78 BEES FOE PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 



syrup : by warm syrup I do not at all mean so hot as to scald 

 the bees, 98° or 100° Fahr. being quite sufficiently warm ; it 

 should, in fact, not be so hot that the finger will be at all 

 scalded or burnt when dipped in it. 



Foul Brood. 



Foul brood, or Bacillus alvei, as it is scientifically desig- 

 nated, is the most terrible disease to which bees are subject ; 

 it is very contagious, and often devastates whole apiaries, 

 almost entirely destroying them. Another kind of foul brood 

 has been discovered quite recently, but little is known of it 

 as yet ; it differs from Bacillus alvei in several important 

 particulars, and is said to very much resemble Bacillus mega- 

 theriwm and Bacillus anihracis in appearance ; from the experi- 

 ments which have been made up to the present time, however, 

 it has not been quite satisfactorily pi-oved that this bacillus 

 is infectious, and some little doubt is still entertained on the 

 subject amongst scientists. For myself I incline to the opinion 

 that this newly discovered bacillus does generate disease. 



Turning once more to the old and well-known form of foul 

 brood. Bacillus alvei, we first have to observe the symptoms. 



Symptoms of Foul Brood. 



Some of the unsealed brood turns at first yellow, and 

 afterwards black or coffee-coloured, becoming at last a putrid, 

 sticky mass at the bottom of the cells : the workers do not seem 

 to trouble themselves at all about clearing them out, and so 

 here they remain, spreading disease and contamination on all 

 around ; the sealed brood is similarly affected, and the cappings 

 become concave instead of convex, and have small holes in 

 them ; in very bad cases there is a strong and foul smell when 

 the hive is opened. 



Remedies. 



No absolute panacea, which works infallibly in the hands 

 of all, has as yet been discovered for foul brood; so much 

 depends on the temperament of the person who has to do with 

 the bees, on his carefulness and aptitude for following out 

 directions with exactitude, and on a great many attendant 

 circumstances and minor details connected with the case. 



