<l callin},'^ foul brood is not 

 the disease ca[used by h'aiilhts Alvei. 

 The real, or what inig-ht be called 

 European foul brood, or what we have 

 been calling black brood, seems to be 

 really more virulent and destructive 

 than the old fashioned foul brood. 

 Foul brood, as we have known it, is 

 often quite slow in its work, attacking- 

 a cell here and there, at first, and 

 often requiring two 3'ears to destroy a 

 colony. When black brood attacks a 

 colony, yreat masses of brood are 

 killed at once, as thoug-h a giant with 

 poisoned breath had breathed into the 

 hive, and tlie colony is gone in a few 

 weeks. 



For two years this European foul 

 brood, or black brood, has been lurking 

 in Southwestern ^Michigan, and it now 

 seems to be making its appearance in 

 other parts of the country, as will be 

 gathered from the following that ap- 

 pears in the last issue of (rleanings: 



Anywhere from one to half a dozen 

 specimens of affected brood are being 

 sent us every week during the siunmer. 

 I have been fearful for some time that, 

 in addition to the regular foul brood so 

 named in this country, we have been 

 getting specimens of blac'k brood, or-, 

 what the United States and Cornell 

 bacteriologists call the European foul 

 brood. Durujg the last thirty days we 

 have been haniling in several suspicious 

 samples to Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the 

 Department of Agriculture, Washing- 

 ton, who in turn handed them over to 

 the government Bacteriologist. The 

 reports that 1 got back were somewhat 

 alarming. One specimen of brood 

 from Illinois, three from Pennsyl- 

 vania, were prunoimr»id to be black 



brood. I feared as much when I for- 

 warded the specimens to Washington. 

 Other specimens have been found in 

 Caliafornia. 



I have just examined two specimens 

 sent from Michigan which I think are 

 black brood without question. 



When I first received this report from 

 Washington I was a little uncertain 

 what to do; but the more I thought of 

 it the more I became convinced that I 

 ought to inform the bee-keepers of 

 those States that the insidious disease 

 is lurking in their borders. 



When it is remembered that black 

 brood came very near wiping out bee- 

 keeping in New York, and that it was 

 onl}' by the most strenuous efforts on 

 the part of fonr or the best ins]jectors 

 in the country th;it it was l)ruught 

 under control, the bee-keepers of these 

 other States may well pause and pon- 

 der. 



I would lesjiectfully urge every bee- 

 keeper to keep a tab on the brood in 

 his yar<l. When he sees any unsealed 

 dark-colored brood, especially if it be 

 of II coffee color, yellow or brown, and 

 finds further that it is accompanied by 

 a sickening or foul odor, he had better 

 send a sample of the brood without ayiy 

 honey at once either to Washington or 

 Medina. But in any case send it in a 

 stout wooden or titi box, the whole 

 wrapped in heavy nianila paper. Be- 

 sides using a strong box, wrap the 

 brood itself in parafined or oiled 

 paper. It is not necessary to have a 

 large sample of brood; but hunt up a 

 small wooden or tin box and cut the 

 brood to lit, so it will go in without 

 crowding after it has been wrapped in 

 parafined paper. 



Remember to send brood only and no 

 honey with it, for the honey introduces 

 an element of danger to the recipient. 

 Brood samples put up in paper or paper 

 boxes we shall not exatnine. but burn 

 theui before unwrapping; so don't send 

 them. 



When sending samples be sure to put 

 on your own name and address. 

 About half a dozen of the samples sent 

 us were not marked. As we are get- 

 ting a good many every week, absolute 

 identification of each sample is ren- 

 dered difiicult if not impossible. 



It has been suggested that this black 

 brood has been in various parts of the 

 country for a long time, and perhaps 

 more generally distributed than has 

 been supposed, and its presence has 



