352 



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The larva may never be capped 

 over, but if attacked late in its devel- 

 opment, it usually will be. This cap, 

 however, will appear sunken or eon- 

 cave, instead of being convex or 

 rounding out as the cappings of brood 

 always are when the brood is health}-. 

 These sunken caps are always sus- 

 picious, and should always lead to 

 close investigation. Little, irregular 

 holes in the cappings are often ob- 

 served, which also should awaken sus- 

 picion. 



Another indication, not always 

 marked in the earl}- stages, is a rank 

 smell, which has been compared to the 

 odor of deca3-ing brood that has been 

 chilled. Often this odor, in severe 

 cases, is veiy marked, and can be de- 

 tected while the hive is closed, and 

 several feet from the one perceiving 

 it. I have had many samples of foul 

 brood sent me, and often my children 

 would speak of foul brood, detecting 

 it by the odor, even before the package 

 was opened. 



We see, then, how we may surely 

 determine if our bees have this ter- 

 rible malady. If the bees languish, 

 and ivefind the dark,stringy, salvymnss. 

 which is elastic, in the cells ; if many of 

 the caps are sunken and pierced with 

 irregular holes, then we may be sure 

 of the presence of foul brood. If the 

 foul, nauseating odor is present it will 

 also aid in the determination ; though 

 it will not be very conclusive earlj' in 

 the attack, before the affection be- 

 comes extensive. 



Mr. Cheshire thinks that the mature 

 queen, workers and drones are also 

 subject to attack, and frequentl}- suc- 

 cumb to the disease. He thinks he 

 has taken spores and the bacilli from 

 the blood of the bees, and the spores 

 from the eggs of the queen, which he 

 took from the ovaries before the eggs 

 were laid. 



Senator R. L. Taylor, of our own 

 State, President of the International 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, who has had 

 an extended experience with foul 

 brood, and has conquered it, also 

 thinks that it attacks the mature bees. 

 If this be true, it is hard to explain the 

 most satisfactory remedy, which on the 

 hypothesis that the disea.se is confined 

 to the brood, and the spores to the 

 honey and cells, is very easily ex- 

 plained. 



That the dry spores are not wafted 

 by the wind from the hive, seems evi- 

 dent from the fact that colonies ad- 

 jacent to diseased ones seem no more 

 likely to contract the disease than 

 those in distant parts of the bee-yard. 

 This, in connection with the fact that 

 robbing spreads the disease rapidly, 

 seems to show that the contagion is 

 carried in the honey. 



PREVENTING AND CURING FODL BROOD. 



It goes without saying, that we 

 should be very careful not to introduce 

 combs, or honey from diseased colo- 

 nies into our apiaries, or permit our 

 bees to gain access to such comb or 

 honey ; neither is it best to get bees 

 from foul-broody apiaries, for though 

 it would seem that the bees cannot 

 convey the malady, yet it might come 

 in comb or honey. 



For like reason, in case foul brood 

 comes into our bee-yards, wc must 

 quarantine all diseased colonics, and 

 spare no pains to prevent the bees from 

 healthy colonies getting either at the honey 

 or comb from the foul-broody hives. We 

 must remember the subtle nature of 

 the enemy, the vitality and minuteness 

 of the spores, else we will not practice 

 the caution necessary to prevent the 

 spread of the disease. 



Only the most extreme caution and 

 pain.staking, when foul brooil is once 

 introduced into an apiar}-, will prevent 

 its spread to the entire apiary. Hand- 

 ling the bees at all, and especially if 

 the bees are not gathering, and so will 

 be fiercer to rob, is very likely to 

 spread the disease. It is all-important 

 that the apiarist knows the imminent 

 danger of the disease spreading, in 

 case it gains a foothold in his apiary, 

 and regulate all his work accordingly. 



REMEDIES FOR FOUL BROOD. 



It is often suggested that all diseased 

 colonies can be destroyed — either 

 burned or buried — as soon as the dis- 

 ease is detected in an apiary. For the 

 ignorant or careless, either or both, 

 this is the wi.sest counsel. For the 

 intelligent who will study into the 

 matter fullj-, and practice the neces- 

 sary caution, it is not wise or desira- 

 ble. Two substances, long known as 

 powerful fungicides, have been suc- 

 cessfully used to conquer foul brood. 

 One is a dilute solution of salic3'Iic 

 acid, the other a solution of carbolic 

 acid. 



Mr. Hilbert, of Germany, who was 

 among the first to use salicylic acid, 

 dissolved the powder in ten times its 

 own weight of spirits, and one drop of 

 this in one grain of water was used to 

 spray the uncapped brood. 



Mr. Muth mixes borax with the acid, 

 when it is soluble in water. He uses 

 8 grains of each substance in one ounce 

 of water. This is thrown on the dis- 

 eased brood, and, to be effective, must 

 of course touch evei-y affected larva — 

 every colony of the death-dealing 

 bacillus. In actual practice, it seems 

 so difficult to be absolutely thorough, 

 that this remedy does not give satis- 

 faction. 



Mr. Bertrand has found success in 

 fumigation, by heating salicylic acid 

 and forcing the fumes over the un- 



capped brood. The fault with this is 

 the same as with spraj-ing — unless very 

 thorotigh, it fails of success. It is how- 

 ever well to mix this solution with 

 honey or syrup, and feed it to the bees. 

 This prevents the disease sreading so 

 rapidlj- — simply holds it in check till 

 cured. 



The carbolic-acid remedy, althougli 

 previouslj' used with success, has been 

 more thoroughly employed by Mr. 

 Frank Cheshire than any one else. 

 Mr. Cheshire sprays with a 1-50 solu- 

 tion of phenol-crystals of carbolic acid 

 — and pours on and around the brood 

 1-500 solution of the same. The aim 

 is to touch all diseased larvaj with the 

 solution, and also to feed the bees with 

 medicated syrup, that spores and ma- 

 ture microbes may all be destroyed. 

 Without doubt this remedy is good in 

 theory, but like the salicylic acid, it is 

 not usually satisfactorj- in practice. It 

 is found to hold the disease — or the 

 enemy — in check, but it often fails to 

 exterminate it. 



It would seem from the reports in 

 America, even from our most careful 

 men, that it is difficult to make this 

 treatment sufficiently thorough to root 

 out the disease. Like salic3lic acid, 

 so, too, carbolic acid, or phenol, as it 

 is often called, is helpful to feed in 

 syrup to the bees, as it seems to hold 

 the malady in check ; and also very 

 excellent as a wash which the apiarist 

 should always have at hand. After 

 handling the combs of a foul-broody 

 colony, the bee-keeper should at once 

 wash his hands in a dilute solution of 

 one of these substances, that he may 

 run no risk of spreading the disease. 



TRANSFERRING FOR FODL BROOD. 



Years ago that astute and justly re- 

 nowned bee-keeper, Mr. Quinby, an- 

 nounced the "fasting method" to cure 

 " foul brood." He drummed the bees 

 out of their hive into any box, then 

 placed them in a cellar till thej- were 

 nearly famished of hunger, then he 

 "run them" into a clean hive on un- 

 tainted combs. With sufficient care, 

 he found this invariably a sure cui'e. 



Mr. D. A. Jones, Dr. A. B. Mason, 

 and many others have confirmed this 

 statement of the great New York bee- 

 keeper. It would seem from this, that 

 no disease or disease-germs could rest 

 upon or dwell within the bees ; that all 

 must exist either in the honey, the 

 brood, or in and about the cells. Of 

 late, many bee-keepers have shown 

 that the delay and fasting are not 

 necessary. If the bees are simply 

 "run into" clean, untainted hives, 

 either upon foundation or empty 

 frames, they escape the disease, and 

 are cured. This would show that even 

 if the honey is consumed before there 



