12 HISTORICAL NOTES ON BEE DISEASES. 
European foul brood.—Kuropean foul brood is the disease which 
Cheshire and Cheyne (p. 25) described in their studies of foul brood. 
Howard (p. 44), of Texas, made a very brief and unsatisfactory 
study of this disease at one time and named it ‘‘New York bee dis- 
ease”’ or “‘black brood.’ We are strongly inclined to believe that 
Burri (p. 68) was working with this disease for the most part during 
his study of the condition which he refers to as ‘‘sour breod.’”’ Euro- 
pean foul brood is less widely distributed in this country than is 
American foul brood. In European foul brood one finds, as a rule, 
most of the diseased brood as yet uncapped. In general, the brood 
dead of this disease presents various shades of yellow. Usually there 
is No ropiness; at times, however, there is. That degree of ropiness, 
however, which is so characteristic of American foul brood is seldom 
present in European foul brood. There is frequently a slightly sour 
odor to the diseased brood. The rapidity with which this disease 
spreads in a new territory and the marked destructiveness of it are 
features which most bee keepers have experienced who have been 
so unfortunate as to have the malady affect their apiary. The dis- 
ease is clearly, therefore, an infectious one. The exciting cause is 
not known. Claims are made by some that certain species of bacte- 
ria stand in direct etiological relation to the disease, but satisfactory 
evidence to prove such contentions are wanting. 
The so-called ‘‘ pickled brood.’’—Howard (p. 42), of Texas, described 
what he chose to call pickled brood. His findings have never been 
confirmed. The name “‘pickled brood,’’ however, is very frequently 
used by bee keepers in referring to a diseased condition of the brood. 
Howard’s description of ‘‘pickled brood”’ (p. 43), however, does not 
apply to such a condition. Since the name “‘pickled brood”’ is not 
accurately applied and is, moreover, entirely inappropriate for the 
condition which we find, we prefer for the present to use the expres- 
sion ‘‘so-called pickled brood.’’ In this condition the brood dies 
ubout the time of capping. The body wall of the larva, in a case 
which might be called typical, is intact and rather tough. When 
this wall is broken, one often finds a watery content in which is sus- 
pended a granular substance. As a rule a very small proportion of 
the brood is affected. The disease does not seem to be infectious. 
The loss to the colony in comparison with European foul brood and 
American foul brood is slight. This disorder, therefore, should 
arouse no great amount of fear. While the number of colonies lost 
from this disease is comparatively small, in the aggregate many bees 
die as a result of the condition. The disease has a very wide dis- 
tribution. The exciting cause is not known. x 
There is very little that is definitely known about the diseases of 
adult bees. They have not been sufficiently investigated to make it 
possible to classify them with any degree of satisfaction. 
