Page:Bee-Culture Hopkins 2nd ed revised Dec 1907.pdf/35

 ‘‘There is a diseased condition of the brood called by beekeepers ‘pickle-brood,’ but practically nothing is known of its cause. It is characterized by a swollen watery appearance of the larvæ, usually accompanied by black colour of the head. The larvæ usually lie on their backs in the cell, and the head points upward. The colour gradually changes from light yellow to brown after the larva dies. There is no ropiness, and the only odour is that of sour decaying matter, not at all like that of American foul-brood. In case the larvæ are capped over, the cappings do not become dark, as in the case of the contagious diseases, but they may be punctured. So far no cause can be given for this disease, and whether or not it is contagious is a disputed point. Usually no treatment is necessary beyond feeding during a dearth of honey, but in very rare cases when the majority of larvæ in a comb are dead from this cause the frame should be removed and a clean comb put in its place to make it unnecessary for the bees to clean out so much dead brood.”

‘‘Many different external factors may cause brood to die. Such dead brood is frequently mistaken, by persons unfamiliar with the brood diseases, for one or the other of them. Careful examination will soon determine whether dead brood is the result of disease or merely some outside change. If brood dies from chilling or some other such cause, it is usually soon carried out by the workers, and the trouble disappears. No treatment is necessary. Brood which dies from external causes often produces a strong odour in the colony, but wholly unlike that of American foul-brood—merely that of decaying matter. The colour of such brood varies, but the characteristic colours of the infectious diseases are usually absent, the ordinary colour of dead brood being more nearly grey.”

‘‘The disease known to apiarists as palsy or paralysis attacks adult bees. The name is suggestive of the symptoms manifested by the diseased bees. A number of bees affected were received from apiaries in New York State in 1903; bacteriological examinations were made, and several species of bacteria were isolated and some experimental inoculations made, but no conclusions as to the cause of this disorder could be drawn from the results obtained.

‘‘From a study of the normal flora of the bee it was soon found that there were quite a number of species of bacteria present. This fact stimulated a study of the normal flora. . . . From this point the work can be carried on with the hope that if the disease has a bacterium as an etiological factor it may be found.”