Difficulties, and How to Overcome Them. 71 



covered with lids, rattier flat, or slightly concave or 

 scooped, resembling in shape the lids of honey-cells. 

 The lids of cells containing healthy brood are slightly 

 raised or convex. The disease spreads — the cells 

 multiply, apparently not by contact, but singly and_ 

 separately, all over the brood-combs, like berries of 

 a bunch of grapes colouring one by one. " Thus far 

 Mr. Pettigrew. But he does not seem to say quite 

 enough. When you are certain that a hive contains 

 foul brood, it is the best policy to burn up hive, 

 combs, and bees at once, and save nothing belonging 

 to it. This seems a drastic cure, but we firmly 

 believe in it. How are you to be certain that a hive 

 contains foul brood ? The answer is, that once you 

 have smelt foul brood, you will not want to smell it 

 ever again, but you will know it if you do, as the 

 smell is unmistakable. There is a very effective 

 picture of " Foul brood in an advanced stage " on 

 page 146 of The British Bee-keeper's Guide Book, by 

 Thomas William Cowan, Esq. If the smell of foul 

 brood and the picture of it will not enable the bee- 

 keeper to detect it, nothing will, and he had better 

 call in an expert. Foul brood must not be con- 

 founded with chilled brood. The latter is caused by 

 exposure to cold, through taking too long a time to 

 examine hives in spring time. It is a much more 

 innocent but undesirable disease. Though the writer 

 has recommended the destruction by fire of hives 

 affected with foul brood, this is not always done ; and 



