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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



come, without injury, entirely sep- 

 arated. Tliere is mucli difference 

 among the species about this matter 

 of remaining attached, and also a 

 difference in the same kinds, accord- 

 ing to the food-supply, mechanical 

 agitations, etc. 



Some species, and among them our 

 organism of foul brood, have another 

 method of reproduction, viz : by the 

 formation of '-spores" within the 

 cell cavity, which are little masses of 

 condensed protoplasm surrounded by 

 a cellulose wall, and are, therefore, 

 little bacterium cells, which have only 

 to increase in size to become like the 

 parent cell. 



Still these spores have physiological 

 characteristics quite unlike the adult 

 cell. They resist the effects of in- 

 jurious conditions, as of dryness, 

 high or low temperature, chemical 

 poisons, etc., which destroy the or- 

 ganism in olher forms. Thus, all 

 species of bacteria, as well as other 

 plants in their normal vegetating 

 condition, are destroyed by immersion 

 for lialf an hour, in water at a temper- 

 ature but little above 120° Fahr., 

 while these spores, or some of them, 

 may be actually boiled for a much 

 longer time witliout being killed. 



The organism of foul brood, when 

 not furnished with spores, is killed 

 by simply drying thoroughly in the 

 sun for a few days, first being mixed 

 in sufficient water to thin well the 

 mass in which they exist. The spores, 

 however, live under such conditions 

 for some months, but in my experi- 

 ments they seem to tinally perish in a 

 room kept heated for human occupa- 

 tion, in less than six months. Freez- 

 ing does not injure the spores, for I 

 have had them develop after having 

 been repeatedly frozen and thawed, 

 and in some cases after an exposure 

 to temperatures reacliing 28° Fahr. 

 below zero. But I am not sure as to 

 the action of frost on tlie adult forms, 

 not having had satisfactory material 

 at hand v\heii the opportunity oc- 

 curred for trying. 



So long as the food-supply is abund- 

 ant, and the other conditions of vege- 

 tative life are favorable, spore-forma- 

 tion does not occur in this species. 

 AVhen, however, the affected larval 

 mass sinks down to the bottom of the 

 honey-comb cell, there is little to be 

 found of the organism but the spores. 

 Cultivated in beef broth, in which the 

 minute plant flourishes as well as in 

 the bee-larva;, the vegetative stage 

 lasts under the temperature of sum- 

 mer weather {7o"^ to 90'^ Fahr. J from 

 two to seven days, i. e., spoie-forma- 

 tion does not sooner begin. The 

 length of time, however, depends on 

 the quantity of the food-material, 

 and my trials were with diluted broth, 

 and in small quantities ranging from 

 about one-fifth to one ounce, the in- 

 oculation being made with a very 

 minute amount of the material con- 

 taining the bacteria, and, tlierefore, 

 but few of the latter. Had many 

 been at first introduced, I have no 

 doubt that spores would have been 

 sooner found. 



In the bee-larv;e, nothing so definite 

 can now be stated upon this point, 

 but the time seems to be longer. 



Spores are not found while the larva 

 keeps its proper shape, and not until 

 it sinks down into a jelly-like mass at 

 the bottom of the cell. There is, by 

 this time, a very offensive odor, due, 

 probably, to the gases eliminated by 

 the ferment action of this same or- 

 ganism, yet it does not seem to be 

 putrefactive in its nature. 



It ought to be thoroughly under- 

 stood that no putrefaction or decom- 

 position can take place even in so 

 susceptible a thing as a young, soft- 

 bodied larva, without the intervention 

 of living organisms of some kind. It 

 is, of course, known that young brood 

 dies upon being too much chilled, and 

 decomposition ensues, just as a bit of 

 fresh meat kept in a warm tempera- 

 ture soon becomes putrid. But in both 

 cases the putrefactive changes are 

 produced by living agents, instead of 

 spontaneously arising in the dead or- 

 ganic matter. There are, indeed, as 

 many bacteria in a putrid bee-larva 

 killed by cold, as in one destroyed by 

 the organism of foul brood. Others 

 have said, and I think that it is true, 

 that the odor of foul brood can be de- 

 tected and determined as different 

 from that of putrefaction after death 

 from other causes. 



Sometimes it is certain that the 

 usual putrefactive agents (species of 

 bacteria quite distinct from, though 

 of the same structure and general 

 characteristics as that of foul brood) 

 are found in larvse dead of foul brood; 

 but knowing well the ubiquitous 

 cliaracter of these, I have been sur- 

 prised to find the greater number of 

 foul-brood specimens wholly free 

 from the ordinary putrefactive bac- 

 teria, so that one can with much re- 

 liance, gain pure cultures of the foul- 

 brood agent from the dead larvfe. 

 But by taking advantage of the fact 

 that the most common of the putre- 

 factive bacteria do not form spores, 

 one can, by heating the gelatinous 

 material left of a larva dead of foul 

 brood, be quite certain of killing 

 everything except the bacteria of the 

 disease. 



Does the organism of foul brood 

 develop elsewhere than in the brood 

 of bees V This is a very important 

 question in the scientific study of tlie 

 disease, and in our methods of fighting 

 the malady. It might even be nec- 

 essary to settle the point before a well 

 informed court of justice could prop- 

 erly decide a case. Only a few days 

 ago I was appealed to for any pos- 

 sible help in tracing the introduction 

 of foul brood in an apiary known 

 to have been free from it during many 

 years before. One colony of bees had 

 been secured from a distance, and 

 some months afterward the disease 

 was found in this colony as well as in 

 two or three others. None had been 

 previously known in the neighbor- 

 hood. Upon inquiry it was ascertained 

 that foul brood had existed in the 

 apiary whence the colony came, but 

 the owner believed it was entirely 

 free from the trouble at the time, and 

 had been for the two years preceding. 

 An examination failed to reveal any 

 suspicion of the disease. The man 

 receiving the colony was certain it 

 was diseased at the time of purchase ■ 



the one selling it, was as certain to 

 the contrary. 



Now while the evidence at my com- 

 mand goes to show that foul brood 

 usually comes from foul brood, it 

 seems quite possible that in some 

 cases a different source must be 

 sought. There certainly is no diffi- 

 culty in keeping the foul brood or- 

 ganism througli many generations, 

 and lasting through montlis of time, 

 rapidly multiplying all the time, in 

 beef broth. These thus grown in 

 broth have their characteristic effects 

 when transferred to sound brood. 



If this result can be gained arti- 

 ficially, is it not plausible that under 

 some circumstances in nature the or- 

 ganism may live and grow somewhere 

 else than in the larvie of bees ? 1 have 

 no further positive information upon 

 this point, but there are indications 

 that epidemics among other insects 

 may be sometimes due to the same 

 organism. Indeed, I should not be 

 surprised to find that the scourge of 

 the silkworm, called by the French 

 flacherie, is really and truly the same 

 offender ; and what is more, we have 

 among our wild native caterpillars, 

 sweeping epidemics caused by the 

 same or a closely similar organism. 



During the summer of 1883, the 

 European cabbage-worm {Pieris rapoe) 

 died throughout central Illinois in 

 such numbers that tlieir limp forms 

 on the leaves attracted all but uni- 

 versal attention, and the numbers 

 were so decimated that in the early 

 part of last summer, scarcely a but- 

 terfly or worm was to be found, nor 

 did they become numerous again 

 during the season. If it should be 

 shown that the cause of this destruc- 

 tion was really the same organism as 

 that found in diseased bees, it would 

 still remain to be proved that they 

 could be transferred through the nat- 

 ural working of affairs, to the bee- 

 hives, from the cabbage fields. 



In the absence of knowledge, we 

 may speculate this way : The Initter- 

 flies lay their eggs upon the cabbage, 

 and may readily come in contact with 

 the dead or dying caterpillars (worms). 

 They also visit flowers to sip the nec- 

 tar, and now may be followed by 

 bees, which we can see may some- 

 times carry home, upon this supposi- 

 tion, the deadly invisible foe. 



All this is supposition ; but does not 

 the possibility of making such specu- 

 lation suggest the need of further 

 facts y The foul brood question has 

 by no means been answered ; for there 

 are scores of queries as pertinent as 

 those here suggested, upon which we 

 have no real knowledge. My own ex- 

 periments and observations, begun a 

 year ago, have been too little to call a 

 commencement, and unless I am mis- 

 taken, aside from such observations 

 as it has been possible for keen- 

 sighted and diligent practical apiarists 

 to make, no one in America has care- 

 fully studied the disease from the 

 ''germ" stand-point. Two thinga 

 have hindered my own work, viz : 

 want of time, other things taking 

 precedence, and the necessity of cag- 

 ing the experimental bees to avoid 

 contaminating the bees of the neigh- 

 borhood. Doubtless Prof. Forbes, 



