THlt JEMERICMPi mmW JO^JRlfMlr. 



473 



" That the disease germs may be 

 carried upon the clothing and hands 

 appears probable, from the fact that in 

 one neighborhood this disease ap- 

 peared in only two apiaries, the own- 

 ers of which had spent some time 

 working among diseased colonies at 

 some distance from home, while other 

 apiarists in that locality who had kept 

 away from the contagion had no 

 trouble from foul brood." 



It has been the common belief that 

 honey is the medium through which 

 the disease is most frequently intro- 

 duced from both near at hand and re- 

 mote sources of infection. That undue 

 importance has been attached to honey 

 as the common source of Infection ap- 

 pears certain, for I have proved by 

 repeated trials that if frames contain- 

 ing combs of capped honey, and hav- 

 ing no cells containing pollen, be re- 

 moved from infected hives and thoi*- 

 oughlj' sprajed or immersed, using an 

 acid and alkaline solution of suitable 

 strength to destroy the germs exposed 

 to its action, the honey in such combs 

 did not communicate disease when 

 placed in healthy colonies and con- 

 sumed by the bees as food for both 

 summer and winter uses. I have 

 found it altogether practicable to feed 

 honey which had been extracted from 

 the infested combs without boiling, 

 always adding, however, as a pvecau- 

 tion, a disinfectant suitable to desti-oy 

 any infection possibly lurking in such 

 food. * 



In speaking of honey as a means of 

 carrying this contagion, Mr. Cheshire 

 says : "I have searched most care- 

 fully in honey in contiguity with cells 

 holding dead larvK ; have examined 

 samples from stocks dying out with 

 rottenness ; inspected extracted honey 

 from terriblj' diseased colonies, and 

 yet in no instance have I found an 

 active bacillus, and nei'er have been 

 able to be sure of discovering one in 

 the spore condition, although it must 

 be admitted that the problem has its 

 microscopic difficulties, because the 

 stains used to make the bacilli ap- 

 parent attach themselves very strongl}' 

 to all pollen grains and parts thereof, 

 and somewhat interfere with examina- 

 tion. I have now discovered that it is 

 impossible for bacilli to multiply in 

 honey, because they cannot grow in 

 any fluid having an acid reaction." 



As to pollen being the medium by 

 which this contagion is common]}- in- 

 troduced into the hive, not wishing to 

 appear as speaking ex cathedra, 1 ven- 

 ture to say that further experiments in 

 the line indicated in my report of last 

 year, leave little room to doubt the 

 accuracy of the opinion then formed, 

 namely, that pollen is the medium by 

 which this contagion is most commonly 

 introduced, and most rapidly sjjread 



and persistentlj- perpetuated. Con- 

 tinued observation showed that in 

 those colonies where the largest quan- 

 tity of pollen was being gathered, the 

 disease quickly assumed the malignant 

 form, even when the quantity of brood 

 was not greater than that being reared 

 in other colonies where but little pol- 

 len was being gathered, and in which 

 the disease was far less virulent ; and 

 in this latter kind, where little pollen 

 was being gathered, the contagion 

 yielded most readily to treatment. But 

 what seemed more to the point was, 

 that from those colonies from which 

 the comlis containing pollen were re- 

 moved, and a suitable substitute fur- 

 nished in the hive, thus avoiding the 

 necessity for bringing supplies from 

 the fields, the disorder was cured, and 

 the colony speedily regained their 

 normal condition. 



The fact that queen larvae seldom 

 die from this contagion, taken in con- 

 nection with what we know to be true 

 concerning the character of their food, 

 is significant, namelj', that it is wholly 

 composed of digested matei'ial, pollen 

 grains being rarely found therein, and 

 then as if present by accident and not 

 by design, seems to justify the con- 

 clusion that the absence of pollen ac- 

 counts for the absence of bacilli ; 

 while on the contrary the food of 

 worker larvas, secreted in excessive 

 quantit}' and deposited in haste, oc- 

 casional grains of pollen being drop- 

 ped, and no reason for their removal 

 existing, the bacilli finding congenial 

 cultures, multiply apace ; and if per- 

 chance the larva; escape infection, as 

 is commonly the case until near the 

 time of weaning, tlien live pollen be- 

 ing supplied, speedy and complete ruin 

 results. Moreover, few if any bacilli 

 are to be found in the chyle stomach 

 of an adult queen at the head of a 

 stricken colony, subsisted, as she must 

 be, almost entirely upon secreted 

 food produced by tlie worker bees ; 

 while in the chyle stomach of the 

 worker, which partakes freely of pol- 

 len, they are present in quantity, and 

 in fact line the whole intestinal tract. 



The evidence presented in support 

 of this pollen theory of the means of 

 introducing and spreading this con- 

 tagion is circumstantial, still it is com- 

 ponent ; and if it fails to reveal the 

 true source of infection, the fact that 

 the consumption of such live pollen as 

 is obtained from tlio fields during the 

 prevalence of this disease, or such old 

 pollen as is storeil in cells in which it 

 may have molded or rotted, and be- 

 come a possible source of infection, 

 aggi'avates the disease and makes it 

 more persistent, and the fact that if 

 the old pollen ht: removed from the 

 hive, and artificial pollen be sub- 

 stituted, the malignant and pei-sistent 



characteristics disappear, and th.at the 

 contagion then readily yields to suit- 

 able treatment, is settled beyond ques- 

 tion. 



While it is true that queen-bees have 

 less to fear from infection in the larval 

 stage, it is also true that ([ucens reared 

 in infested colonies are commonly 

 worthless. Of 25 queens so reared in 

 one apiary, and successfully estab- 

 lished at the head of as many colonies, 

 not one survived the period of hiber- 

 nation. In case the contagion does 

 not assume the acute form in the 

 larvje it may localize and become 

 chronic, and so, the bacillus of dis- 

 ease being as unnatural as disease it- 

 self, both worker and queen may live 

 on for weeks and months, and the 

 queen, with both life and death within 

 her, transmitting the possibilities of 

 both. Mr. Cheshire has counted as 

 many as nine bacilli in a single egg, a 

 discovery full of significance when 

 striving to account for the spread of 

 the disease. It is but natural that this 

 contagion, being a disease of the 

 blood, should find congenial and lux- 

 uriant feetling-ground among the most 

 delicate and highly organized glands 

 and tubes of the ovaries. 



We reason thus : The bee-pap fur- 

 nished to the queen larva, the proto- 

 plastic egg-food, copiously furnished 

 to the queen during the breeding sea- 

 son, is continuous, and passes from 

 cell to cell. The germ cell of bacillus 

 contributed to the organism of the 

 queen in larval or in egg-food, borne 

 along through the digestive and circu- 

 latory system, passes within the 

 ovarian tubes and from thence into 

 the nascent egg-cell, and once within 

 the yolk is ready to contend for su- 

 premacy against the spermatozoid 

 soon to be introduced. But the strife 

 is unequal, and instead of the differen- 

 tiating principle determining the form, 

 function, and instinct of a new crea- 

 ture appointed to long life and service, 

 the bacillus, fintling the environment 

 suited to multiplication, sterilizes the 

 blood and riddles the tissues and 

 viscera. 



The remedy which I have found to 

 be a specific — by the use of which I 

 have cured hundreds of cases, many 

 of whicli seemed hopelessly incurable, 

 without failure, and without a return 

 of the contagion, except in tlie case of 

 two colonics of black bees, where the 

 disease reappeared in a form so mild 

 that each colony was speedily cured, 

 each one casting a swarm, and stor- 

 ing a fair amount of surplus honey — 

 is prepared and applied substantially 

 as directed in my last annual report. 



In 3 pints of warm soft water dis- 

 solve 1 pint of dairy salt. Add 1 pint 

 of water, boiling hot, in which has 

 been dissolved 4 table-poonsfuls of 



