THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



January 



membered that the bacillus mesenteri- 

 cus is not always, and in fact not often 

 met in decomposed and putrefying sub- 

 stances. Wet bread and old cream, are 

 the substances on which it is usually 

 seen. The numerous germs which are 

 always present in the air, and so rapidly 

 decompose dead substances belong 

 nearly all to another order of beings. 

 Briefly, the arguments presented by 

 Dr. Lambotte are these: 



1. The bacillus mesentericus and ba- 

 cillus alvei have the same shape, the 

 same size and present the same ar- 

 rangement when cultivated. 



2. Both bacilli produce (out of the 

 matter in which they live) a ropy, glue- 

 like substance. 



3. Both have the same effect on the 

 serum of the bloodj when injected in 

 the veins of an animal. This last con- 

 sideration is presented by Prof. Lam- 

 botte as conclusive. 



4. A "culture"' of Bacillus mesen- 

 tericus was spread over some brood to 

 give them the disease. The larvae were 

 killed, but after three days the bees 

 had cleaned them out and no further 

 damage was observed. This experi- 

 ment was repeated a number of times 

 with invariably the same result. 



5. Prof. Lambotte then tried another 

 plan. He took a number of larvae, 

 ground them and made a "culture" 

 with it. In this culture, he introduced 

 some bacilli mesentericus — repeated 

 the operation on the same set several 

 times, so as to get them used to that 

 kind of food. These are not the terms 

 that he used, but it is the meaning. 

 Then he applied the culture to a comb 

 of brood. The result was that about 

 one-fifth of the larvae were diseased 

 and the remainder had been cleaned 

 out by the bees, when examined. 



Well, as Dr. Miller says, sometimes: 

 "I don't know," but judging by Dr. 

 Lambotte's own report, I should rath- 

 er think, he is wrong. 



As to the first item, I may say that 

 the two bacilli, though apparently iden- 

 tical, may yet be different. Bacilli are 

 very small things, and only their gen- 

 eral size and shape can be ascertained 

 under the microscope. It is very much 

 like looking at two men at a distance of 

 a quarter of a mile with our natural 

 eyes. Their general size and shape can 

 be seen but all the details of the face, 

 hands, etc., escape our sight entirely. 



As to the second point, while the 



products obtained are in both cases 

 ropy, glue-like and of about the same 

 consistency and color, they may yet not 

 be identical. And if they were it would 

 not be impossible that two different ba- 

 cilli could produce the same substance. 



The fourth item seems to me a 

 clincher against the professor. A cul- 

 ture of bacillus alvei from a diseased 

 colony applied to sound brood as the 

 professor did, would have, in each and 

 evrey instance, developed a raging case 

 of foul brood, while the application of a 

 culture of Bacillus mesentericus failed 

 to produce any disease. However, I 

 do not want to be too dogmatic. The 

 professor says that some of his at- 

 tempts at introducing the Bacillus alvei 

 also failed. 



The fifth item is not verj' conclusive. 

 One-fifth of the larvae got sick and 

 very sick at that, and their sickness was 

 almost if not altogether like foul brood. 

 Still it might not have been foul brood. 

 We might prepare a concoction of 

 putrid meat, "embalmed beef," or such 

 things like that, which when eaten 

 might produce a sickness very much 

 like cholera morbus, and yet it would 

 not be a case of cholera morbus. 



If that fifth of the larvae which got 

 sick were really a case of foul brood, the 

 whole colony would become diseased 

 entirely in the course of a few months. 

 Unfortunately nothing is said on that 

 point. 



In view of his failure to develop foul 

 brood by inoculating cultures of Ba- 

 cillus mesentericus, it may seem 

 strange that Prof. Lambotte still in- 

 sists that it is the same bacillus which 

 produces foul brood. He claims, how- 

 ever, that the spores are probably 

 always present and only develop when 

 the conditions are favorable, that is, 

 lack of proper food, too much damp- 

 ness, etc. 



Those who know how rapidly foul 

 brood spreads throughout a w-hole 

 apiary even when the colonies are in 

 the very best condition, are not likely 

 to accept such an explanation. 



Knoxville, Tenn.. Dec. 9. 1902. 



Honey is frequently recommended as 

 a substitute for butter, to spread on 

 bread; but no one appears to have ob- 

 served the fact that butter and honey 

 constitute a combination that's not at 

 all disagreeable to take. 



