SACBROOD. 5 



by a fungus to which he gave the name Aspergillus pollini. In a 

 second article (1898) he writes that pupae and adult bees, as well as 

 the larvae, are attacked by the disease, stating his belief that the 

 disease in adult bees had been diagnosed as paralysis. Technically, 

 therefore, the term " pickled brood" refers to an infectious disorder 

 of bees affecting both the brood and adult bees and caused by a 

 specific fungus, Aspergillus pollini. 



It was particularly unfortunate that these articles on pickled 

 brood should have appeared at the time they did, as through them 

 some beekeepers have been led to the mistaken belief that the brood 

 disease, which they had so long observed as being similar to " foul- 

 brood," but differing from it, had been described in his articles as 

 pickled brood. 



Whether such a disease (pickled brood) does exist, can not be defi- 

 nitely stated. It may be said, however, that it probably does not. 

 The writer has not encountered such a disorder during his study on the 

 bee diseases. He believes that if the condition is present it cer- 

 tainly has not attracted the attention of beekeepers to any great 

 extent. It can safely be advised, therefore, that all fear of losses 

 from such a possible condition should be dispelled, at least until the 

 disease is met with again. 



It would seem that the name " pickled brood" is being used among 

 beekeepers at present in a very general sense. Root (1913) writes: 



The name pickled brood has been applied to almost any form of dead brood that was 

 not foul brood. In a rather general way, it seems to cover, then, any form of brood 

 that is dead from some natural causes not related to disease of any sort. 



This quotation suggests that a number of conditions are most 

 likely included under the term " pickled brood" as it is popularly 

 used. Brood dead of starvation and that found dead before capping 

 and not dead of an infectious disease seem to be referred to especially 

 by the name. 



Beekeepers sending samples of disease to the laboratory have been 

 asked the question : ' ' What disease do you suspect V In the replies 

 received more than one disease was sometimes suggested as being 

 suspected. Out of 189 replies received from beekeepers sending 

 samples of sacbrood, European foulbrood was suggested in 55 replies, 

 pickled brood in 39, foulbrood in 19, blackbrood in 15, poisoned brood 

 in 7, chilled brood in 5, starved brood in 6, American foulbrood in 13, 

 dead brood in 3, neglected brood in 1, scalded brood in 1, suffocated 

 brood in 1, and in 24 cases the reply was: " Don't know." These 

 replies show that beekeepers generally had not learned to recognize 

 the disorder which is now called sacbrood by any one name. 



It is natural to suppose that sacbrood would have been one of the 

 conditions occasionally referred to under the term "pickled brood." 



