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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tive process. On a miuute examination, the 

 colony was dec^a^^■d to be again entirely free 

 from the disease and in a prosperous condition. 

 This apears from the committee's 



Certeficate No. 4. 



Brunswick, July 27, 18G9 

 At nearly four o'clock, this afternoon, the 

 Investigating Committee met to examine tlie 

 experimental colony. Tiie combs were taken 

 out separntely, and subjected to repeated minute 

 inspection ; and to make the examination most 

 thorougli, the bees were brushed fiom the 

 combs, and every cell inspected. According to 

 our best knowledge and belief, we found "the 

 colony po|)ulous, nearly ready to swarm, with 

 queen cells prepared for capping, and the whole 

 colonj' in such excellent condition tliatwe could 

 pronounce it entirely free from malignant foul- 

 broud. 

 (Signed.) H. Wiedenroth, 



H. Oppeuman, 

 C. J. H. Gravenhokst, 

 H. Herbst. 



A neighboring beekeeper, Mr. Ahrens, appri- 

 sed of the intended proceedings, also attended 

 the meetings of the committee, p;irlicipated in 

 the examinations, and gives the following state- 

 ment of what took place : 



"Feeling great interest in the experiment 

 prosecuted by Mr. A. Lambrecht, to cause and 

 cure foulbrood, I attended the examination of 

 the experimental colony, when it M-as found 

 infected with foulbrood in the highest degree. 

 I was again present today, when it was re- 

 examined by the committee and pronounced 

 perfectly cured. The colony was nearly ready 

 to swarm, and in all respects in admirable con- 

 dition. 



(Signed.) " C. Ahrens. 



"Practical Apiarian." 



"Brunswick, July 27, 1869." 



In addition to the forogoing, Mr. Graven- 

 horst, a member of the committee, himself a 

 highly intelligent and experienced apiarian, and 

 originally disinclined to accept Lumbrecht's 

 theory of the origin and nature of foulbrood, 

 communicated to the Hanover Centrablatt the 

 following more detailed account of the acticm of 

 the Committee and of Mr. Lambrecht's process 

 for the production and cure of the disease. It 

 was written before the final report or decision 

 of the committee was made ; yet manifestly 

 under the conviction that a perfect cure had 

 been effected : 



" It is well known to the reader that at the 

 fall meeting of the Salizgitler-Bruuswick Union, 

 I expressed my readiness to place one of my 

 colonies at the disposal of a committee tl)is 

 spring, to test Lambrecht's theory of foulbrood. 

 Accordingly, when the appointed committee (of 

 which I am a member, and two members of 

 ■which are practical beekeepers,) met on the 1st 

 of April, I selected for them a strong colony, 

 the bees of which covered six frames in a hive 

 built two-thirds full, though its supply of hom-y 

 and pollen was quite limited. Alter the com- 



mittee had thoroughly examined this colony 

 and pronounced it eniirely healthy, Mr. Lam- 

 brecht introduced in it fermenting pollen mixed 

 with honey, and the hive was then removed to 

 a ph'ce half a league distant from my apiary 



" The second examination of tliis experimen- 

 tal colony was made by the committee on the 

 24th of April. Lambrecht and Herbst regarded 

 it as being in an incipient s'age of foulbroodi- 

 ness, whereas Wiedenroth, Opperniiin, and my- 

 self were constrained by our convictions to re- 

 gard it as still in a healthy conditi(m. Wieden- 

 roth directed his attention mainly to the drone 

 cells, in which, according to l)is experience, 

 foulbrood u.>uaHy tirst manifests itself ; wliilst 

 'I could not allow myself to admit the existence 

 of the <liseuse until I saw all the indications of 

 it, as I find them stated in the writings of ac- 

 knovvlediicd authorities. Lambrecht then re- 

 q\iest(d leave to insert two frames with old 

 comb. Tins was done on the 25th of April, 

 and next day eggs were discovered in the cells 

 of these combs. On a revision on the 20th of 

 May, I discovered the firtt decided symptoms of 

 foul'-rood, in the cells of these old combs, some 

 of which still remained capped, though from 

 others young bees had emerged. Minute per- 

 forations were visible In the collapsed covers of 

 most of the cells slill closed ; and when one of 

 these cells was opened a browuish-grey, viscid, 

 fetid matter could be drawn out. Hereupon I 

 call' d a nueting of the committee, which assem- 

 bled on the 23d of May. On examination, pu- 

 trid brood was round in the drone cells also, and 

 the colony had consequently to be regarded as 

 fouibroody. But, that no hasty decision might 

 be made in a matter so important, the essay to 

 cure the colony Wiis, at my instance, deferred to 

 a future day, as I wished previously to satisfy 

 myself fully that we had really before us a case 

 of contagious tbulbrood. Thenceforward, bee- 

 keepers who visited me, and many of whom 

 were acquainted with the disease from sad ex- 

 perience, were taken to see the experimentul 

 colony ; and all of them were satisfied that 

 foulbiood existed therein. Still not content 

 my -elf, and desiring to obtain absolute certainty 

 if possilde, I requested Mr. J. of Baden, who I 

 knew was troubled with foulbrood in his apiary, 

 to send me a piece of infected comb ; the ap- 

 pearance and odor of which, when received, 

 were in no respect more marked than those of 

 the infected combs iu the experimental colony. 

 Tiiere were diseased, collapsed, and perforated 

 cells interspersed among others still healthy, 

 and putrid larvae among others not affected by 

 the disease. "Verily, a fouibroody comb presents 

 a checkered aspect, grievous to behold, and 

 saddening to the heart of every beekeeper ! 

 Melancholy, too, is it to observe the perseveiing 

 3'et fruitless efforts made by a slill strong colony 

 to subdue and eject the insidious foe, by tearing 

 out and removing the infected brood — while 

 the disease is steadily progressing, the popula- 

 tion daily diminishing, and the entire colony 

 hastening with Mccelerated speed to its lament- 

 able fate. If lielp be still possible here, thought 

 I, it is hiiih time to invoke it now. Lambrecht 

 was accordingly invited to Brunswick, to un- 

 dertake the cure of the diseased colony. He 



