AMERICAN FOULBROOD. 9 



surface (PL III, H) is now slightly concave from side to side. The 

 posterior third lies upon the bottom of the cell and extends to the 

 roof. The decaying larval mass is now decidedly viscid in con- 

 sistency. When tested with a toothpick, match, forceps, or any other 

 suitable object it can be drawn out into threadlike strings. This 

 viscid condition of decaying brood is referred to by beekeepers as 

 "ropiness." It is a well known symptom and is much used in the 

 diagnosis of the disease. 



FIFTH STAGE 



One month or longer, after the death of the larva the remains are 

 found to be a thin mass more or less dry and covering most of the 

 floor, some of the side walls, and the bottom of the cell. The dried 

 mass is known to beekeepers as the ' 'scale." Its color is dark brown, 

 similar to that of old brood comb. That portion which was once 

 the anterior third of the larva bears, if at all, only a slight elevation 

 (PI. Ill, C, F, I; PI. VI, E, H). The ventral surface (PL III, I) 

 is concave from side to side and quite uniform. The posterior third 

 covers the bottom of the cell and extends to the roof. This can be 

 seen especially well by cutting lengthwise the cell with a scale (PL VI, 

 H) in it. It can be seen also that the thickness of a scale throughout 

 the median line is approximately uniform. 



As some larvae die of American f oulbrood before the quiescent stage 

 is reached but after being capped, their dead remains may be found 

 occupying not the uniform position just described but various posi- 

 tions in the cell. While the form of the remains, therefore, may vary 

 materially, the color and consistency pass through stages that are 

 similar in all instances. 



Occasionally death from American foulbrood takes place while 

 the larva is still younger, i. e., before the time of capping has arrived 

 and while it (PL VI, A) is coiled in the cell. This condition is com- 

 paratively rare. As the form of the remains depends upon the age 

 of the larva at the time of its death, naturally, the form of the remains 

 of a larva dying before the time for capping will vary materially from 

 the descriptions above. The color and consistency of such a larva 

 during its decay, however, pass through stages that are similar to 

 those already described. 



PUP^E DEAD OF AMERICAN FOULBROOD 



Death from American foulbrood does not take place late in the 

 pupal stage but almost always, if not invariably, within the first 

 2 days after transformation from the larva (prepupa) . At this stage 

 the healthy pupse are practically white, with or without pigment in 

 the compound eyes. Pupae dead of the disease resemble in color and 

 consistency larvae dead of the disease. The dead pupae, as in the case 

 of the larvae, are described here in five stages. 



