1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



125 



thorax of the well-advanced pupte, dark and 

 rotten Bacillus Ihoiacis was found ; in every 

 examination of the abdominal contents, Bacil- 

 lus iHilii was found, indicating a mixed infec- 

 tion. One cell contained some old pollen in 

 which was found the fungus \_Aspergillus pol- 

 liiiis. Fig. 4] of pickled brood. This was also 

 found in many of the dark rotten masses. 

 The combs were riddled by the wax-moth 

 larvse {G. cereana). 



No. 5. — [West.] Marked ''diseased brood.'" 

 Received Nov. 4, 1899. Comb nearly new ; 

 few eggs, no larvae, dark dried masses not 

 sealed, and sealed brood. Many pupse dried 

 out without discoloration or loss of shape. 

 Of more than one hundred bees examined 

 from this specimen, only one showed signs of 

 death from disease, and this showed Bad litis 

 inilii. In one old dark dried mass, not sealed, 

 was found the same germ. One cell contained 

 pollen, of which several mounts were made, 

 discovering various parasitic fungi [Fig. 5, b, 

 b\ Figs. 6 and 7], the most important of 

 which was A. pollinis [Fig. 4], the fungus of 

 pickled brood. 



The combs from P. H. El wood were old and 

 black ; a few cells of sealed brood, and many 

 cells in which were the old dried black masses. 

 Careful investigation revealed nothing new ; 

 the two germs already isolated were present 

 in most instances. Cultures revealed a multi- 

 tude of putrefactive germs. 



EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



Nov. 7, 1899, I secured, through the kind- 

 ness of Mr. L. Cowell, an enterprising bee- 

 keeper in the suburbs of this city, two nuclei 

 for experimental purposes. Each had bees 

 enough to cover three or four Langstroth 

 frames, and were designated as Nos. 1 and 2. 



No. 1. — Had one frame with sealed brood 

 on both sides, and one frame with sealed 

 brood on one side, plenty of bees to cover the 

 brood; no larvae; few eggs ; bees hybrids, 

 queen dark, one year old ; plenty of normal 

 pollen not infected ; some honey : also some 

 sugar syrup already in stores ; clean combs and 

 in good condition, generally, for so few bees. 



No. 2. — About the same as No. 1, except 

 that there were more bees, brood of all ages, 

 less stores, plenty of natural pollen not in- 

 fected ; queen dark, two years old ; no honey 

 coming in, on account of early frosts and 

 subsequent rains. 



After making the above notes I placed 100 

 cc (nearly half a pint) of infected syrup con- 

 taining Bacillus niilii from cultures twenty- 

 four days old, in each hive. Nov. 10 No. 1 

 had stored all the infected syrup in the combs; 

 no sealed brood, no larvae, a few eggs, queen 

 apparently active. 



No. 2 had stored all infected syrup, brood 

 of all ages, no signs of disease ; fed infected 

 syrup as before to each. Weather for the past 

 three days fine ; bees bringing in fresh pol- 

 len and some honey. 



11th, weather bright and warm — mean tem- 

 perature 80° F.; 12th, removed feeders from 

 each hive. 



No. 1. — Larvae just hatched, queen active, 

 few eggs. 



No. 2. — Much the same as before, except 



that the area of brood had increased ; weather 

 fine; 3 p. m., temperature 82° F. ; no evidence 

 of disease ; bees bringing in pollen and some 

 honey ; did not place more infected syrup. 



Nov. 26. — Examined bees again. No. 1 con- 

 tained no brood of any kind, no eggs, queen 

 apparently all right. On account of pressure 

 of other business the bees were not examined 

 from the 12th to the 26th, and it is not known 

 what became of the brood present at the last 

 examination. As the queen is only one year 

 old with plenty of normal food, including a 

 large quantity of infected syrup, one might 

 suspect that the infection had something to 

 do with its disappearance, as the weather has 

 been fine. 



No. 2. — No eggs, larvae six or seven days 

 old, indicating that the queen had ceased to 

 lay for the past ten days ; considerable sealed 

 brood. At the outer edge of the circle were 

 found several scattering cells not yet hatched 

 or uncapped. From these were removed three 

 nearly matured dead bees. Other pupae were 

 nearly white with the dark spot on the abdo- 

 men ; some were dark while others were en- 

 tirely black. In this, as in some of the New 

 York specimens, there was some destruction 

 or disfigurement of the cappings, which ap- 

 peared to be from without rather than from 

 within, as if it had been done by the impatient 

 nurse-bees. These were in every respect like 

 the originally examined specimens from New 

 York, and the examination of nearly one hun- 

 dred slides from these nearly matured bees. 

 Bacillus milii was found in nearly every prep- 

 aration. In no case did I find, in these combs, 

 larvae of any age dead, or apparently suffering 

 from the infection ; yet on examining several 

 larvae I found the significant Bacillus niilii 

 from which cultures were made. Now, here 

 it seemed I had " struck a knot," so to speak. 

 Why did not the infected larvae die as readily 

 as the infected pupae died ? This was a prob- 

 lem for solution. A few remarks upon the life 

 characters of bacteria in general will make 

 this matter better understood, and satisfactori- 

 ly answer our question. 



Some bacteria grow well in a neutral and 

 few grow in an acid medium. While these 

 grow feebly in a neutral. and not at all in an 

 acid medium, they are best suited to an alka- 

 line medium. They are anaerobic (live best 

 without air). The liquids of the young larvae 

 for the first six or seven days give an acid re- 

 action ; therefore, although these germs are 

 sparsely present in the body, they are in an 

 antiseptic medium, and do not grow at once. 

 When the larvae are older, and pollen and a 

 richer chyle-like food is given, the liquids be- 

 come neutral — finally alkaline naturally — thus 

 giving the proper medium for a rapid growth. 

 As we have observed in artificial cultures, the 

 alkaline medium gradually, in a few days, be- 

 comes acid with a consequent cessation of 

 growth, also that the watery masses of dead 

 brood gave an acid reaction, we may infer that 

 the acid condition of the young larva has 

 much to do in protecting it from active infec- 

 tion. This conclusion is supported by facts 

 sufficient to warrant its correctness. 



Dec. 14. — Bees again examined. 



