3U 



tnn ^nn-^nnvntL^' revibw. 



not show this decided ropiness it is just 

 as certain that there is no foul 1)rood in 

 that cell. 



I just said there is no foul brood with- 

 out ropiness, but this must not be taken 

 foo literalh-. That was said with refer- 

 ence to the stage during which the mat- 

 ter remains so/L After a few weeks the 

 matter of each dead larva dries down and 

 lies spread on the lower side — not the 

 bottom — of the cell, a brownish black 

 scale of the thickness of a man's thinnb 

 nail. This peculiarity is of great use in 

 making a diagnosis of the disease at some 

 seasons of the year, as in the fall or in 

 the spring, in the combs of a colony which 

 has perished during the winter, as colo- 

 nies affected w*ith foul brood are very 

 liable to do. Soon after the breeding 

 season is over these scales are about the 

 only evidence of the disease that remains 

 in a strong colony, as the cappings of the 

 diseased cells are apt to be cleared away, 

 but in a weak colony the discolored de- 

 fective cappings largely remain. It 

 seems to be beyond the power of the bees 

 to remove these scales, so if foul brood 

 has been present they remain to reveal it 

 if one will take the proper coiirse to dis- 

 cover them. This is best done in this way : 

 Take the comb by Iflie top bar and hold 

 it so that a gcod light falls into the cells 

 at an angle of about 70 or 80 degrees 

 from the top of the comb, while the sight 

 falls upon the cells at an angle of about 

 45 degrees. The scales if present will be 

 readily discovered lying as already dis- 

 scribed reaching almost to the margin of 

 the lower side of the cell. I consider this 

 a ^•ery sure method of diagnosis, though 

 in one or two cases I have seen similar 

 scales where the death of the brood 

 resulted from other causes. 



Other characteristics of the disease 

 W'hich are useful in aiding in its discovery 

 are the peculiar odor and the appearance 

 of the cappings of diseased cells; such 

 cappings, while the}^ varj- in color, are 

 generally darker than those of healthy 

 cells, almost always sunken or flattened, 

 often have irregular perforations of vary- 



ing sizes and the comb containing much 

 of the disease presents altogether an un- 

 prosperous sickh- appearance. The odor 

 is very unpleasant and may be described 

 as an " old smell " and is well said to be 

 like that of a poor quality of glue when 

 heated. If a colony is badly diseased the 

 odor is sometimes felt on raising the cov- 

 er of the hive and generally on applying 

 the nose to the top of the brood combs. 



If one handles the combs of his bees 

 frequently and keeps the subject of foul 

 brood on his mind, what I have already 

 said will enable him to discover the 

 disease very soon after its appear- 

 ance in his apiary, but if brood 

 combs are handled but little it is quite 

 important, if one would insure himself in 

 some degree against losses from the dis- 

 ease, that a strict watch be kept on the 

 condition, in respect to disease, of all col- 

 onies that appear from external indica- 

 tions to be lacking in prosperity, and es- 

 peciall}- of colonies to which robbers 

 seem to be attracted, for the odor of foul 

 brood has an attraction to bees, seeming 

 to indicate to them that the colony 

 emitting it is about in a condition to per- 

 mit its being robbed with impimity. And 

 this not because colonies wanting in pros- 

 perity are more likely to contract the 

 disease but because this condition may be 

 the result of disease. If the disease is 

 once discovered to be present then it 

 would be the part of wisdom to examine 

 each colony carefully inider strict regii- 

 lation against robbing. 



The cure of foul brood is difficult only 

 because it is difficult to discover the dis- 

 ease in its incipient stages in every colo- 

 ny, and to determine ever>- colony in 

 which are germs of disease h'ing dormant 

 ready to develope when favorable condi- 

 tions are present, it may be after many 

 months. And when the disease is dis- 

 seminated among the bees in the neigh- 

 borhood, especially among wild bees, a 

 final cure ma}- be the work of years, but 

 with care, even under the worst circum- 

 stances, it may be kept in such subjection 

 that the injury therefrom will not be 



