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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of the hive iu the interspaces between the combs 

 is charged, converting the hive itself into a 

 reservoir where the germs of the destructive 

 disease are inexhaustively generated and whence 

 they are boundlessly diffused. The atmosphere 

 of a hive containing foulbrood is fatally infec- 

 ted. The ammonia developed therein from the 

 decomposing larvae, and the sulphuretted hy- 

 drogen there generated, act destructively on 

 the vital force of the bees : their store of food — 

 more especially the pollen— is permanently 

 tainted, and thus becomes peculiarly adapted to 

 promote and sustain the continuous generation 

 of miasmatic corpuscles. Of this fact we shall 

 treat more fully further on, our purpose being j 

 previously to elucidate the source of the two 

 elementary substances just named. 



It is a universally recognised maxim that 

 "wherever organic substances are decomposing 

 — that is, being resolved into their constituent 

 elements — ammonia and sulphuretted hydrogen i 

 are produced." That this is the case, too, j 

 wherever foulbrood occurs in a hive, can lie ; 

 demonstrated beyond doubt by the following 

 simple experiment. Place fifteen or sixteen j 

 larvae of bees in a small glass phial, and pour in 

 as much water as will cover them to the depth i 

 of li inches. Dip a strip of common letter j 

 paper in an aqueous solution of sugar of lead, ] 

 dry it, and suspend it in the phial close above 

 the water by means of a cork. After standing 

 a few days, the following changes will be ob- 

 served. The suspended paper will have assum- 

 ed a dark-brown hue, the sulphur developed by 

 the decomposing larva? having parted from the 

 hydrogen with which it was combined, and 

 united with the lead for which it has greater 

 chemical affinity, thus forming sulphate of lead. 

 The actual presence of sulphuretted hydrogen 

 in the phial can be readily ascertained on open- 

 ing it, hy the disagreeable smell thence issuing, 

 resembling that of rotten eggs. On the other 

 hand, the nitrogen disengaged from the decom- 

 posing larvae, now combines with the liberated 

 hydrogen and forms ammonia, which is held in 

 solution temporarily by the water. Pour a little 

 of this water in a tumbler, warm it gently, 

 drop in a small piece of caustic lime, and the 

 pungent fumes thence arising will indicate the 

 presence of ammonia, liberated and expelled by 

 the lime. Of the other elementaiy substances 

 contained in the larva?, and now liberated, we 

 shall take no notice at present. 



It is well known that bees breathe not, as 

 most other creatures do, through lungs, but 

 through spiracles, (stigmata), two pairs of 

 ■which are situated on the sides of the thorax, 

 and one pair on each side of the abdominal seg- 

 ments. The larva?, like all creatures, breathe 

 atmospheric air, which, if life is to be sustained, 

 must be pure and consist of four parts nitrogen 

 and one part oxygen, with a small portion of 

 carbonic acid and watery vapor, mechanically 

 uni'ed. But if, as we have already shown, the 

 atmosphere of a foulbroody hive contains in ad- 

 dition a quantity of ammonia and sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, the creatures breathing it inhale cer- 

 tain death. That which they inhale must pro- 

 duce its natural effect. Life cannot be support- 

 ed by such a medium, the inhalation of which 



can only produce morbific combinations in the 

 delicate tissues of the larva?. That the pollen 

 stored in such a hive becomes constantly more 

 and more decomposed, as has already been sta- 

 ted, by the presence of these foreign elements, 

 probably needs no further demonstration. 



Having thus indicated the points which we 

 deemed indispensable to a proper elucidation of 

 the subject, we shall now proceed to search for 

 the cause to which solely the existence of foul- 

 brood is to be ascribed. 



Every bee-keeper is well acquainted with the 

 nutritive substances on which bees subsist ; but 

 it may not be so well understood that these, as 

 Avell as those of vertebrate animals, consist of 

 two distinct classes, the non-nitrogenous, in- 

 cluding honey, and the nitrogenous, including 

 pollen. While the former are composed of 

 three organogons — carbon, hydrogen, and oxy- 

 gen, with a few inorganic substances, the latter 

 are composed chiefly of carbon, hydrogen, oxy- 

 gen, nitrogen, and sulphur, (phosphorus). 

 These, in consequence simply of their peculiar 

 composition, decompose with extraordinary ease. 

 They readily ferment and putrefy when brought 

 in contact with heat and moisture ; and while 

 thus decomposing, irresistibly affect, in like 

 manner, any non-nitrogenous substances with 

 which they are combined. They are the natural 

 ferments which, in conjunction with heat, gen- 

 erate the process called fermentation, and 

 which are peculiarly qualified to convert sacch- 

 arine substances to other forms. I *shall recur 

 again, hereinafter, in its appropriate place, to 

 this property of nitrogenous substances; deem- 

 ing a closer examination of pollen, as a nitrogen- 

 ous and sulphuretted substance, now more im- 

 mediately in place. 



The chyme which the workers prepare from 

 honey and pollen by partial digestion, and with 

 which the larva? are fed, contains a nitrogenous, 

 plastic, formative substance from which all the 

 organs and tissues of the larvm are derived and 

 composed. It is composed, as has already been 

 remarked, of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitro- 

 gen, and sulphur, (phosphorus) ; and precisely 

 because of this, its complicated composition, it 

 is peculiarly susceptible of rapid decomposition 

 when exposed to air and moisture — that is, 

 to undergo fermentation and putrefaction. 

 By decomposition, the elementaiy substances it 

 contains are liberated; that is, the chemical 

 combination previously subsisting is dissolved, 

 and they are free to form new combinations, de- 

 pendant severally on their more or less strong 

 affinities. Thus nitrogen seizes and appropri- 

 ates as much of the hydrogen as is required to 

 form ammonia, the residue of the hydrogen 

 combining with the sulphur and forming sul- 

 phuretted hydrogen; while the carbon unites 

 with the remaining oxygen to form carbonic 

 acid, &c. ifcc. We perceive from these various 

 processes, that the decomposition which a ni- 

 trogenous substance is undergoing, results in 

 the production of a number of new substances, 

 possessing new forms aud properties ; aud that 

 the original effect which, as an organic unit, it 

 was qualified to produce, is no longer attainable 

 after decomposition is accomplished. It is 

 hence obvious that pollen, even though having 



