THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



process of decomposition. The nursing bees 

 in such infected colonies feed the brood with 

 contamincated jelly, and foulbrood soon mani- 

 fests its presence. 



We find phenomena precisely similar else- 

 where in the economy of nature — two of Avhich 

 may serve to illustrate the view we have pre- 

 sented. 



In human dwellings near which marshes or 

 ponds exist that become dried up by the heat of 

 summer, epidemic diseases, fevers, &c., occur. 

 Tiiese are usually thus accounted for. Tiiose 

 niiirshes are the arena where myriads of infi- 

 te3!?imally minute animalcuItE abound. Tlie 

 evaporation of the water and drying up of the 

 marshes, deprive these creatures of their vital 

 element. They perish; tlie oxygen of the air acts 

 on their remains, dissolving their organic combi- 

 nation; and then their liberated cimstituent ele- 

 ments enter into new combinations — the sulphur, 

 for example, uniting with the hydrogen, forms 

 sulphuretted hydrogen. The extreme heat of 

 summer soon dries up these putrescent organic 

 substances ; myriads of minute atoms quickly 

 become detached therefrom and are carried by 

 the air into all the region around. They are 

 thus inlialed by the inhabitants, adhere to the | 

 internal tissues of the body, and there finding 

 the reciuisite conditions ot heat and moisture, 

 become putrescent again, and communicate the 

 putrefactive process to the organs they infest. 

 Disease is the result — the person afflicted grows 

 sick. 



Morbid matter from a corpse, conveyed into 

 an open wound, decomposes the blood, and 

 finally causes death. 



Having thus shown that tlie atoms of dessica- 

 ted larval remains, floating in the atmosphere, 

 are able to superinduce the decomposition of 

 pollen and honey in the cells of neighboring 

 hives, and thus become the means of gradually 

 diffusing the malady further and further, j 

 though the disease itself is originally caused 

 by the moisture condensed in wooden hives, 

 the importance of discontinuing the use of 

 whatever contributes to or aids in the couden 

 sation of moisture, is at once obvious. 



That foulbrood can be caused by feeding the 

 bees of colonies containing brood, with contam- 

 inated or fermenting honey is likewise evident 

 fromthe preceding statements ; and under this 

 conviction we content ourselves Avith remark- 

 ing further that the minutest particle of putres- 

 cent nitrogenous matter mingled with the 

 honey, suffices to render foulbroody the larvse 

 to which it is fed. 



What has thus been advanced in these latter 

 passages may be summarily presented in the 

 following propositions: 1. Foulbrood may 

 originate from putrescent pollen ; 2, from con- 

 tagion and infection ; and, 3, from feeding fer- 

 menting honey. The honey brought to us from 

 trans-atlantic countries, is mostly expressed 

 from combs still containing both larvoe and 

 pollen ; these, exposed to heat during trans- 

 portation, naturally become putrescent, causing 

 the honey to ferment, and producing foulbrood 

 in the larvae to which it is fed. 



August Lambrecht. 



BOKNUM, NEAR WOLFENBUTTEL. Jan. 1869. 



[For t,ho American Bee Journal.] 



Mishap in Wintering Bees. 



As I have extolled the wintering of bees in 

 the ground, I feel it my duty to confess the 

 check I encountered this winter. 



The tirst fortnight of September was very 

 profitable to the bees. Many of my strong 

 stocks gathered twenty-five pounds of lioney 

 each, in three days. On the 16th of (he month 

 the frost killed all the flowers; and from that 

 time, the weather being cold and rainy, the 

 queens ceased laying. I had then several 

 young queens, to replace the tested queens I 

 liad sold and the black impregnated queens I 

 had removed from my hives and destroyed- 

 but I could not induce mauy of these youn'^' 

 queens to lay. Thus the time for putting the 

 hives in winter quarters was at hand, before I 

 could ascertain whether they were impregnated 

 or not. 



In these circumstances I reinforced twelve 

 nuclei with bees and honey ; desiguing to keep 

 them through the Avinter, that I mlght^have, in 

 the spring, some fertile queens on hand, to 're- 

 place drone-laying queers ; for I felt pretty 

 sure that I had many au uuimpreguated queen 

 in my hives. 



My bees were buried in November, before 

 the hard frosts set in. The month of January 

 and the first half of Feliruary were unusually 

 warm and wet. I was far from being ea'-y as 

 to my colonies, as I suspected that they were 

 suffering from dampness. I had concluded to 

 lake them up before the end of February ; but 

 the last fortnight of that month and all of 

 March were so cold that I could not dig them 

 up before the HOlh of March. I found all my 

 ruchees in a piteous condition. One-fourth of 

 them had perished, with plenty of honey in the 

 h'ves; and all had more or less dead bees. 

 The strongest stocks had survived; but amongst 

 the weaker, in whose hives the honey was much 

 scattered, the bees, after consuming the stoies 

 immediately within their reach, were prevented 

 liy mouldiness from passing to the otlier parts 

 of tlie hive, and thus perished though there was 

 plenty of honey close by. 



But this is not all. On the very day that the 

 hives were replaced on their summer stands, I 

 had the mortification to see the bees of several 

 desert them en masse, thougli the hives were in 

 good order and stored with honey. Eight col- 

 onies played me that sad trick. The bees en- 

 tered some of the other hives; hut as for the 

 queens, they were lost, although I had hived 

 several of them, with as mauy workers as pos- 

 sible. 



I suppose these queens were unimpregnatcd, 

 and issued in quest of drones, and the workers, 

 having no brood to care for, followed them. I 

 think I may safely say that not one bee left my 

 bee-yard — all entered some of the other hives. 

 Thus, from Avant of brood in the hives, I was 

 unable to ascertain whether fertilization rould 

 be eff"ect;ed in any case, after so long .x delay as 

 from autumn to spring. I am left poorer, by a 

 full third in the numijer of ruchees, but enriched 

 with plenty of mouldy combs. 



