li 



THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



captivating, very plausible, and a very con- 

 venient pair of .shoulders on wliich to lay 

 the burden of most of the diseases that 

 afflict the inhabitants of this mundane 

 sphere. 



It is not my intention to attack this the- 

 ory. Apparently it rests on too firm a 

 foundation to be overtlirown. The whis- 

 per, though, is not unheard in scientific 

 circles, that over zealous investigators 

 have sometimes taken eflect for cause, in 

 concluding that because bacilli accompany 

 a dise.Hse they necessarily produce the 

 disease. 



There are objections to the bacillus the- 

 ory in the case of foul brood. One is, that 

 Cheshire declared himself unable to de- 

 tect either bacilli or spores iu honey, and 

 gave it as his opinion that the disease was 

 never, or at least but very seldom, trans- 

 mitted by means of honey. So far as I 

 know, no microscopist has had any better 

 success in detecting either bacilli or spores 

 in honey. Yet the almost uniform testi- 

 mony of all who have had practical expe- 

 rience with it is, that it is through the 

 medium of the honey that it is most fre- 

 quently and surely transmitted. The most 

 practical and successful methods of cure 

 are based on tjiis assumption, while those 

 wliich ignore it have in practice proven 

 uncertain- and unreliable. 



Starvation as a foul brood cure. 



Cheshire declares, furthermore, that foul 

 brood is not simply a disease of the brood, 

 but that bacillus alvei atifects the mature 

 bees, both workers and queen. If so, 

 they are very easily disposed of, fori have 

 repeatedly cured the worst cases of foul 

 brood by simply confining the bees with- 

 out food for forty-eight hours, then put- 

 ting them into a clean hive, and still more 

 simply by brushing them from their in- 

 fected combs into a clean hive, where 

 they were obliged to build comb before 

 brood could be reared. 



The plain inference is, that the conta- 

 gion, whatever its nature, is contained in 

 the honey, and that it is destroyed when 

 the honey is digested. Possibly the di- 

 gestion of the last particle of the honey 

 does away vvitli the bacilli so numerous in 

 the vitals of bees and queen; but many 

 will be inclined to doubt. 



All attempts to get rid of foul brood 

 without boiling or equivalent treatment 

 for everything except the bees, have prov- 

 en tedious, nncertain and unsafe. By 

 "equivalent treatment," 1 mean a thorough 

 washing or admixture with carbolic or 

 salicylic acid. To spray the outside of an 

 infected comb is useless. While it is pos- 

 sible that llie fumes of sulphur may be a 

 sufiicient disinfectant — though I do not 

 believe it — the process must be more 



thorough than that recommended on page 

 539. To put infected hives and frames 

 out of doors in the summer — exposed to 

 the bees — as there recommended, and then 

 depend upon scraping and sulphuring, is 

 simply to invite destruction. 



The correspondent on page 538, has 

 very evidently had little experience with 

 foul brood, or he would not venture so 

 wild an opinion as that it is caused by the 

 larva getting reversed in the cell, and that 

 the puncture in the cap of the cell is made 

 by its "sharp end" in the eflbrt to get out. 



The fact is, that foul brood nearly al- 

 ways attacks the larva before it is old 

 enough to be sealed up. Even when it is 

 attacked after it is sealed, the cap is by no 

 means invariably punctured nor percepti- 

 bly sunken. 



Kopiness the test of foul brood. 



The best test of foul brood is the ropy, 

 tenacious, slightly elastic condition that 

 the diseased larva assumes. Do not ex- 

 pect, though, that it will "snap back into 

 the cell like a piece of India rubber when 

 you pull it out with a stick," as some have 

 said. I was not in favor of this test once, 

 simply because too much stress was laid 

 on the elasticity of the diseased matter. 

 Remembering that its elasticity is but 

 slight, this feature becomes our best cri- 

 terion. 



Dayton, 111. 



Bees as Educators. 



Educated eyes. 



No sooner does a person become the 

 owner of a colony of bees than he looks 

 around to see what are the prospects of 

 future gain. Heretofore he drove or rode 

 along the highways, noticing the ruts, 

 bridges, fences and houses, but now his 

 vision takes in a wider range. His obser- 

 vation is quickened, and trees, shrubs and 

 plants have put on new life, as it were, to 

 his enlivened faculties. From the first 

 opening buds iu spring, until the last rus- 

 tling leaf has fallen, his interest never 

 lags as he constantly watches the opening 

 flowers, and notes with pleasure the busy 

 workers roaming over them in quest of 

 treasure to store in their hives. 

 Nectar in weeds. 



What was to him once a useless weed, 

 to be cut down with the scythe, or 

 whacked ott" with a hoe, is clothed in beau- 

 ty and becomes a priceless treasure. Who- 

 ever saw any beauty in the figwort, or 

 watched for the appearance of its tiny cup- 

 l)oard, looking down into its depths for 

 the first appearance of sparkling nectar, 

 but a beekeeper? Or whoever saw any 

 utility in Spanish-needles, or beggar- ticks? 



