i'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



549 



(^ovxtspoittiznct. 



ThiB mark © indicates that tlie apiariBt ie 

 located near tne center of the state named ; 

 5 north of the center; 9 south; O* east; 

 •O west; and thi8(< northeast; "o northwest: 

 o» southeast; and 9 southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



OfiBcial Report toTJ. S. Entomologist. 



TremWing Bees— Fonl Brood. 



N. W. M'LAIN. 



THE •' QUAKING DISEASE." 



When bees are unable to obtain 

 from ordinary sources a supply of 

 saline and alkaline aliment, indis- 

 pensable to their health and vigor and 

 to the normal performance of their 

 functions, they seek a supply from 

 any available source. At such times 

 they throng upon the milk-weed and 

 mullein, which exude a salty sap. At 

 such times large numbers of dead bees 

 may be found at the foot of the 

 mullein stalks, and thousands perish 

 in the fields, and thousands more 

 which reach their hives, being low in 

 vitality and unable to free themselves 

 from the meshes of the silken fiber in 

 which legs and wings are bound, die 

 in the hive or crawl forth to perish. 

 The action of these starved and 

 weakened bees when attempting to 

 rise and fly or to rid themselves from 

 the mesh of silky web, causes a 

 peculiar nervous motion, and this is 

 one manifestation of that which is 

 called the " quaking disease," or the 

 " nameless disease." If examined 

 with a microscope, many are found 

 entangled with the filaments from the 

 plants, and their stomachs are en- 

 tirely empty. 



The honey from hives containing 

 colonies so affected has a peculiar and 

 very disagreeable taste and odor, 

 somewhat like that of fermented honey 

 indicating that some constituent 

 essential in conserving it was lacking, 

 and the cell-caps are dark, smooth, 

 and greasy in appearance, and an 

 ofiensive odor is emitted from the 

 hive. An analysis of honey taken 

 from such colonies, made by the 

 Chemist of the Department, fails to 

 reveal what element is lacking. 



I have treated a number of apiaries 

 so affected, using an application of 

 strong brine, to which was added soda 

 sufiicient to make the alkaline taste 

 faintly discernible. The hive should 

 be opened, and each frame should be 

 thoroughly dampened with spray 

 from an atomizer, or the warm brine 

 may be applied by using a sprinkler 

 ■with very small holes in the rose, care 

 being taken to use only enough to 

 tboroughlv dampen the bees and 

 combs. The alighting- boards also 

 should be thoroughly wet. The 

 treatment should be applied morning 

 and evening until the disorder disap- 



Sears, which is usually in three or four 

 ays ; a decided improvement being 

 usually noticeable in twenty-four 

 hours.* The honey should be extracted 



and diluted by adding the brine, and, 

 after being nearly heated to the 

 boiling-point for ten minutes, may be 

 safely fed to bees. The apiaries were 

 last winter supplied with this food 

 alone. Both wintered well. Vessels 

 containing brine should always be 

 kept in or near the apiary. Pieces of 

 burnt bone or rotten wood should be 

 kept in the vessels of brine, and these 

 vessels should be protected from the 

 rain. 



Another form of the so-called 

 "quaking disease" appears to result 

 frem hereditary causes ; for, if the 

 queen be removed from the colony in 

 which the disorder prevails, and a 

 young, vigorous queen be substituted, 

 in due time the disorder disappears. 

 In very rare instances bees also 

 gather poisonous nectar from plants, 

 such as fox-glove or digitalis, the eat- 

 ing of which, it is reported, results in 

 paralysis, another manifestation of 

 the so-called " nameless disease." 



THE FOUL BROOD DISEASE. 



One of the most malignant diseases 

 incident to bees is called the " foul 

 brood" disease. What pleuro-pneu- 

 monia and hog-cholera are to the 

 dairyman and swine-breeder, foul 

 brood is to the apiarist. This disease 

 is so stealthy and so virulent and so 

 widely distributed, no locality in the 

 United States being assured of 

 immunity, that much apprehension is 

 felt, and some of the States have 

 enacted laws having for their object 

 its control and extirpation. In many 

 States the ravages of this scourge 

 have resulted in ruinous losses to bee- 

 keepers, and many on this account 

 have been deterred from engaging in 

 this profitable branch of husbandry. 



During the past year I have given 

 much attention to the study of this 

 disease and the experiments for its 

 prevention and cure. In making my 

 investigations and experiments con- 

 cerning the origin and nature of this 

 disease and the means of its preven- 

 tion and cure, I have collected a great 

 amount of information from my own 

 experience, and from the experience 

 of many others. Concerning the 

 origin of this disease and its means of 

 communication, the evidence obtained 

 is somewhat conflicting. 



That the disease is actually con- 

 tagious appears certain. That it is 

 always communicated through the 

 commonly accredited agencies is un. 

 certain. That the disease is persistent 

 and usually reproduces itself when- 

 ever the germs find the proper condi- 

 tions for development is verified by 

 experience. That the germs of this 

 disease may be carried on the clothing 

 of the apiarist and in and upon the 

 bodies of bees from one apiary to 

 another, and that they be borne by 

 the wind from one hive to another in 

 the same apiary, and that the disease- 

 germs may be liberated from the de- 

 composing bodies of other insects and 

 scattered over other objects with 

 which the bees come in contact, seem 

 probable. 



That the disease is destructive to 

 bees as well as brood ; that live pollen 

 is the medium through which the con- 

 tagion is most commonly and most 



rapidly spread ; and that the disease 

 yields readily to treatment which is 

 simple, cheap, and easily applied, 

 appear to be true, in support of which 

 I submit the following detailed ac- 

 count of my experiments and obser- 

 vations : 



On June 1, an apiarist having over 

 200 colonies in his apiary reported to 

 me that he had discovered two cases 

 of malignant foul-brood, and that un- 

 mistakable evidences of its presence 

 were apparent in 25 other colonies. 

 As 1 knew this man was without ex- 

 perience with this disease, I could 

 not bope that he was mistaken. I 

 knew that he had had unenviable 

 opportunities, having been a bee- 

 keeper for many years where this 

 disease had been prevalent, and two 

 years ago he himself had consigned 

 148 colonies to the flames as incurable. 

 I at once gave him the following 

 formula for a remedy : 



To 3 pints of soft water add 1 pint 

 of dairy salt. Use an earthen vessel. 

 Raise the temperature to 90" F. 

 Stir till the salt is thoroughly dis- 

 solved. Add 1 pint of soft water 

 boiling hot, in which has been dis- 

 solved 4 table-spoonfuls bicarbonate 

 of soda. Stir thoroughly while adding 

 to the mixture suSicient honey or 

 syrup to make it quite sweet, but not 

 enough to perceptibly thicken. To }4 

 of an ounce of pure salicylic acid (the 

 crystal) add alcohol sufficient to 

 thoroughly cut it (about 1 ounce), and 

 add this to the mixture while still 

 warm, and when thoroughly stirred 

 leave standing for 2 or 3 hours, when 

 it becomes settled and clear. 



rreaJrnent.— Shake the bees from the 

 combs and extract the honey as clear- 

 ly as possible. Then thoroughly 

 atomize the combs, blowing a spray 

 of the mixture over and into the cells, 

 using a large atomizer throwing a 

 copious spray i then return the combs 

 to the bees. Combs having consider- 

 able quantities of pollen should be 

 melted into wax and the refuse 

 burned. If there is no honey to be 

 obtained in the fields, feed syrup or 

 the honey which has just been ex- 

 tracted. If syrup is used, add 1 ounce 

 of the remedy to each quart of the 

 syrup fed. If the honey is used, add 

 2% ounces of the remedy to each 

 quart of honey fed. The honey and 

 syrup should be fed warm and the 

 remedy thoroughly stirred in, and no 

 more should be furnished than is con- 

 sumed. 



Give all the colonies in the apiary 

 one copious application for the rem- 

 edy, simply setting the frames apart 

 so that they may be freely exposed to 

 the spray. This treatment frequently 

 reveals the presence of disease where 

 it was not before possible to detect it. 

 The quantity prescribed, applied by 

 means of a large atomizer, is sufiicient 

 to treat 150 colonies. Continue the 

 treatment by thoroughly and copious- 

 ly spraying tbe diseased colonies at 

 intervals of three days, simply setting 

 the frames apart so as to direct the 

 spray entirely over the combs and 

 bees. In order to keep the bees from 

 bringing in fresh pollen, burn old dry 

 bones to an ash and pulverize in a 

 mortar and sift through a fine wire- 



