skin. If examined when the disease is just developing, the afiected larvae 

 are usually fonnd to have changed their positioD. They are no longer curled 

 up, but lie extended in the cell, or move about unnaturally. The bees them- 

 selves may at this time or subsequently show symptoms of the disease by a 

 kind of inertness or inaotivify which seizes them. As the disease progresses, 

 the young larvae lose their plump appearance, become flabby and die. Then 

 a process of decomposition begins, which is shown by their yellowish appear- 

 ance. This yellow color turns brown, and if touched with a pin or needle 

 at this time or later, a portion of the putrid mass may be pulled out in a 

 long, ropy, tenacious string, due " to the chitinons aerating sacs and tracheae 

 which do not undergo decomposition at all ; and these remaining cause the 

 peculiarity referred to " (26). This ropy mass gradually dries down to the 

 bottom oi the cell, leaving nothing but a brown scale which adheres to the wax. 



As a rule, the bees do not remove larvae dead from this disease. Instead 

 they become quite inactive, lose their desire to fly, are often seen fanni!ng at 

 the entrance of the hive, which in many casf s emits a bad smell. A phase of 

 the disease, which some authors have described as being a different form, ia 

 that in which the larvae die after the cells have been capped over. These 

 cappiogs become darker in colour than those of the healthy brood ; then be- 

 come indented or sunken, and lastly become perforated with irregalar holes. 

 By putting a ni^edle into any of these cells the same ropy mass, before 

 described, may be drattn out. If an examination is made from th>3 juice of 

 the larvae at difi«rent stages of the disease, the bacillus may be detected ; 

 1)nt spor-)S do not 2orm till after death has occurred. The ropy mass contains 

 large numbers of spores, as does also the dry scale. 



According to Cheshire (26), the bees themselves become diseased. In a 

 number of cases he obtained the bacillus from the blood of bees from infecied 

 hives. Hilbert's examinationin 1875 led him to declare that the mature bees 

 in infected hives were liable to be affected. Some writers contradict the 

 statement that the bees themselves are affected by the disease ; bat they lose 

 sight of the fact that the bees do not die in the hive, but leave it sometime 

 before death occurs. 



The queen may become infected. Cheshire (26) demonstrated the pres- 

 ence of bacilli in the ovary of a queen ; but he did not make cultures there- 

 from. W. G. Smith (27) reported that a queen sent to Cheshire and exam- 

 ined by him contained B. alvei in both of her ovaries. McKenzie (28) 

 examined five queens from infected hives and succeeded in obtaining bacilli 

 from the ovaries of three. He thinks that their presence there is accidental, 

 as in the case of a queen from a badly diseased hive he was unable to find the 

 bacillus, whilst in a six weeks old queen from a hive in which there were only 

 a few diseased cells, he succeeded in finding it. A queen sent by T. A. 

 Oovan (29) to Cowan, the editor of the British Bee Journal, was examined, and 

 B. alvei was found in the ovaries. F. P. Ward (30) removed a queen from a 

 diseased hive and placed her in a strong, healthy stock, " which speedily 

 became a maes of corruption." This operation was subsequently repeated 

 with a like result. 



I have also myself examined seven queens from diseased hives, and in 

 three cases have had no difficulty in finding the bacillus, and have obtained 

 typical cultures therefrom. The method of examination employed has been 

 the same as that used by McKenzie. The upper surface of the bee is ster- 

 ilized and cut longtitudically, and all the internal organs except the ovaries 

 are removed. The surface of the ovaries is then sterilized and a hot 

 needle plunged into the centre and allowed to stay there until it is cold, when 



