356 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



ity. It has been truthfully said that what is 

 meat for one is poison for another. I have 

 this day sent to A. I. R. a clipping from the 

 National Druggist, stating that distilled water 

 is a dangerous protoplasmic poison. 

 Bradford, N. Y. 



[Years ago, when we were selling bees by 

 the pound, we used almost invariably cages 

 made of green wire cloth. At the time, I 

 know it was said that such wire cloth sin uld 

 not be used ; but we could never see that it 

 had the least bad effect on the bees; and I 

 was going to say we put up hundreds of 

 pounds of bees in just such cages. If the 

 green paint of the wire cloth became so dry 

 as to pulverize so the bees utilized the actual 

 Paris green, it might kill them, of course; but 

 so far from that, if it did any thing it flaked 

 off in small pieces. 



With regard to the question of bees seeing 

 in the dark, I do not see that I changed front. 

 A little further on, in the same article, the 

 same writer, whose opinions I indorsed, says : 

 " Science will probably demonstrate the fact 

 that bees have a set of eyes that can look at 

 the most intense light, without any inconven- 

 ience, while other eye-facets see only at short 

 range." — Ed] 



FOUL-BROOD GERMS. 



The Difference Between Spores and Bacilli: How 

 One May Turn into the Other, and Vice Versa. 



BY THOS. W1I. COWAN. 



I have read the correspondence respecting 

 the destruction of foul-brood germs contained 

 in honey, by means of boiling, and it appears 

 to me that, when giving advice with respect 

 to such a destructive enemy as foul brood, we 

 can not be too cautious, and had better err on 

 the side of safety than the reverse. 



From the promiscuous manner in which 

 many talk about microbes, bacilli, spores, or 

 germs, it is quite evident that they do not 

 realize that a very great difference exists be- 

 tween them; and conditions that will be de- 

 structive of the one may not have the slightest 

 effect on the others. In respect to the particu- 

 lar organism with which we have to deal in 

 foul brood ; viz., Bacillus alvei, we have to 

 contend with it in two different forms and 

 stages of life, in one of which the vitality of 

 the organism is easily destroyed; while in the 

 other the same organism, but under a different 

 form, is capable of retaining life, and germi- 

 nating into the condition of the previous 

 stage, even after what would appear the most 

 damaging influences, such as long lapse of 

 time, drying, heat, cold, and chemical re- 

 agents. The bacillus condition is the first 

 stage of active life of this organism; and it 

 remains in this state, splitting and multiply- 

 ing as long as it has nutrient material to live 

 upon and other conditions are favorable. A 

 bacillus is rod-shaped, and when, in process of 

 time, it has attained full growth, it splits in 

 two, each of these taking up an independent 

 existence, and going through the same pro- 



cess; and as it has been shown that as many 

 as two generations can be raised within an 

 hour, and as the same rate of progression can 

 be kept up by each individual in suitable nu- 

 trient media it is not astonishing that foul 

 brood spreads rapidly. 



Now, while in this bacillus stage it is not 

 difficult to kill the organism (a temperature 

 under 160° F. will do it), and there are a num- 

 ber of chemical re-agents which even in gr. at 

 dilution will destroy bacilli. It is, however, 

 very different in the subsequent stage of ex- 

 istence of this microbe When the bacilli, or 

 rods, have multiplied to such an extent as to 

 exhaust all the nutriment upon which they 

 were feeding, or come in contact with sur- 

 roundings inimical to their active existence, 

 the rods gradually turn into spores. At a cer- 

 tain point of the rod a bright speck appears, 

 which gradually enlarges at the expense of 

 the protoplasm in the rod, until in its fully 

 developed state it assumes an oval shape. 

 The sheath swells, and the bacillus looks much 

 thickened; then the sheath breaks, and the 

 spore becomes free. Now, it is when the rods 

 have become spores that the danger arises, be- 

 cause it is very difficuk to make many under- 

 stand the great difference between them and 

 bacilli. They are analogous to seeds of plants, 

 although they differ from these in possessing 

 greater vitality. Spores retain the power to 

 germinate into bacilli after the lapse of long 

 periods; and Dr. Klein, one of our great au- 

 thorities, sa\ s, " There is no reason to assume 

 that these periods have any limit." We have, 

 at any rate, had ample evidence in our own 

 experience to show that spores have retained 

 their vitality for many years. These spores 

 are not only capable of germinating into bacil- 

 li after a long period of time, but will endure 

 heat, cold, drying, and chemical re-agents — - 

 influences that would be destructive to bacilli 

 themselves. The temperature of boiling wa- 

 ter does not destroy them unless considerably 

 prolonged, although a very much lower tem- 

 perature, as I have already stated will kill 

 bacilli. If we had to do with bacilli only, in 

 every case bringing up the temperature to 

 212° F. would be amply sufficient; but with 

 spores it is different. A few minutes' boiling 

 w 7 ill destroy some, because all the spores have 

 not the same degree of vitalit}-; and in this 

 they resemble seeds of plants. It is well 

 known that some seeds will germinate much 

 sooner than others, and some will not germi- 

 nate at all. Experiment h^s shown that, to 

 destroy all the spores, prolonged boiling is 

 necessary, or they must be subjected to a high- 

 er temperature, such as is obtained from 

 steam under pressure. Scores are unable to 

 withstand steam, even for a few minutes, at a 

 temperature of 212° F. ; but this could not be 

 applied to honey, as the spores would have to 

 be separated bef< re the}- could he acted upon 

 by the steam. I have had frequent demon- 

 strations that many do not really understand 

 what boiling, from a scientist's point of view, 

 is, and that is why the results a r e frequently 

 so different. They are content to think that 

 the liquid is boiling if they see it bubbling, 

 whereas the bulk of it may be several degrees 



