American Bee Journal. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



Vol. IV. 



NOVEMBER, 18C8. 



No. 5. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Foulbrood. 



Important discovery by the medical counsel- 

 lor, Dr. Preuss, of Dirschau, Prussia. Com- 

 municated to the American Bee Journal by 

 Lina, Baroness op Berlepsch. 



This terrible scourge consists in a microscopic 

 fungus, Cryptococcus alveario, and may be pre- 

 vented and eradicated. 



The next number of our dear Bienenzeitung 

 will publish a most important discovery made 

 by Dr. Preuss, of Dirschau. In order to show 

 my great interest in and kind regard for the 

 American Bee Journal, I will try to treat 

 the subject for its columns. 



Even from his childhood Dr. Preuss felt a 

 lively interest in bees and bee-culture, and is 

 himself in possession of an apiaiy these seven- 

 teen years. Nevertheless, though he paid fre- 

 quent visits to bee-keepers living in the district 

 extending from Dantzig up to Plock in 

 Poland, he never met with foulbrood anywhere 

 until in the year 18G6. 



In the valley of the Vistula people mostly 

 use the common straw hive. The rearing of 

 bees is ratber profitable there, rape, white clo- 

 ver, and wild radish, (jointed charlock), fur- 

 nishing immense supplies of food. But, though 

 the old hive is still greatly in use, there are also 

 many box hives, and many hives with movable 

 combs, to be found in the environs of Dirschau 

 and Dantzig. Mr. Mannow, of Giitland, a 

 friend of Dr. Pieuss, possessed still, two years 

 ago, a splendid apiary, consisting of seventy 

 Beriepsch hives in pavilions. Foulbrood be- 

 gan to show itself in these, but Mr. Mannow, 

 though he mentioned the fact to Dr. Preuss, did 

 not pay any attention to it — a mistake against 

 which other bee-keepers should be emphatically 

 cautioned. When, a short time ago, Dr. Preuss 

 again visited his friend, he was surprised and 

 grieved to see that one-half of the number of 

 colonies were dead, and the rest greatly suffer- 

 ing from this disease. From that day he resol- 

 ved to make the discovery of the source of this 



terrible scourge his earnest study ; and lie has 

 communicated the result of his investigations to 

 the Bienenzeitung, and to my husband, Baron 

 Berlepsch. 



Dr. Preuss never was a convert to the views 

 of Molitor Miihlfeld. {Bienenzeitung, 1868, No. 

 8), who considers an ichneumon-fly to be the 

 cause of the disease. He says he could never 

 yet, even with the microscope, find an ichneu- 

 mon-fly, its eggs or larvae, either in the cells of 

 the combs or in the hives themselves. The 

 observation of Dr. Assmuss (see Von Berlepsch, 

 "Die Biene und die Bienenzucht," 1860, page 

 137), that the larva of the Phora incrassata 

 causes foulbrood., is likewise regarded as un- 

 founded by Dr. Preuss. 



The foulbroody substance has, as is generally 

 known, a viscous, pappy, yeast-like appearance, 

 and a most offensive odor. 



In order to make the required microscopic 

 examinations, it is necessary to employ a mi- 

 croscope with a magnifying power of at least 

 from 200 to 400. The splendid instrument used 

 by Dr. Preuss is by Brunner, of Paris, and he 

 makes his observations with a power of 600. 

 Its micrometer allows of measurements to 1-10,- 

 000 millimeter, or 1-20,000 of a line. 



The next requisite is to work nea'ly, and 

 with the smallest possible quantity of material. 

 It would be best too if, instead of the light of the 

 sun, that simply of the clear blue sky were 

 thrown on the metallic reflector. A quiet room, 

 unaffected by passing vehicles, and a firmly 

 fixed table, are also required. Tlie microscope 

 itself must be set on a horizontal level. Most 

 beginners put too large a quantity of material 

 on the object-bearer. The celebrated Professor 

 Ehreuberg, of Berlin, always cautioned his 

 pupils against this mistake. If you take too 

 large a quantity, you cannot possibly see any- 

 thing but a cbaotic mass. 



Having adjusted the instrument perfectly, you 

 dip a clean knitting needle, or a thin glass stick 

 into a diseased cell and put a particle of the size 

 of a grain of sand on a perfectly faultless glass 

 plate, which has first been most carefully clean- 

 ed with a piece of soft leather. A particle of 

 the size of a grain of millet would already be 

 too large. This accomplished, you dip another 

 little glass stick into freshly distilled water, oi 



