80 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



^^^^^^' 



Does Foul Brood Ever Originate 

 from Dead Brood ? 



Written for the American Be-e Journal 

 BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



I was much astonished at the views 

 expressed by Mr. McEvoy, on page 594 

 of the Bee Jouknal. I have watched 

 with interest to see if any one would try 

 to combat his vi&ws. No one seems to 

 have done so. Why is it ? Are those 

 the accepted views, or don't others think 

 they are worth answering ? It seems to 

 me that the views of the Foul Brood In- 

 spector of Ontario are worth some at- 

 tention. 



His main point, and the one in which 

 he differs from other authorities, is that 

 he believes that foul brood originates 

 from chilled or dead brood. The brood 

 may have been drowned, or it may have 

 starved, but if it is dead, and the bees 

 are compelled to handle the dead brood, 

 and the larva? are fed, or partly fed, 

 from this dead brood, foul brood will be 

 the result. If I understand the matter, 

 this is Mr. McEvoy's position. 



He reports experience where the con- 

 clusion would naturally be that foul 

 brood had originated in the consumption 

 or handling of dead brood. Now, if it is 

 a fact that foul brood is likely to origi- 

 nate from dead brood, the fact ought to 

 be established beyond doubt, and be 

 heralded near and far, that bee-keepers 

 may be on their guard against allowing 

 brood to become dead, or, if it is dead, 

 to prevent the other bees from having 

 access to it. But, in spite of Mr. Mc- 

 Evoy's testimony, I cannot help having 

 my doubts In regard to the soundness of 

 the theory. 



There is probably scarcely an apiary 

 in the country that, at some time, has 

 not had dead brood in the hives ; that is, 

 in some of them. It is only accasionally 

 an apiary that contains foul brood. If 

 foul brood results from chilled or 

 starved brood, it seems to me that it 

 would be more prevalent. I have kept 



bees 15 years, and it has often happened 

 that there has been dead brood in my 

 apiary, but foul brood has never re- 

 sulted. I remember one spring in par- 

 ticular, when a snow-storm came the 

 2()th of May. There had been three 

 weeks of fine weather, and the brood- 

 nests had been enlarged. This cold 

 lasted three or four days — snow and 

 cherry blossoms hanging on the same 

 branches. Many of the colonies perished 

 outright. Of course they left brood. 

 There was scarcely a colony in which 

 there was not some dead brood. It de- 

 cayed and smelled badly, but the bees 

 cleaned it out, and no foul brood ap- 

 peared. 



It often happens in making up nuclei 

 in queen-rearing, that so many bees go 

 back that brood is neglected and dies in 

 the nuclei. I have seen this many times, 

 but no foul brood followed. When I 

 first commenced using the honey-extrac- 

 tor I sometimes extracted honey from 

 combs that contained unsealed brood. If 

 there was only a little patch of brood in 

 a comb, I have sometimes left it out of 

 the hive with the combs that were to be 

 used at the next extracting. This brood 

 would die, and in a few days would be 

 put back into the hives. No foul brood 

 resulted. I once brought home a colony 

 of bees in June. I carried it on the seat 

 of the buggy by my side. The horse be- 

 came frightened in going over a rough 

 place, and jumped. The hive was jerked 

 over backwards into the bottom of the 

 buggy, and the combs broken loose. The 

 dripping honey drowned most of the 

 bees, and daubed the cappings over the 

 sealed brood, so that it smothered the 

 brood. I left this colony a few days, 

 hoping that the bees would clean up 

 things and make a success of it, but 

 there were too few bees. The brood 

 died, or most of it did. I then fitted the 

 combs into other frames and gave them 

 to other colonies. No foul brood re- 

 sulted. I presume that there is scarcely 

 a bee-keeper who cannot recall in- 

 stances similar to those I have given. 



Don't understand me as doubting the 

 correctness of the data given by Mr. 

 McEvoy ; but to decide that foul brood 

 results from dead brood because the 

 latter is immediately followed by the 

 former, is not scientific. I know that 

 Mr. McEvoy scoffs at science, but he 

 ought not. How foul brood is introduced 

 into an apiary is often a puzzle. Honey 

 from foul-broody apiaries goes into the 

 markets. Consumers of this honey 

 might throw away the wood of the section 

 with a little honey adhering. Enter- 

 prising bees find this, and carry home 



