25 



the growth was reatrictel to the inoculation track after 43 hours at 37° 0. 



c. In addition to the above experiments, agar was m »de containing the 

 same proportion of disinfectant as was used in feeding thp bees of diseased 

 hives ; 15 c. c. of this agar was taken for making a plate culture, and several 

 plates were streaked with two loopfuls of spores^ and incubated at 37° 0. 

 Strength of agar, — 2 c. c. creolin to 1 litre of water, i.e., about half a tea- 

 spoonful to a quart. 

 Results — Creolin agar, four tests — no growth. 



Control agar, abundant growth. 

 This antiseptic in the strength used by Cowan for feeding purposes, would 

 prevent the germination of the spores ; and if there was a large amount 

 evaporating in the hive, a slight antiseptic result would tike place. 



(8) Eucalyptus This substance was introduced by Beauverd (69), A 

 small tin box, with a cover pierced with small holes, is placed upon the floor 

 board of the diseased hive, and filled with essence of Eucalyptus. The colony 

 receives every four or five days a litre of syrup containing a teaspoonful of 

 tincture of eucalyptus (oil eucalyptus, 1 ; alcohol, 9). Then from time to 

 time some drops of the same tincture are dropped into the hive. Auberson, 

 who was the metayer of Bertrand's Apiary and was managing his own higher 

 •up the mountains, cured a number of colonies by means of this method. He 

 finds that there is a great difierence in the effect produced by the remedy. 

 In some caEes, the effect follows the remedy quickly ; in others, the effect is 

 slower. Sometimes more than a year passes without resulting in a complete 

 cnie. When the disease is of long standing, the remedy must be proportion- 

 ate to the gravity of the evil. When there are only a few diseased cells, 

 Anberson simply pours some drops of the essence along the back wall of the 

 hire. He renews the dose every eight days ; and in six weeks, sometimes 

 sooner, the colony is cured. In cases where the hive is badly affected, he 

 takes a clean hive and floor board and impregnates the interior, floor board, 

 and division board with eucalyptus, and then transfers combs, brood, and 

 bees to the new hive. He leaves the foul brood colonies their rotten combs, 

 as this is the only bandy means of disinfecting them. Three weeks later, 

 during which he has twice poured eucalyptus on the floor board, he examines 

 the new brood. If.it exiats in healthy patches he simply pours a few drops 

 of the essence on the floor board until the cure is complete. If, however, the 

 fresh brood still disclose some diseased spots, the queen is killed and replaced 

 by another, and every fifteen days the essence i& spread on the floor board 

 until the cure is completed. If the colony is very weak, he strengthens it 

 by the addition of bees and healthy brood. If he has to feed a diseased hive, 

 he never fails to put the essence in the syrup. 



Besides these well authenticated cases of cure by the essence of euca- 

 lyptus, there are a number of others, and the method has been extensively 

 used in Europe. The great drawback to the use of this remedy is that it la 

 liable to cause robbing. 



Experiments on the antiseptic value of eucalyptus, (a) Eucalyptus oil. 

 The cotton plug of a spore-inccnlated sloped agar tube was saturated with 

 the oil,: and incubated at 37° C. In eighty-four hours there was no growth, 

 but a fresh plug being inserted good growth occurred in twenty-four hours. 



(6) Agar plates inoculated with spores and containing four drops of 

 eucalyptus on a piece of blotting paper were incubated at 37° C. No 

 growth formed, but when the eucalyptus was removed good growth immedi- 

 ately ensued. On plates containing two drops the growth was restricted to 

 the inoculation track, but when the oil was removed abundant growth took 



