52 MEETING OF INSPECTORS OF APIARIES. 



then, they were working with the foul brood of Cheshire and Cheyne 

 (European foul brood). In a second short paper by Doctor White 

 m brief uote is given concerning some work done on the " ropy type" 

 of foul brood. He recognized that he was dealing with a disease the 

 cause of which had not been described and the disease is called for 

 the time " X brood " and the bacillus. Bacillus X. The final results 

 of the investigation appear in Technical Series, No. 14. Bureau of 

 Entomology, under the title "The Bacteria of the Apiary, with 

 Special Reference to Bee Diseases." Doctor White's description of 

 r>,n ill us larva is as follow-: 



Bacillus Larv.k. 

 Occurrence. — Constantly present in diseased brood from colonics affected with 



Aiiierie;m foul brood. 



Gelatin. — There is no growth. 



Morphology. — It is a slender rod. having a tendency to form in chains. This 

 is especially true when grown in bee-larvae bouillon. 



Motility. — The bacillus is rather sluggishly motile. 



Spores. — Spore formation takes place. This can be observed best in the dif- 

 ferent stages of the disease and decay of the larva 1 . 



Oxygen requirements. — When Liborius's method is used, the best growth 

 usually appears near to but not on the surface. After a few generations a 

 surface growth may be obtained. 



Bouillon. — There is no growth. 



Glucose bouillon. — There is no growth. 



Lactose. — There is no growth. 



Saccharose. — There is no growth. 



Agar plate. — There is no growth. 



Bce-lumr agar. — The inoculations must be made witli the medium liquefied. 

 I'lie growth takes place near to but rarely on the surface. Cultures must pass 

 through a few generations before a satisfactory surface growth can be secured. 



Bee-larvw agar slant. — On the surface of this medium a thin, gray, aonviscid 

 growth takes place. 



Glucose agar. — Slight growth lias been observed in the medium. No gas is 

 produced. 



I 'of a to. — There is no growth. 



1/ ilk. -There is no growth. 



Litmus milk. — There is no growth. 



/■'<rni< illation. — In bee-larva' bouillon no gas is produced. 



Indol. — There is no growth in sugar-free bouillon. 



To summarize, then. Bacillus alvei is found universally in Euro- 

 pean foul brood: Bacillus larva in American foul brood. No specific 

 micro-organisms have been found for the so-called pickle brood or 

 paralysis. Knowledge of the two worst brood diseases is accurate 

 enough to enable us to combat them by applying principle- acquired 

 by comparison with results of work with other micro-organisms. 



That our knowledge is complete is far from true. Not only is 

 there much to bo learned which is of purelx scientific interest, but 

 points of th»' highest practical importance are yet undetermined. 



