1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



223 



ture. A large amount needs longer boiling ; 

 and where Mr. Buchanan made a mistake was 

 in treating his many gallons as other parties 

 had treated a gallon or less. I am sure that, 

 if the proper temperature is gained in ten 

 minutes, the germs will be killed ; but to be 

 on the safe side, boil a gallon in a large boiler 

 ten minutes, twenty gallons an hour, fifty 

 gallons three hours. 



In the long broad shallow pan used for the 

 evaporation of maple syrup we have an illus- 

 tration of this law. There are fewer strata to 

 heat than in a deep boiler, and the evapora- 

 tion is more rapid. If foul-broody honey 

 could be boiled in such a pan it would require 

 no three hours to kill the germs. 



Shermanton, Cal. 



FOUL-BROOD GERMS. 



What do we Mean by "Boiling"? Scientific Ex- 

 actness. 



BY PROF. C. F. HODGE. 



Since foul brood has occurred in Worcester, 

 I have naturally been interested in discussions 

 of the subject that have appeared in Glean- 

 ings. In trying to make definite statements 

 on such important matters, should we not be a 

 little more exact about our fundamental tacts? 

 First: What is meant by "boiling"? If by 

 "boiling" we mean putting any shaped ves- 

 sel on any kind of fire and have it show a lit- 

 tle ebolition in a certain spot for fifteen min- 

 utes, then surely " boiling for fifteen or forty- 

 five minutes" may be insufficient to kill the 

 germs. Stir such a vessel gently but thorough- 

 ly, and note how long it is before it begins to 

 boil again. Where thorough boiling must be 

 insured we must either stir the liquid contin- 

 uously to heat all parts uniformly, or heat 

 equally from all sides, as is done in steam 

 sterilizers. ' ' Dead spots, ' ' which have not been 

 heated up to 212, may remain very much alive 

 as to germs, and reinfect the whole mass. Of 

 course, allowance must also be made for alti- 

 tude above sea-level. This makes several de- 

 grees difference whether you boil on the coast 

 or in the mountains; and these differences, 

 when it comes to killing microbes, are apt to 

 prove like the proverbial "inches" added to 

 or subtracted from a man's nose. 



A second fundamental is the condition of 

 your bacilli when boiled. It is well known 

 that, in the spore state, it is hard to kill many 

 kinds of bacilli by boiling. It may be repre- 

 sented by the difference between killing a 

 plant and a seed by boiling. The practice in 

 laboratories is thus to boil, say, for fifteen 

 minutes, twice or even three times on success- 

 ive days. Boiling the first time kills all the 

 growing bacilli, and starts the spores to sprout- 

 ing. By the next day they have not had time 

 to germinate and form spores again, so that 

 the second boiling kills every thing that 

 has started, generally every thing in the 

 liquid. But since some of the spores are slow- 

 er than others in germinating, and to make 

 assurance doubly sure, it is the common prac- 

 tice in bacteriological laboratories to boil for a 



few minutes on three successive days. Since 

 Bacillus alvei does form spores, the most rig- 

 orous treatment should be adopted ; and until 

 the resistance to boiling of the spores of Ba- 

 cillus alvei has been more accurately deter- 

 mined than at present, I would not risk any 

 thing short of boiling for fifteen minutes, 

 with thorough stirring, on three successive 

 days. 



I should like to know where foul brood 

 comes from, apart from infected hives. Is 

 there not some wi'd insect or plant source? 



Worcester, Mass , Jan. 27. 



[Both of these communications — the one by 

 J. H. Martin and the other by Prof. Hodge — 

 go to show how a few minutes' boiling might 

 not kill the spores of foul brood. It is well 

 known that, when thicker liquids are boiled, 

 the ebullition is apt to be confined to some 

 particular spot ; and to keep it from burning, 

 frequent stirring is necessary. I well remem- 

 ber how my grandfather used to boil down 

 sap into maple syrup, and how it used to be 

 my job to stand with a stick and stir, and 

 keep stirring, so the syrup would not burn. 



I have just been consulting an article by 

 Thos. Wm. Cowan, who, in speaking of spores, 

 says : 



The spores also possess the power of enduring 

 adverse influences of various kinds without injury to 

 their vitality, so far as germinating is concerned, 

 even if subjected to influences fatal to bacilli them- 

 selves. The latter are destroyed at the temperature 

 of boiling water, while the spore apparently suffers 

 no damage at that temperature. 



This is quite in line with what is said by 

 Prof. Hodge above. Mr. Taylor, it seems to 

 me, does not consider that to kill spores is 

 much more difficult than to kill the actual 

 growing germ life itself. As long as there is 

 room for doubt, one takes upon himself a 

 grave responsibility when he says that a few 

 minutes' boiling of infected honey is sufficient 

 to sterilize it ; and I have shown elsewhere 

 that the boiling-point of honey is not so very 

 much higher than that of water. Until we 

 know more about the question of resistance of 

 spores to acids or to heat, I for one will not 

 recommend any one to boil honey less than 

 three hours. — Ed.] 



BACILLUS ALVEI. 



Bad Advice; the Importance of Making Sure 

 Whether One has Foul Brood or Not. 



BY W. A. H. GILSTRAP. 



In 1897 my attention was called to an apiary 

 near Fresno, which was diseased. The owner 

 of the bees, Mr. Andrew Jackson, said it was 

 what Root's ABC book calls foul brood, al- 

 though Prof. , one of the leading ento- 

 mologists of the country, had said that it was 



not foul brood; and Mr. , one of the 



recognized authorities on bees in this valley, 

 had told Mr. Jackson that "bees run to ex- 

 tracted honey in this warm climate will get 

 well of foul brood of their own accord." 

 This is the way it looked June 1st. 



