June 21, 1906 



American Ttec Journal 



given to the discussion of the disease which is commonly 

 called "foul brood." He discusses the disease under three 

 divisions: i. "The symptoms and the nature of the disease. 

 2. The means of its propagation. 3. The method of its cure." 

 In regard to the symptoms of the disease he gives those 

 tests which are used throughout the bee-keeping world, viz., 

 the sunken cappings of the brood, the coffee-colored larvae, 

 the characteristic glue-pot odor, and the viscous nature of 

 the contents of the diseased cells. It is in the discussion 

 of the nature of the disease that he displays his masterly 

 power of investigation and presents some facts which are 

 not generally known. 



After proving that Bacillus alvei is the germ which 

 causes the disease, he proceeds to show how these minute 

 microscopic organisms multiply in almost inconceivable num- 

 bers. His investigations led him to the conclusion that the 

 name "foul brood" is misapplied, since the germ does not 

 confine its operations to brood alone, but attacks the mature 

 bees of the colony. It is doubtless true that the majority of 

 the bee-keepers of the present time think of this disease as 

 affecting the brood only, and nine-tenths of the supposed 

 remedies of the disease are based on that theory. 



Cheshire found that "foul brood" is a disease of the 

 blood: that queens, workers, and drones are affected by it, 

 and that they die from the effects of it. Moreover, he 

 proved that the ovaries of the queen and the spermatozoa 

 of the drones were subject to the ravages of this disease, 

 and that eggs, either before or at the time of their deposi- 

 tion in cells, could be, and were, objects of attack of Bacillus 

 alvei. This statement will help many to understand the 

 rapid dwindling of colonies that seemed to be very slightly 

 affected with the disease so far as the brood was concerned. 

 Having established, by investigation, the fact that Bacil- 

 lus alvei produced a "chronic disease" in full-grown bees, 

 including the queen, he at once concluded that it was possi- 

 ble and even likely that the disease would be found in the 

 ovarian track and in the eggs of the queen. It is commonly 

 known that foul brood in some cases appears to be particu- 

 larly destructive amongst the smaller larvae, and Cheshire 

 judged that in these cases the eggs contained the germ of 

 the disease at the time they were laid. 



He explained to a fellow bee-keeper what would be the 

 probable peculiarities of the disease in the early stages of 

 the brood, and later obtained from him a queen whose 

 brood developed the disease soon after hatching from the 

 egg. She was alive when she came to his hand, but he 

 at once began to dissect her, finding her ovaries abnormally 

 yellow, and very soft. Detaching the ovarian tube he counted 

 5 bacilli "swimming along with a lazy sort of progression." 

 Having taken out "a half-developed egg, and crushing it 

 flat, 9 bacilli were quickly counted." 



It must be remembered that the bee's egg is, to the 

 size of a bacillus, enormous. "Its length of 1-14 inch, and 

 diameter of 1-70 inch, would enable it to accommodate 100,- 

 000,000 spores of this organism, which stands to the egg 

 itself as a single drop to 1,500 gallons." 



It certainly does not diminish the terrors of this dread 

 disease when we are made to understand that in the act of 

 mating the queen received the germ of the disease into the 

 vulva because the drone himself was affected. Further than 

 this, it was Cheshire's belief that the spermatozoa of the 

 drones may be so devitalized by foul-brood germs that when 

 they enter into the eggs to differentiate the sex their office 

 is only partially performed. 



Turning from the nature of the disease to the con- 

 sideration of the means of propagating it, we have some 

 ideas that are not altogether in harmony with current 

 thought. In nearly all of present-day discussion it is confi- 

 dently asserted that honey is the seat of the contagion, and 

 that bees carry the disease into their hive by robbing. 

 Cheshire says, "While I have searched most carefully in 

 honey in contiguity with cells holding dead larvae, have 

 examined colonies dying out with rottenness, inspected ex- 

 tracted honey from terribly diseased colonies, and yet in no 

 instance have I found an active bacillus, and never 

 have been able to be sure of discovering one in the spore 

 condition. ... I have now discovered that it is impossi- 

 ble for bacilli to multiply in honey, because they cannot 

 grow in a fluid having an acid reaction." 



Such minute bodies as bacilli, 1,000,000,000 of which 

 may be contained in the body of a dead larva, must occur 



in honey as an occasional contamination, but the idea that 

 they grow in honey or that honey is the usual means of 

 their introduction into healthy colonies is, according to 

 Cheshire, contrary to all evidence. 



If an acceptance of these ideas would lead to the 

 abandonment of some current notions about foul brood, 

 it would by no means lessen vigilance and care in handling 

 the disease. For while Cheshire's investigations led him to 

 place little importance on honey as the means of propa- 

 gating foul brood, he emphasized the fact that the disease is 

 exceedingly infectious, and that the agencies which are 

 constantly engaged in its dissemination are all too numerous. 

 Chief among these agencies are the bees themselves which, 

 owing to the feathery nature of the hairs of their bodies, 

 gather and carry large numbers of the germs with them 

 into their colonies. Within the diseased colony the nurse- 

 bees are constantly engaged in carrying the disease from the 

 sick to the healthy larvae. It is likely, also, that the full- 

 grown bees of the colony are contracting the disease through 

 air-tubes and at the segments of their abdomens. 



Among the agencies for the spreading of the disease must 

 be named the bee-keeper himself. The germs of foul brood 

 are so small that ordinary particles of dust are huge in 

 comparison to them. The bee-keeper's hands, made ad- 

 hesive by propolis, carry the spores or bacilli, and so may 

 transfer them, even hours later, to healthy colonies. 



This is a point worthy of the attention not only of 

 those who have the disease among their colonies, but also 

 those whose business it is to inspect bees. For while they 

 may visit an apiary with worthy motives and with legal 

 authority, they may nevertheless become the means of propa- 

 gating that which it is their purpose to eradicate. 



As a precaution against infection, in addition to the 

 utmost care, which should always be exercised, it is advised 

 that a solution of corrosive sublimate, ,'s ounce to one 

 gallon of water, be used on hands and tools. Great care 

 should be taken not to let the clothing of the operator come 

 in contact with the disease. 



In concluding this review it will be interesting to note 

 that the cure in which Mr. Cheshire places greatest confi- 

 dence, is almost identically the same as some which are 

 being exploited in certain quarters as new discoveries. He 

 counsels the destruction of infected brood and comb, if the 

 case is bad, but advises the preservation of the hives and 

 frames if the operator will be careful to disinfect them. 

 His treatment is given in his own words : 



"If the bees are worth saving, make a swarm of them 

 into a skep, and transfer 48 hours later into a frame hive. 

 If there be much brood, and the case not a very bad one, 

 and the robbing season not at hand, unqueen, cutting out 

 all royal cells 11 days later, and giving from a healthy col- 

 ony a royal cell just sealed. When the queen hatches — 

 by which time nearly all the worker-brood will also have 

 left their cells— make a swarm of them into a skep, and 

 transfer, on the second day, into a frame hive. The queen 

 will, in 7 or 8 days, begin to lay and probablv all will go 

 well." 



This is but an imperfect outline of Cheshire's masterly 

 discussion of this subject. To be appreciated the original 

 must be studied in its entirety. The writer hopes that the 

 reading of this outline will inspire some to take up the en- 

 tire work, especially the first volume, and give it careful 

 examination. Certainly we can not inquire too carefully 

 into the nature of these little toilers which work so faith- 

 fully for us. The more we know of them and of the things 

 that affect them either for good or for ill, the better will 

 we be prepared to handle them for their welfare and for our 

 own profit. Yorkville, 111. 



% 



Best Hives for Wintering and Extracting 



BY IV. W. M'NKAL. 



THIS is beautiful spring weather. The air is laden with 

 the sweet perfume of the apple and cherry blossoms, 

 and the bees are having a fine time. I had not seen the 

 apiary for 6 months, and the eagerness with which I sought 

 it upon my return home a few days ago can well be imagined, 

 for the hum of the bees is one of the delights of my boyhood 



