THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



281 



detect the slightest uuhealthiiiess; on the 

 same ten larva% under tlie same bell-ghiss, 

 and on tlie toji of the wool, I laid a fresh 

 piece of meat, which, together with the 

 wool, was well saturated and smeared with 

 the excrement of the larvie. 



Two days afterwards, seven of the larvit? 

 were dead; some lay on their backs, others 

 on their sides, but all were stretched out. 

 The others lived and transformed after one, 

 two, or thn'c days' interval. 



A very carefnl microscoi)ical examination 

 the next day of a dead larva showed that 

 the wliole surface of its body was covered 

 with Micrococci. 1 might wash any portion 

 of the larva' and examine the water; I 

 might i)lace tlu^ minutest jyiece of skin un- 

 der the objective and then moisten it, but 

 always the same result— Micrococci in in- 

 numerable uuiubers. 



As the remaining six lai'vse soon decom- 

 posed, three of them were dried on a piece 

 of wadding so that they could at a latter 

 date be used for experiments of the same 

 kind. Again, two were examined while de- 

 composing, and were found full of uncount- 

 able Micrococci; and these last were spread 

 on a piece of meat and given as food to the 

 ten larvaj in the second bell-glass, which, 

 up to this time, had not shown signs of 

 transformation. While we tor the present 

 leave these ten unfortunate victims to their 

 fate, let us turn to the three pupfe, which, 

 to all appearance, fortunately have trans- 

 formed, and whose cocoons gi'adually get of 

 a darker color. 



Our first closer examination convinced us 

 that they were dead, as the cocoons here 

 and there were sunken in. Two of them 

 that I cut out of the middle in the direction 

 of the length revealed such large quantities 

 of Microccoci fungi, that they, without a 

 doubt, must be acknowledged as the cause 

 of their death. 



The third pupa, like the three before 

 mentioned larvaj, was reserved for future 

 experiments. 



When I to the above add the ten larva? 

 from the second bell-glass died berore trans 

 formation, after a few days' interval, being 

 the result of having eaten their fungus — 

 containing sisters— that one larvse that I 

 examined before its death already contained 

 an enormous amount of fungi, and that all 

 the otheis after dcatli proved to be full of 

 fungi inwardly— more esi)ecially in the in- 

 testines—while the larvfe in the third glass 

 transformed and came into existence as 

 flies, that I for many days bent over the 

 microscope, and had examined more than a 

 hundred pieces; so there can be no longer 

 doubt of the fact that Micrococcus also in- 

 fects perfectly healthy larvae, and in the 

 end kills them. 



This result, willingly and without opposi- 

 tion, will be accepted by the scientific, as 

 there is nothing to find therein that is op- 

 posed to experience or research. 



Herr Molitor Muhlfeldt rightly enough 

 declares in answer to my earlier articles, 

 that no fungus-spores can take root on the 

 undamaged skin of healthy animals, be 

 cause the main principle — the suilable un- 

 derlayer— is only found when the animal is 

 unhealthy, or when about and uiuioticeably 

 has already begun to decompose or dis- 

 solve; and this assertion does not allow of 

 scientific proof. And even if it were cor- 

 rect, Dr. Preesz's theory is by no means re- 

 futed thereby, or even threatened, as in 



reality every larva that is seized by infec- 

 tion, finds itself in an extremely sickly 

 state, which may be traced to anotiier 

 cause. 



In general, the larva dies soon after the 

 cell is closed, and before it envelops itself 

 as a pui)a; during the time that tne larva 

 changes itself to a inii)a; not alone the skin 

 of the larva decom))oses, but the larva, cer- 

 tainly as the result of the natural metamor- 

 phosis, finds itself in a sickly condition, and 

 to every deadly attack peculiarly and 

 specially adapted for infection. 



We could, therefore, if we might allow 

 Muhlfeldt's assertion a little attention, very 

 easily say at the sickening time of prepara- 

 tion for transforuiatiuu. and during trans- 

 formation, the dying and decomposing skin 

 of the larva is the very best and most suit- 

 able condition for the supi)ort of the fungus' 

 growth so that it multiplies at a rapid rate, 

 and kills the larva before transformation is 

 at an end. Therefore, since Dr. Preusz and 

 Vogel, at Saltsborg, have given the decided 

 assurance that there are alAvays found Mi- 

 crococci in foul brood, and since 1 have 

 practically jn-oved that healthy brood can 

 be infected by Micrococci, so can there no 

 longer be doiibt that where foul brood ap- 

 pears as an epidemic, there the infection is 

 produced and carried to effect by Mici'ococ- 

 cus. 



The Situation of an Apiary. 



It is two thousand years since Columella 

 lived and penned his thoughts about bees. 

 The following is his advice for the situation 

 of an apiary, and it will be interesting to 

 the many readers of The American Bee 

 Journal. 



It were desirable that it face the south, 

 and be situate in a place neither too hot nor 

 too much exposed to the cold. That it be 

 in a valley, in order that the loaded bees 

 may witli greater ease descend to their 

 homes. That it be near the mansion house, 

 on account of the conveniency of watching 

 them, but so situated as not to be exposed 

 to noisome smells, nor to the dim of men or 

 cattle. That it be surrounded with a wall, 

 which, liowever, should not rise above three 

 feet high. That, if possible, a ruiuiing 

 stream be near them; or, if that cannot be 

 that water be brought near them in troughs 

 with pebbles or small stones in the water 

 for the bees to rest on while they drink; or 

 that tiie water be confined between gently 

 declining banks, in order that the bees may 

 have safe access to it, they not being able 

 to produce either combs, honey, or food for 

 their maggots without water. That the 

 neighborhood of rivers or basins of water 

 with high banks be avoided, because winds 

 may whirl the bees into them, and they can- 

 not easily get on shore from thence to dry 

 themselves. And that the garden in which 

 the apiary stands be well furnished with 

 such plants as afford the bees plenty of 

 good pasture. The trees in this garden 

 should be of a dwarf kind, and their heads 

 bushy, in order that the swarms that settle 

 on them may be the more easily hived. 



III^*Mrs. Tnpper has been released from 

 custody at Davenport, having given bonds 

 for $800 for her appearance at court. 



