536 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
within the living frame of minute vegetable organisms, 
commonly spoken of as germs, or micro-organisms, 
which may be passed from individual to individual ; 
and hence the possibility of infection. 
When we remember that bees live in the closest 
contact in very numerous colonies; that their usual 
system of inter-communication is by actual touch ; 
that they habitually pass food from one stomach to 
another, while all the food they have has been carried 
either within or upon the bodies of their fellows ; that 
their very home is formed of one of their secretions, 
and that their beds, cradles, and larders are all inter- 
changeable, we shall admit that the circumstances are 
such as would appear to favour the development of 
contagious diseases. That they have done so is fully 
proved by a careful examination of the case, for I 
find the bee suffering from several distinct kinds of 
organism, producing symptoms and results which I 
have to some extent formulated, but which yet 
require much patient devotion on the part of the 
investigator. Of these germ diseases, foul brood, as 
the most terrible and widespread, demands our first 
attention. 
Some indistinct references, made by ancient writers 
as early as the Christian era, to a devastating disease 
existing then amongst domesticated bees, render it 
not unlikely that the malady until recently known as 
“foul brood” is far from a novelty; but be this as 
it may, it is certain that not until very recent 
times have its ravages become so frequent as to 
make it the terror of bee-keepers. Our modern 
methods and facilities of transit have been the 
