Aug. 24, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



533 



annual convention of the Wisconsin State Bee-Keepers" 

 "Association held in Madison several years ago. He un- 

 doubtedly is a bee-keeper who thoroly understands the busi- 

 ness, and a splendid talker at a convention. 



Dr. Lortet's Paper on Foul Brood. 



WE have much pleasure in giving our readers a trans- 

 lation from the Revue Internationale of a paper by 

 Dr. Lortet, who has for some time been making 

 experiments and observations upon this disease. There are 

 manv points quite new, and which throw considerable light 

 upon' the subject, and the remedy proposed is simple, and. 

 from reports, encouragingly effectual. We wish our read- 

 ers to particularlv note that the naphthol is that known as 

 naphthol beta, aiid not the ordinary naphthaline. As it is 

 perfectlv harmless, there is no danger in its application ; 



•• Thanks to the publicity you were good enough to ac- 

 cord me in the columns of La Revue, I have received from 

 a number of your readers pieces of foul brood comb, or bees 

 exhibiting more or less advanced stages of the disease. I 

 have, therefore, during the last year been abundantly sup- 

 plied with material for ray researches, and have been en- 

 abled to clear up a good many obscure points in connection 

 with their virulent "affection.'and to formulate a course of 

 treatment based on careful laboratory experiments. 



"As was demonstrated in the contributions by Mr. 

 Cheshire (Revue, August, 1884) and Dr. Klamann (Revue. 

 January. 1889), foul brood is in reality produced by rod- 

 shaped bacteria which develop rapidly in the brood-cells 

 and soon die. and produce in putrefying an odor which is 

 altogether unmistakable. 



" Before beginning my observation of foul-brood larva, 

 either during the disease or after death, and of adult insects 

 already infected, I turned my attention to perfectly healthy 

 bees, as well as various other species of hymenoptene, such 

 as wasps, humble-bees, carpenter-bees, etc. After a patient 

 and minute course of dissection I have arrived at the fol- 

 lowing results, which are based on an intimate acquaint- 

 ance with the X'tiology of the disease : 



"I. — I find that various hymenoptera,-. besides adult 

 bees, whether healthy or diseased, ini'ariably present, thru 

 the whole of the lower part of the digestive tube, a very 

 large number of bacilliform bacteria, which are probably 

 called upon to perform important, tho at present unknown, 

 functions in connection with the chemical changes whicli 

 take place in the food introduced into the digestive canal. 



" In the bee, to mention only the species which imme- 

 diately interest us. whether healthy or disea.sed, as well as 

 in the' digestive canal of the brood, whether in health, in 

 disease, or after death, I have invariably discovered two 

 normal bacilli, the presence of wliich has, without doubt, 

 led some people astray. 



■• The more numerous of these bacteria are of a large 

 rod-like shape, broad, thick, >^hort, and bear a striking re- 

 semblance to certain bacteria which are frequently met 

 with in soft water. They are never arranged in chains, but 

 propagate themselves by means of binary fission ; in the 

 earl V stages they are often united in couples. When fully 

 developt the.v become slightly rounded at the extremities, 

 which swell perceptibly. These bacteria retain very well 

 the stain communicated by Fuchsin, and after staining the 

 club-shaped ends show a much darker tint than the central 

 space of the body. In this state the bacteria present the 

 same appearance as may be observed in the bacteria of 

 malignant oedema. 



"This species is most easily cultivated, especially in 

 liquid media, less easily in nutrient Agar-Agar g-lycerine 

 g-elatine. When injected into the cellular tissue of guinea- 

 pigs it fails to produce any harmful effect. 



"II. — Another normal bacterium is also inably found 

 in the digestive canal of the bee. It is smaller, thinner, 

 and short, its length being only equal to twice its breadth ; 

 it is not rounded at the extremities, which are shaped 

 almost at right angles. These bacilli do not form chains, 

 but frequently remain united in pairs tor a long time. In 

 this state they nearly resemble diplococci. tho perceptibly 

 more elongated than these latter. In cultivation they often 

 group themselves into :oo!;ia~a, and in this case arrange 

 them.selves very regularly. These microbes multiply with- 

 out difficulty in both solid and liquid media, and take a 

 strong stain from Fuchsin, or Methyl, or Gentian violets. 

 " III. — Lastly, in the digestive canal of dead or diseased 



brood, as well as of adult bees already infected with the 

 disease, but in the digestive canal alone, a third kind of 

 bacterium is found, which is without doubt one of the forms 

 that have been examined by Mr. Cheshire. It is thin, and 

 frequently extends in filaments. It thrives well in sterilized 

 veal-broth, and it is therefore comparatively easy to obtain 

 a supply of perfectly pure specimens for purposes of inocu- 

 lation. In this nutritive element filaments appear in a few 

 days, and after staining the fine granular elements of the 

 formation become apparent owing to the differences in col- 

 oration. 



" In the digestive canal of the adult the bacteria appear 

 to maintain their rod-like shape for a considerable period — 

 perhaps, indeed, always ; whereas in the digestive canal of 

 the larva;, probably owing to the influence of albumenoids. 

 which pass by osmosis thru the walls of this tube, the bac- 

 teria, as in tlie case of cultivations effected in unsalted veal- 

 broth, are rapidlv transformed into very fine, virulent 

 granulations, which invade all the tissues, and soon bring 

 about the disorganization and rapid putrefaction ot the 

 larva;. 



" The adult bee. on the other hand, even when the foul- 

 brood bacteria have taken possession of its digestive canal, 

 seems to be able to live for a certain time. It is, however, 

 none the less apparent, once the infection has taken firm 

 hold, that the animal is diseased. The digestive canal, and 

 especiallv the surrounding glands, end by being invaded by 

 an enormous number of the rod-shaped organisms; the in- 

 sect loses its vivacity, grows languid, and finally perishes 

 after a more or less protracted interval. 



" Virulent granulations cultivated in salt veal-broth, or 

 on plates of glvcerated Agar- Agar, produce bacillary bac- 

 teria, which, when given in food to the larva;, undergo m 

 their turn segmentation into virulent granulations, whereas 

 in the case of the adult bees, they still probably retain the 

 bacillar form for a long time, tho they do not fail in the end 

 to cause its death. 



"The culture and transformations of the foul-brood 

 bacterium cannot take place in the honey, so much is cer- 

 tain. Still, I mav mention that in diseasedhives the honey 

 and was are always more or less infected on the surface by 

 bacilli, virulent granulations, excrements, etc. 



"I have on several occasions succeeded in reproducing 

 the whole series of phenomena mentioned above experimen- 

 tally, and have, without difficulty, infected insects which 

 had' been perfectlv healthy and vigorous up to the moment 

 of the experiment". My mind is, therefore, quite free from 

 doubt in the matter. It is the adult bee which is first in- 

 fected in its digestive canal by a foul-brood bacterium ob- 

 tained from some unknown source. In feeding the larva it 

 infects in its turn the digestive tube of this latter, and here, 

 owing to the action of the albumenoids, the bacillar bac- 

 teria are transformed into virulent granulations, which in- 

 vade the tissues and finally bring about the death of ^he 

 insect. 



" Contaminated honev may be a cause of the propaga- 

 tion of foul brood in the sense that, being polluted by foul- 

 brood bacteria or by virulent granulations, the healthy 

 adult bee which allows this substance to enter its digestive 

 canal is rapidlv attackt bv the disease, and will even itself 

 .soon communi'cate the in'fectioii to the brood. Experiment 

 in such cases gives the most convincing results. Still, in the 

 case of foul 'brood, as in the case of virulent affections 

 which attack vertebrate animals, certain individuals seeir 

 to enjoy exceptional immunity, and resist the infection. Js 

 this due to previous inoculations, or to some individual pre- 

 disposition ? This is a point which I am not at present 

 prepared to decide. 



" I had only once an opportunity of examining the 

 queen of a hive' infected with foul brood, the property of 

 M. Matthev, of Bassins. The eggs of this insect were 

 healthv, an'd contained neither bacilli nor virulent granu- 

 lations'. The queen herself was perfectly healthy, a point 

 which I was able to place beyond a doubt by means of a 

 careful post-mortem. I hesitate to draw any conclusion 

 from this isolated instance, tho I confess that, judging 

 from the course the di-sease takes, I do not believe that, as 

 a rule, the malady can be propagated by the rearing of 

 larva; produced from infected eggs. 



"In mv opinion, therefore, it is always the digestive 

 canal of the nurse-bee which is infected, and it is alwaj-s 

 by the act of feeding that the adult bee infects the diges- 

 tive canal of the larva>, the death of which latter is the 

 speedv result of such inoculation. 



•'Therefore, a knowledge of the above facts leads me 

 to t'le following conclusions : 



" 1. Tlie bacteria of the third form described, as already 



