PREUSS, OCTOBER 1, 1868. 15 
comes foul. From this condition, this author stated, no danger is 
to be feared, as the bees afterward remove all this dead brood, leav- 
ing the colony free from danger. The cause of the virulent form of 
foul brood is attributed by Molitor-Mihlfeld to a small parasitic 
ichneumon fly, reddish-yellow in color and scarcely one-sixth of an 
an inch long, to which he gave the name [chnewmon apvum mellifi- 
carvum. He writes that this fly had already been observed about 
foul-brood colonies by another writer, but that it was thought to be 
a carrion fly. Concerning the life history of these flies, he says that 
they press into the hives and lay their eggs in the bee larve. The 
larve live in spite of this until the cell is capped and the cocoon is 
spun. During this time the fly larve feed upon the fat of the bee 
larve, and finally bore their way out of the body into the cell, undergo 
metamorphosis, and in a few days escape from the cells through 
openings which they make in the center of the cell-capping. These 
young adult flies now mate, sting other bee larve, lay their eggs, and 
continue the cycle. The time which elapses from the egg of this 
parasitic insect to the adult is.given as about from 10 to 12 days. 
This, to his mind, explained the rapid increase of the exciting cause 
of foul brood. As a result of the parasitic existence of this fly in the 
bee larve, these larve die and change into a ropy, sticky, ill-smelling 
mass which the bees can not remove. 3 
Furthermore, he argues that if instead of the diseased larve dying, 
as they do, after capping, they should die before this stage was 
reached, then the dead bodies would be removed early and with them 
the larve of the fly; but since the brood is always capped before death 
takes place the capped cells afford a protection for the parasitic 
insect until it becomes an adult ready to emerge. 
In making a diagnosis, it is stated, the cell-cappings should be 
examined, and if they are punctured then the disease is positively 
the infectious foul brood. As a treatment for the infestation of the 
brood by this insect in a colony in which infectious foul brood already 
exists, it is recommended that the combs be removed to a clean hive 
with new foundation, and that the treated colonies and other colonies 
in the apiary be protected by pouring at frequent intervals camphor 
dissolved in oil of turpentine, between the hives in the yard and also 
sometimes on the alighting boards. This is done to prevent, by the 
odor of the turpentine and the camphor, the entrance of the ichneumon 
fly into the hives. 
PREUsS, OcTOBER 1, 1868. 
In a paper written by Preuss,! in 1868, his views on the causes of 
foul brood are given. The distinction which he would make between 
1 Preuss, Dr., October 1, 1868. Das Wesen der bésartigen Faulbrut besteht in einem mikroskopischen 
Pilze, Cryptococcus alvearis. Sie kann verhutet und geheilt werden. Eichstadt Bienenzeitung, 24 Jahrg., 
Nro. 19 u. 20, pp. 225-228, 
