THE AMEKICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



163 



come contagious. Tliis, I conceive, is onlj' too 

 likely. In 1855, I discovered a liiglily fetid 

 foulbroody liive in the apiary of Mr. Oscar Zic- 

 gler, in Sthlousingen, wliicii was fortlnvitli con- 

 demned to the brimstone pit. Jlr. Zieglcr 

 bought this hive in a neigliboring village, and 

 the bees were suirocatcd while it was being trans- 

 ported to liis home. About eight days after a 

 swarm was put in it, and tliereupon the non-con- 

 tagious foulb.ood therein, inunediately assumed 

 the contagious form. 



FouuTH View. — The discse may be caused 

 by no.\ious dew.s Avhicli sometimes occur while 

 fruit trees are in blossom. This is a very old 

 opinion, llotller said in IGGO, " In some years 

 tlie blossoms of trees are literallj^ poisoned by 

 dews and mists, so as to make bees sick." In a 

 conversation witli Dzicrzou, in 1855, while he 

 was on a visit to Seebach, he said he was inclined 

 to accept lliis view. '"I thiuu," said he, "I 

 have freriuentl}' observed this in my neighbor- 

 lioou, while fruit trees were in blossom. Foul- 

 brood may originate Ihus, though to these noxi- 

 ous dews is attributed tlic disease more common- 

 ly known as verivjo.^'' 



However, were such the case, would not all 

 the stocks within a certain range or circuit, be 

 sinmUaneously and similarly affected ? HofT- 

 man-Brand states that in his foulbroody hives 

 the pollen was slimy and apparently undergoing 

 akmd of fermenlaiion ; which he ascribed to the 

 noxious qualities of tlie dew. 



Fifth Vikw. — The fungus called mvcor mel- 

 lii'^ph^'iu^, which is ol'tcn found in the chyle 

 stomacii of bee.s, it is alleged exertsa deleterious 

 intluencc on the preparation of the jelly, so that 

 the brood is not furnished with a properly di- 

 gested pabulum, and li^nce becomes diseased, 

 dies and putrilies. The fungus is supposed to be 

 thus the indirect cause of the disease. But, 

 this fungus is often found abundantly in colonies 

 entirely liealthy ; and Dr. Asmusz never found 

 it hi bees of foulbroody stocks. 



In addition to all this, we find many other 

 conjectures presented in bee-books and by cor- 

 respondents oi the Bioicnz-eiiuiu/, none of which 

 seem to have any solid basis. Jlr. Kritz suppo- 

 sed that foulbrood nuiy be caused by some un- 

 healthy effluvium emanating from the bee-keep- 

 er himself. Dr. Aleleld thinks it may arise from 

 a diseased condition of the sexual organs of the 

 queen-bee. Scnditsch imagines it may result 

 from the dust blown into the hives from the 

 streets and highways. And even the position 

 assumed by Director Fisher in an article on 

 "the origin, nature, and cause of foulbrood," 

 published in the Transactions of the Third Meet- 

 ing of German Agriculturists in 18G5, is of no ac- 

 count, being mauii'estly based on erroneous 

 premises. 



In fine. I believe, as I have already stated, 

 that foulbrood, as it presents various phenome- 

 na and assumes various forms or grades, so it 

 may arise fiom various causes. At present, 

 however, we poseess no tangible knowledge re- 

 specting it. Bee-keepers sliould therefore be 

 careful to ascertain and note the facts and cir- 

 cumstances, whenever the disease comes under 

 their observation. Nor should they be in haste 

 to form or proclaim theories. Above all, they 



should not neglect to submit foulbroody combs 

 to the examination of some competent naturalist 

 when practicable. I do not think it at all likely 

 that inexp(!rienced bee-keepers, unversed in phy- 

 siology and un]iracticed in the employmont of the 

 microscope, will ever advance us mueli in this 

 direction unless aided bj' nun professionally 

 prepared to prosecute seienlific investigations, 

 (o whom carefully observed laets would be in- 

 valuable. Only alter ascertaining the true na- 

 ture of the disease, may we hope perhaps to de- 

 vise methods lor its prevention and cure. 



A. Vo^- Beui-epscu. 



[For tlio Ainericaa Bee .Toiirnal.] 



Prodiicing Fertile Workers. 



I have been a reader of the American Bee 

 JouuKAL since the commencement of the second 

 volume. As a whole, I am well pleased with it, 

 and think it should be sustained by the bee- 

 keepers throughout the United States. But 

 there are sometimes positions taken, or theories 

 advanced, to which I take exception. While 

 there have been rapid advances made in apiarian 

 science "in the latter days," is there not now 

 much said and Avritten in relation to bees, which 

 is theory and theoiy onlj' V AVe are very apt to 

 "jump at conclusions." "We sometimes find, 

 in September or October, hives in which there 

 are no bees, the combs destroyed and filled with 

 vile worms and coccoons. In the spring the 

 hive was populous, and has sent out during the 

 summer one or two good swarms. If we knew 

 nothing of the natural histoiy of bees, we should 

 at once attribute the loss of the colony to the 

 ravages of the bee-moth, wiiereas, nine times in 

 ten the destruction is really occasioned by the 

 loss of the queen on her Avedding excursion. 

 The conclusion arrived at here would be very 

 natural, but erroneous. 



Are we not equally incorrect in some of our 

 theories in relation to the natural history of 

 bees V If a queen is removed Irom a colony, 

 they Avill rear another from any egg or young 

 larva found in the hive in Avorker comb, chan- 

 ging it from what Avould otherAvise have produ- 

 ced an imi.erfect female or Avorker, to a perfect 

 female or queen. If 1 understand l-'rof. Von 

 Siebold eorieitlj' ("see American Bee Joukkai, 

 for Deceml)er, 18G7), he claims that this change 

 is ellected c'ther by the kind or the quantity of 

 food consumed by the larva. Here is a position 

 taken or a theory advanced ; and founded there- 

 on, or derived from this theory, Avhethcr correct 

 or incorrect, is another, namely, '-tliat by some 

 confusion or disturbance in the regular distribu- 

 tion ol the food, some of the royal jelly falls to 

 the lot of one or several Avorker larv;e in the 

 neighborhood of a queen cell into Avhieh royal 

 food is carried, by Avhich their sexual organs 

 are more or less developed. 



Alter giving the first position here taken a 

 passing notice, I will endeavor to shoAV how any 

 one, Avho feels disposed to take the i-ecessary 

 trouble', may satif}- himself as to the correctness 

 of the second. 



"While Ave admit that the kind or quantity of 

 food, or both, received by the young larvse, viay 



