1!)04 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



25 



avail will the destmction of afPected 

 colonies be, wben the cause of the 

 dispnse is sprend ovov tho entire uni- 

 verse, in the Rronnd, in the air, on the 

 plants and fruits? 



Mehrin.e- writes in his book, that foul 

 brood of the worst form can be pro- 

 duced by feeding a colony with the 

 .iuife of dried fruit, wliich bad been 

 cooked and sweetened with sugar. 

 This shows that the bacteria must be 

 on fruits. 



PhTl. Reidenbach says: "The foul 

 brood iTPc^pr'n have not siT^h (lestrnc- 

 tive peculiarities that a larvae, com- 

 ing in contact with it must get sick 

 and die." Then he says, that he made 

 an one per cent, solution of foul In'-^od 

 combs in water; this he added to the 

 food for the larvae of difFerent ages, 

 in the cells by means of a eamel's 

 hair brush. In spite of this, all larvae 

 developed into bees in due time, only 

 when he introduced the pure foul brood 

 to the food in the cells, the larvae died, 

 but the colony did not become affected 

 with foul brood on that account, for 

 the dead larvae were removed by the 

 bees and the colony had been primarily 

 a sti'ong one. 



Some bee-keepers claim, that they 

 gave frames affected Avith foul brood 

 to strong, healthy colonies in order to 

 reclean them, without any sign of sick- 

 ness or disease being perceptible later 

 on. Formerly it AA'as customary to 

 fiirht against the foul brood by means 

 of disinfectants, however, without any 

 satisfactory results being obtained; 

 finally, the bacteriologists came to the 

 conclusion, that the bacillus were 

 merely killed but not the spores, for 

 whose extermination the disinfectants 

 would have to be so highly concen- 

 trated that the bees were unable to 

 endure it. If weaker substances, for 

 instance a solution of formaldehyde 

 were used the malady was checked for 

 the time being, but reapneared when 

 the treatment was discontinued. These 

 failui-es created a feeling of disponr- 

 agement, and it was considered as 

 foolish to tr.v to cure the malady on 

 these principles. But it is not quite 

 so bad as it seems to be, for the hard 

 work, the bee-keeper undertakes by 

 trying to disinfect his bees, the bees 

 themselves willingly relieve him of, 

 because Nature has fitted them out to 

 best perform this work themselves. 

 The bees are best adapted to free 



themselves most rapidly of foul broody 

 nymphs and larvae; for this purpose 

 they produce special substances, for 

 preventing the development of the bac- 

 cillus and spores and for keeping them 

 in a latent condition. 



We are encountering a new miracle 

 of the apiary. The keeping of the 

 bacillus from further doing harm. In 

 other words, the disinfection of their 

 homes, is executed by the bees them- 

 selves by application of substances, 

 which the human intellect first discov- 

 ered after many years of research and 

 which at present are accepted as the 

 most effective disinfectants for our 

 homes. First, the secretion of the 

 salivary glands and the foodchyle of 

 the bees contain abundant vinous acid, 

 which is analogous with the acid in 

 grapes and wine. 



Second. A long time after the newly 

 hatched bee has left the cell the brood 

 cells still produce gasious formic acid. 

 Third. The larvae contain plenty of 

 concentrated formic acid, which as a 

 free acid from the vinous acid of the 

 food chyle oxidation. Fourth. The 

 etherial oils, which the bees gather 

 with the nectar and pollen, serve as 

 disinfectants and act as a stimulant 

 or spjpe for their food. 



Phil. Reidenbach claims, that on 

 chemical analysis of thymolatic Ajo- 

 Avan oil he found it to be a first -class 

 stimulant and antiseptic, nearly as 

 effective as sublimate. This. Dr. Lam- 

 botte endorses emphatically, saying, 

 that he arrived at the same results by 

 microscopic investigations. That the 

 larvae contain substances of an anti- 

 septic nature which prevent the de- 

 velopment of bacillus, for which rea- 

 son bacteria may appear in healthy 

 larvae. The transsubstantiation in the 

 bees and larvae, the formation of 

 formic acid from vinous acid of the 

 food-chyle by means of oxydation is 

 of great value for keeping foul brood 

 out of the colon.v. If the bees are to 

 be energetic and ambitious, so that 

 they clean up their brood frames and 

 carry out all their dead larvae and 

 nymphs; if they are to produce anti- 

 septic substances in abundance, and if 

 they shall be healthy and resistible 

 against foul brood the following con- 

 ditions must be complied with under 

 all circumstances: 



1st. A good ventilation of the hives. 



2nd. Good food, honey and pollen. 



