176 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Foul Brood — Something; more 

 About Its Cause and Cure. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY CHAS. F. MUTH. 



I admire the zeal of Mr. McEvoy in 

 his effort to root out the dread disease, 

 foul brood. His experience, however, is 

 different from my own, and I will state 

 some of my experience. 



A good many bee-keepers remember 

 our National meeting at Ontario, when 

 Mr. Jones recommended the starving 

 process for the cure of foul brood, and 

 I doubted his ability. I offered a wager 

 of $50, the money to go to the Lang- 

 stroth fund, if Mr. Jones would cure, of 

 foul brood, a colony I should send him. 

 Prof. Cook was favoring Mr. Jones on 

 the subject, and I proposed to send a 

 colony to him for treatment on the 

 Jones plan, which he refused, for fear 

 that foul brood might be introduced 

 thereby into Michigan. 



Since I read Mr. McEvoy's articles I 

 am convinced more than ever that 

 neither he nor Mr. Jones were dealing 

 with the same disease that I am ac- 

 quainted with. I have transferred from 

 box-hives and gums to frame hives, very 

 many colonies — very likely several thou- 

 sand — and I remember a case where we 

 had thrown in a heap, or a box, the 

 waste comb and drone-comb containing 

 larvEC of all ages. When I visited the 

 party about a week afterwards, I was 

 surprised at the stench emanating from 

 the putrid drone-larvic. A dearth was 

 prevailing, and thousands of bees were 

 covering the putrid mass. No foul brood 

 was transmitted. I remember other 

 similar cases with no bad results. 



For many years, during the months of 

 March and April, I bought, from bee- 

 keepers in Mississippi and Arkansas, 

 200 or more colonies of bees, and had 

 them shipped to me by steamer, 25 or 

 30 colonies at a time, and the shipments 

 about a week apart, so that I could give 



them a prompt overhauling and clean- 

 ing upon their arrival. My friends were 

 to send me colonies strong in brood — I 

 cared nothing for their old bees, and 

 advised them to exchange places with 

 their weakest colonies, so as to let the 

 old bees fly over to them. Several times 

 they did not follow my advice, and ship- 

 ments arrived with two-thirds of the 

 bees and all the brood in capped and 

 uncapped cells smothered to death. 

 After the hives were cleaned out, the 

 greatest part of the cleaning of the 

 combs was left to the bees. The stench 

 emanating from some of the hives be- 

 came so strong that it could be smelled 

 distinctly when walking about the 

 apiary. 



As the cleaning of the cells progressed, 

 the stench ceased, and the combs be- 

 came refilled with healthy brood in due 

 time. However, the saying that there 

 is no rule without an exception, proved 

 true here. In a number of hives healthy 

 brood became diseased, and when un- 

 capping some of the suspicious-looking 

 brood-combs, they would emit a blackish 

 fluid with a strong stench. I kept ex- 

 changing the worst of these combs for 

 clean ones, hoping that a cure might be 

 effected thereby. In some cases I re- 

 moved all combs containing capped 

 brood, leaving them the combs with 

 eggs and healthy-looking larvte. But— 

 there was no end to my foul brood. 



This was in the good old times before 

 foundation had made its appearance, 

 and when every good bee-keeper had a 

 good supply of empty combs on hand. I 

 then removed every comb containing 

 brood, and replaced them with clean, 

 empty combs, when my success was 

 complete, and no more of this (mild type 

 of) foul brood. I had disinfected noth- 

 ing. The removal of all combs contain- 

 ing brood had been my sole remedy. The 

 disease had been caused by the rotting 

 of uncared-for brood, and is very likely 

 the same disease that Messrs. Jones and 

 McEvoy are acquainted with. 



The genuine, or virulent, foul brood, 

 the acquaintance of which I made after- 

 wards, is certainly not caused by the 

 rotting of uncared-for brood, as Mr. 

 McEvoy believes, although his idea is 

 supported by several good bee-keepers 

 in Germany. They are wrong, to the 

 best of my judgment. 



The genuine foul brood spreads by 

 spores only, and is very likely an im- 

 ported disease. It is of an entirely dif- 

 ferent, insidious character, and more 

 stubborn to fight than the above-de- 

 scribed mild type. 



My apiary had been free from foul 



