48 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mr.TWcEvoy'sClaiins of Discovery 



of tlie Cause and Cure of 



Foul Brood. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY S. CORNEIIi. 



I have read with a good deal of in- 

 terest the biographical sketch of Mr. 

 Wtn. McEvo>, by Prof. Shaw, published 

 in the American Bee Journal for 

 March 30, 1893, page 393. With all 

 that is said in regard to Mr. McEvoy's 

 industry, his perseverance, and his skill 

 in the management of an apiary, I 

 heartily agree. I would add that he is 

 a very close and accurate observer of 

 what takes place in the interior of the 

 hive, under varying conditions, so far as 

 such observations are possible with the 

 naked eye. 



Mr. McEvoy's extensive experience 

 with foul brood enables him to detect it 

 readily, and to form an opinion as to its 

 malignity. He undoubtedly has a method 

 of curing the disease, which he advo- 

 cates with such persistency and zeal, 

 that bee-keepers whose apiaries are suf- 

 fering from foul brood, often catch his 

 enthusiasm, and effect cures, where, 

 under other circumstances, they would 

 not have sufficient confidence to make 

 the necessary effort. As Foul Brood 

 Inspector, his suavity and tact enable 

 him to enforce the law with less friction 

 than would, perhaps, occur with many 

 others. For these reasons I have been 

 one of Mr. McEvoy's supporters for the 

 position of Inspector, ever since the 

 Foul Brood Act went into operation, 

 and I shall probably continue to support 

 him, as long as he is willing to accept 

 the appointment, and work under the 

 requirements of the Act. 



My present object is to show that Prof. 

 Shaw makes erroneous claims as to what 

 ho afflrms to bo discoveries, made by 

 Mr. McP^voy, for the first time in the 

 history of bee-keeping. I refer to the 

 alleged discovery of tho cause, and the 

 cure of foul brood. By contending that 



"this is the most valuable discovery of 

 modern times in regard to the apiary," 

 that it is one for which the discoverer 

 " is deserving of the gratitude of his 

 countrymen," and that "it will bring 

 him fame wherever the Anglo-Saxon 

 tongue is spoken," Prof. Shaw assumes 

 responsibility for the genuineness, and 

 priority, of the alleged discovery. If 

 these claims had been made by an ob- 

 scure writer, they might be allowed to 

 pass unheeded, but, if permitted to go 

 unrepudiated, when made by a gentle- 

 man occupying the position of Professor 

 of Agriculture in the Ontario Agricul- 

 tural College, Canadian bee-keepers 

 would be laughed at the world over. 



Prof. Shaw states that before 1875, 

 " the ablest scientists in the bee-keeping 

 world had been laboring earnestly to get 

 at the root of the great bee-scourge, but 

 in vain." Evidently the Professor has 

 not kept himself posted in regard to 

 modern bee-keeping. A reference to 

 Cook's " Manual of the Apiary," page 

 404, 13th edition, would have shown 

 him that prior to 1875, Prof. Cohn, of 

 Bresleau, Germany, had " got at the 

 root of tho great bee-scourge," and that 

 he found it to be a specific germ, which 

 has since been named " bacillus alvei." 

 This germ is now recognized as the true 

 cause of foul brood, by all leading bac- 

 teriologists. 



The alleged cause of foul brood, for 

 the correctness of which Prof. Shaw 

 takes the responsibility, is described 

 and explained by Mr. McEvoy as fol- 

 lows : " Foul brood is a disease that Is 

 caused by the rotting of uncared-for 

 brood. The brood that is fed in the 

 cells, where brood lately rotted down, 

 will have to consume their food with the 

 remains of decayed brood, and this Is 

 the 7-eal and only cause of foul brood." 

 Let us examine the validity of this 

 theory. 



It is well known that the rotting, or 

 the putrefying of animal matter, is 

 caused by the action of septic microbes, 

 of which bacterium termo is the most 

 common. It is also well known that 

 these septic microbes cannot exist in 

 living blood and tissues. If Prof. Shaw's 

 contentions were true, then it follows 

 that bacterium termo, which causes 

 putrefaction, not only continues to live, 

 when absorbed by the larvic with their 

 food, but becomes transformed into the 

 pathogenic microbe, bacillus alvei, which 

 causes foul brood. But it is known to 

 bacteriologists that " a septic microbe 

 has not been proved to be transformed 

 into a truly pathogenic microbe." 



Mr. J. J. Mackenzie, Bacteriologist of 



