Foul Brood 



Foul brood is a bacterial disease of the larvae or brood of bees. 

 ( )nce a single spore of the disease comes in contact with a larva, or is 

 fed to it, it begins to increase with wonderful rapidit)', the bacteria feed- 

 ing' upon the larva as maggots feed upon the carcass of a dead animal. 

 The larva soon dies and turns a dull brown, something about the color 

 of coffee after milk has been added and it is read}' for drinking. The 

 dead larvae soon lose their shape, and settle down into rop}', gluey 

 masses having an odor somewhat similar to a poor quality of glue when it 

 is warming on the stove, being made ready for use. In the earlier stages 

 this odor is seldom noticeable ; but as the disease increases this odor be- 

 comes quite pronounced. If a match or a wooden toothpick, or some- 

 thing of this nature, be thrust into a dead larva, and then withdrawn, the 

 dead matter A\'ill adhere to the stick, and draw out in a ropy string-, 

 ])erhaps an inch in length, when it will break and fly back. The dead larva 

 finall}' dries down into a thin bro\\n scale upon the lower side of the cell. 

 -\ large share of the larvae reach that stage where the bees seal it over, 

 but, for some reason, the cappings often become sunken, and sometimes 

 contain holes. ( )f course, the healthy brood hatches while the diseased 

 broocl does not, and soon the combs present a peculiar speckled appear- 

 ance from part of the cells being empt_\', while others are sealed with dark 

 ragged cappings. When the bees attempt to rear another larva in a cell 

 where a larva has died of foul brood, it is certain to be a failure. This 

 larva, too, dies of the disease. If hone\ is stored in the cell it becomes 

 contaminated \vith the germs of the disease : and if fed to larvae, it infects 

 them ^\'ith the disease. The combs finally become so contaminated with 

 the disease that scarcely an) brood can be reared. The old bees die off 

 from natural causes, and, there being no >oung bees reared to take their 

 places, the colony dwindles away until it becomes a prey to robber bees 

 who carry home the hone\-, and thus start the infection in their own hives. 

 In this way the disease is spread from hive to hive and from apriarv to 

 apiary. 



Such, in brief, is foul brood ; and as there is no apiar\' in which 

 there is not a possibilit\- that it may appear, every bee-keeper ought to be 

 able to distinguish it and to know what to do when he is so unfortunate 

 xis to find it in his apiary. From reading the published descriptions, man\- 



