312 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. [Ch. Vi. 



looked down between the combs, but was unable lo 

 proceed for the stench that the rotten maggots produced." 

 Mr. Langstroth writes that "Aristotle speaks of a disease 

 which was accompanied with a disgusting smell, so that 

 there is reason to believe that foul brood was known two- 

 thousand years ago." 



Our own observation leads us to the belief that foul 

 brood is caused in many instances by feeding stocks with 

 fermented honey or with syrup likely to ferment. AU 

 liquid food should be boiled before it is given to the- 

 bees, to destroy any impurity and to make it wholesome, 

 for in several cases we have found stocks to be infected 

 that have thus been incautiously fed. 



Suspicion may be aroused of the existence of foul 

 Drood in any kind of hive, firstly, by the unproductive- 

 ness of the bees, also by the diminishing number at the- 

 entrance ; and if very far advanced the odour will be 

 very noticeable a few feet from the hive. But in bar- 

 frame hives an experienced eye will on examination 

 readily detect the malady if present by the dark un- 

 wholesome appearance of the comb, and by the caps- 

 covering the diseased brood being sunken rather than 

 raised. Small perforations are noticeable in some, and 

 in others the grubs may be seen rotting in unsealed cells. 

 We know of no cure, but some foreign apiarians of. 

 experience recommend injecting a solution of salycilic 

 acid into every diseased cell ; others say that carbolic- 

 acid will effect a cure ; we know that the latter is very 



