1884 



GLEAKINGS in iiEE CLLTUllE 



rOUL BKOOD. 



ITS CURE BY FASTING, WITHOIT THE ISE OF 

 DRUGS OR CHEMICALS. 



fllE following valuable article was sent 

 lis by friend Jones, with a note ac- 

 companying as below: 

 Friend Root : — Tf the follow iiifj' is any js'ood 

 to 3-ou, you may use it. It will be read at the 

 Rochester ('onventinu on the ,'JS'th and :'Oth. 



U. A. .lOXES. 



There has been so much said of late on this sub- 

 ject that it would seem to be pretty well worn t)ut; 

 but there are yet many apiaries sufferinji- from the 

 malady, where a simple and effective treatment 

 would" be gladly tried if linown. I have e.\i)eri- 

 mented considerably, and found that the disease 

 can be cured without any difficulty without any 

 medicine, and without any possibility of its ever re- 

 turning-. 



Perhaps I may be allowed to deseiibe the disease 

 as I have found it in t'anada. In sjiealiinf:- o!' foul 

 brood I would tirst distinguish it from all other dis- 

 eases, such as chilled lnood, i>\ fr heated or scaldcil 

 brood, neglected brood, starved brood, dead brood 

 caused by shipping liccs, and another kind of dead 

 brood which resembles foul brood in some respects. 

 and is doubtless what some call a mild type of foul 

 brood. It would make this article too long to de- 

 scribe minutely the apjiearanceof the \arious kinds 

 of dead brood above referred to, and the various 

 causes of its appearance. I also do not wish to in- 

 terfere with any other person's system of curing- 

 foul brood, but simply to give my own, which has 

 proved successful with myself and scores of others, 

 in the hope that those who have tried \ai-ious reme- 

 dies unsuccessfully may be encouraged to try once 

 more with no further e.-icpense, an<i. wit h but little 

 ti'ouble, rid their apiaries of this foul dist>ase. I do 

 not believe, with some, that there is only odc meth- 

 od of cure (and that their own). I know b.^- e.\i>eri- 

 ence that it can be cured in various ways, and 1 in- 

 tend to continue my experiments, with the aim of 

 still further simplifying, if possible, the method of 

 cure. 



Some imagine that foul brood may be discovered 

 by the foul smell arising from the diseased colonies. 

 This is true as far as it goes; but if one waits until 

 then, there is a probability that very many, if not 

 all the colonies in his apiary, have become diseased. 

 Before such a condition had resulted, the disease 

 would have been running for a long time in some 

 one or two colonies, from which, e'specially in 

 spring or fall, when i-obbing is carried on more or 

 less, the surrounding hives would surely be contam- 

 inated and become themselves centers of infection. 

 A single drop of honey taken from a diseased hive, 

 if fed to the larvie of a healthy hive, is sufficient to 

 start the work of what, unarrested, is inevitable de- 

 struction. When the disease becomes very bad. 

 much of the brood dies before it is capped over; 

 and never is capped after it once dies. I have fre- 

 quently seen colonies that had become so diseased 

 that a very large portion of the brood had died .iust 

 before it was capped, and some of the larva' befoi-e 

 they had got their full growth. 



la examining the larva just before and after it 

 dies, I find that a dark spot first appears about its 

 center, and increases in size very rapidly. Shortly 

 after its appearance, short threadlike veins extend 

 from this center toward both extremities of the 

 larva, and appear to plant two new spots, from 

 which more veins soon radiate. The veins and 

 spots then gradually enlarge until the entire larva 

 is uniformly affected. The skin of the laiva also 

 commences to wrinkle and shrivel up on the toi> 

 side, the lar\a tiattens down, anil giaduallv recedes 

 to the b:ick of the cell, an<l finally becomes the 

 brown. i)Utrid mass which distinguishes toul lirood 

 so markedly from all the aliove-mentioiicd maladies. 



This brown ropy matter has a sticky and tena- 

 cious — almost elastic — consistency ; and if a pin- 

 head be inserted in it and drawn slowly out it will 

 stretch like india-rubbei-, and jerk back into the cell 

 again. The bees make efforts to remove it, but, 

 after a few trials, give up in disgust, and philosoph- 

 ically endure what even they find too incorrigibly 

 obdurate to cure. Allowed to remain, this viscid 

 substance in time dries up at the bottom of the cell, 

 and would not be noticed except by a close observer. 



A diseased larva that is capped over is indicated 



by a sinking of its capping compared with the ful- 

 ler appearance on the capping of healthy lai-va\ A 

 small puncture is also mad(> by the bees in the cajc 

 ping, in size from a juniioiiit to a i)inhead. This 

 seems to satisfy them that theie is nothing to ex- 

 l>cct, and the cell is left to itself. If the apiarist 

 ojiens such cells carefully, and tinds the contents as 

 al.ove, he nuiy be sure he has foul brood; but if the 

 larva i-etains its shape and si/,e. and the skin seems 

 perfect, even thoufjh somewliiit shi-i\ cled, that is 

 iiiit foul brood. These punctur< s are sometimes 

 made in merely dead-bi-ooil eapjiing, their non- 

 emergence at the i'ro]R>r time being doubtless no- 

 ticed by the bees and thus invcstij;ated. Wherever 

 foul brood exists in a colony diuing the brooding- 

 season, the brown ropy uuitter in the cells may he 

 found. 



I could describe several methods of cure, but the 

 following I think will be ample; and as it is very 

 simple and easily performed, it comes within the 

 reach of everybody. If the bees ha\e any l)rood, 1 

 do not desti-oj- that brood. I renun-c uHthe bees 

 that can be si)nred from the hive, leaving oiilv suffi- 

 cient to take care of th" t)rood while it is hatching, 

 taking the queen with the bees. 1 endeavor to have 

 them all tilled with hone.N- Ix'toi-e n^moving. They 

 U)-e then shaken into a box « ith a wire-screen lid, 

 and i>laced in a box in a dark and cool cellar. The 

 bo.-^ should be turned down on its side; the bees will 

 (-luster on the other side, which will then be upper- 

 most: and tlie wire screen, forming a side for the 

 time being, will allow of free ventilation. They 

 should be left thus from 3 to i! liays. according to 

 the temperature and condition of the bees, which 

 may be determined by watching; and wheu a few 

 bees fall down and begin to crawl in a weak, stupid 



shrunk, they may then he i-emo\ ed, jihu-ed in a 

 hive, and supjilied with comb or foundation, the 

 same as a swarm. A little honey or syi-uj) should W- 

 given them, when the.\ will soon be out foi-aging 

 again for themselves.' I ha\ e not been atile to see 

 any dittei-ence between swarms s> fasted until the 

 foul honey in the abdomen has been consumed, and 

 an ordinary swarm of similar size. Both seem to 

 go to work with the determination that characteri- 

 zes their race. 



Some still say this fasting plan is a failure; but 

 wliere that has been said it can not have been prop- 

 erly tried. As soon as the brood, which was left in 

 the fo\il-brood hive with liees. as directed, is hatched 

 out. they should lie treated like the others, the 

 combs rendei-ed into wax. and the hi\(' and frames 

 lioiled for a few minutes in hot water. The wa.x, in 

 the form of foundation, ma3' be inserted in the 

 frames, and be ready in the purified hive to receive, 

 with perfect safety, the former inmates as soon as 

 their jiurification is complete. The honey in the 

 foul-bi-ood combs, if extracted and boiled for ten 

 minutes, can be fed to bees without any fear of bad 

 results. Only 7)oi7iH{/ will kill the germs of the dis- 

 ease. I have subjected foul-brood combs to a tem- 

 perature of 3f.° below zero, and allowed them to 

 freeze all winter, then placed one of them in a 

 healthy nucleus; and as soon as it was tilled with 

 brood and commenced to hatch, I have found at 

 first examination a very large number of larvse 

 affected with foul brood. Frost will, therefore, not 

 kill the disease. 



I search out e\ cry case of foul brood in this part 

 of Canada, and have never failed to etfect a cure at 

 the first attempt. In fact, there are a great many 

 in Canada now who no longer dread foul brood as 

 they used to, knowing they can cure any colony 

 with one or two hours' labor. 



We have had some good and valuable hints on 

 foul brood in the journals, and some sheer nonsense. 

 Fine-siuin, seientilic theories ai-e sometimes good, 

 but solid tacts from extensive i)ractical experience 

 is what suits mcbr'st. 



So soon as I shall be able to find tinu'. it is my in- 

 tention to write uj) moie full>- a i-ompI<-te and ex- 

 haustive article treating on tlie disease, its origin, 

 and its cure, and by illustrations I hope to make it 

 perfectly plain and clear, so that the disease may 

 not be looked upon, as at present, by many, as an 

 incurable one. D. A. Jones. 



Beeton, Ont. 



I am very glatl indeed to receive the above 

 article, ancl I feel sure that, if tlie directions 

 are faithfully followed, the disease can be 

 eradicated every time. \>ry likely, as 

 friend Jones says, other plans" may work as 



