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; POU, BROOD,

ITS

ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT

AND CURE.

BY ALBERT R. KOHNKE,
YOUNGSTOWN, 0.

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO:
YOUNGSTOWN PUBLISHING ‘COMP ANY.
1882.

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Copyright, 1882, by Albert R. Kohnke. All rights reserved.

PREFACE,

Having been engaged in apiculture quite extensively in Germany,
and on a smaller scale in this country, I have been in the position
to notice the sad havoc foul brood has worked, in Europe as
well as in this country ; being also in the possession of extensive
material, in the shape of essays, reports and manual extracts of
day-books kept by bee-keepers engaged in curing this disease, fur-
nished me by friends and acquaintances ; and being also aware that
foul brood prevails more or less in almost every State in the Union,
J have ventured to offer the: bee-keeping public a concise method,
delineated in these pages, by which they will be enabled success-
fully to combat this dreadful malady. I have drawn on the experi-
ence and experiments of the most noted scientists and apiarists of
Germany, such as Professors Kolbe, Cech, Fischer, Preuss and
Lamprecht, but especially Hilbert and Schoenfeld, to whom the
bee-keeping fraternity of the whole world is indebted for their
efforts and final success of curing foul brood, and to whom I offer
my sincerest thanks. THE AUTHOR.

GENERAL HISTORY OF FOUL BROOD.

It is generally conceded that apiculture is an important factor in
the economy of nature, assisting greatly in the fertilization of
plants, without which they would bear no fruit; that is, seed. But
besides this, the proceeds from a well-managed apiary very fre-
quently are cqual to, sometimes exceeding that of the same number
of acres, as colonies are kept. Many good farmers and horticultur-
ists are also extensive bee-keepers, and quite often make more
money out of their apiaries than out of the ground they till. This
has induced many to make apiculture their sole occupation, and, if
well managed, has generally proven to be a success. But the api-
arist has to contend with many disasters which threaten to ruin his
colonies, chiefest among which is probably brood pest, generally
called foul brood.

This disease seems to have been known since bees were domesti-
cated, having been mentioned by ancient writers on ap:culture. . It
will quite otten ruin aud annihilate the apiaries of extensive coun-
tries in a very short time, if not stayed in its progress. To combat
this pestilence different ineffective nostruin-, spices, tea and cofiee
were used, without success of course.

Not before the investiga‘ions of men like Fischer, Hilbert, Lamp-
recht, Preuss, Schoenfeld and others threw some light on the sub-
ject as to the nature, cause and development of this malady, was it
possible to discover a remedy and successfully combat this disease.

Immediately after its discovery as being of a putrifactive nature
caused by Bacteria, different antiseprics were tried, especially Phe-
nol and Thymol. But these would either kill the bees if used in
solution strong enough to destroy bacteria; or, if diluted so as to
be harmless to bees, would not kill bacteria of foul brood.

Not until salicylic acid had been discovered by Professor Kolbe
as an antiseptic, and recommended by others to try it in foul brood,
was there a shadow of hope.

Mr. Hilbert, whose apiary was affected with foul brood in its
worst type, finally went to work and gave salicylic acid a severe

2

6 FOUL BROOD IN BEES.

and thorough test; and, after many failures, he discovered at last
a method leading to success, ridding his apiary of disease entirely.
But as yet he was the only one claiming success, and when he went
to proclaim the same before the National Bee-keepers Association
of Germany and Austria, he found few believers; the more so, as
others had—or said they had—tried the remedy and failed, at the
same time advising the use of other antiseptics better adapted to
the purpose. But most or all of them used or recommended were
so poisonons and of such a strong odor that the bees were either
killed or left the hive, and nothing short of an inodorous and non-
poisonous disinfectant would do, if such could be discovered.
This was accomplished by Professor Kolbe, of Germany, who found
in salicylic acid a substance possessed of these properties. Mr.
Hilbert, on being informed of these properties of salicylic acid, not
only disinfected his hives, bees and comb, but mixed it in with
honey, which he fed his diseased colonies, thus disinfecting his
bees internally as well as externally. Though final success has
been proven to be readily attainable, it has also been proven that it
requires the utmost care, perseverance and intelligence to reach the
desired goal. These quite a number of bee-keepers do not exercise,
and, after a few superficial, careless trials with salicylic acid, give
it up in disgust. They take into consideration only the cost of
curing, objecting to buy good honey or sugar and medicine, to
effect a cure internally as well as externally, thinking to rid them-
selves of all further trouble by cremation. How futile this latter
process proves to be they discover very soon, for one colony after
another will be infected and succumb. until nothing is left but
empty stands to tell the sorry tale of misfortune of their former
occupants, and their owner’s want of care, precaution and perse-
verance—such desolate apiaries, as well as the surrounding coun-
try, being entirely unfitted to begin anew for a long time after.
Besides that, cremation of useful objects—epecially such as bees
are—is barbarous, and betrays but a limited degree of intellect ;
the more so, when proper remedies are known, to apply which the
bee-keeper is too lazy and careless. It reminds one of the dark
ages, and does not correspond exactly to our present ideas as to the
study of the healing arts; nor would such a disciple of cremation
like to be treated the same way by some humane M. D., under sim-
ilar circumstances, to prevent the spreading of disease, like yellow
fever, small-pox, etc. If some should be narrow-minded enough
to rejoin that we, as man, may dominate over animal creation and

FOUL BROOD IN BEES. 4

protect our own interest, they forget entirely that their own body
is as much an animal as the body of a horse or bee, and subject to
the same general laws of contagion and decomposition.

But even if the bee keeper exercises all care and patience, he
may not succeed if he pursues methods of treatment which are ob-
tained by general remarks or short essays only in bee papers or con-
ventions. Some of the first trials with salicylic acid in 1875 failed,
because the acid had been used in the form of a powder and con-
centrated solutions to dust and wash the hive—the bees leaving the
hive immediately after it had been introduced. So, in this coun-
try, quite 2 number of bee-keepers claim to have tried the remedy
without avail. Now, if they had given a short outlme of the
method they pursued, their mistakes might have been readily
pointed out. Hence the assertions of bee-keepers to have found
‘salicylic acid of no use, prove, if anything, that they have used the
remedy without care and method ; for, as long as there are reliable
and experienced bee keepers who are successful in this direction,
assertions to the contrary prove nothing. Aside from the quantity
of the acid employed, the quality is of as much importance. It
must be absolutely pure. Another point to be observed is the
proper solvent. Itis well known that salicylic acid does not readily
dissolve in water, but very much so in alcohol; but alcohol of 95:
per cent. —0.8157 spec. gr.—(for such should be used), costs 40 cts..
a pint; in addition to this, the cost of salicylic acid, which is 50
cts. an ounce, seems to some bee-keepers expensive medicine; and
to make the acid soluble in water (cheap is the watchword), some
saving bee-keepers add another chemical to it, which they have
heard has that desirable property, to-wit: to make the acid soluble.
To attain this object, borax has been advised by some as the proper’
solvent in addition to water; the more so, as it is possessed of the-
same property as salicylic acid in destroying bacteria. A little
knowledge of chemistry and medicine would have prevented such:
mistakes. It is here the place, I think, to show the fallacy of that
combination. °

I. It is well known that there are quite a number of remedies
to arrest or prevent fermentation and putrifaction, as also the for-
mation of animal or vegetable fungoid growth. 'o satisfy the
-curious, I will name a few of them: All mineral acids, wood vine-
gar, salt, common vinegar, strong solution of sugar, arsenic, corro-
sive sublimate, creosote, phenol, thymol, borax, as, also, salicylic
acid. Hach of these has its own sphere of application. Not one

8 FOUL BROOD IN BEES.

of them may be used, under ad circumstances, insuring success.
Some are too poisonous to be used in septic diseases of the living
animal organism ; others are ineffective in certain diseases. Some
of the less poisonous have been tried to cure foul brood without the
least success; especially has that been the-case as to phenol and
thymol, as, also, borax.

Il. It is also well known, especially to the medical profession,
that acids and alkalies are incompatible ; that is, if one is given us
a medicine, to produce a certain effect, as a gencral rule the other
iiust be avoided. There are exceptions, of course, which may be
stated thus: If the acid to be used as a medicine is very strong, a
weak alkali may be permissible without interfering with the action
of the medicine, and vice versa.

III. It is also well known that chemicals used as remedies or
medicine, which would, on mixing, exchange component parts, can
not be given together, and should not be mixed.

Now, what is borax? Answer: Biborate of soda; that is, a chem-
ical combination of two parts of boracic acid and one of soda.
Those conversant with chemistry know that, in aqueous solutions,
boracic acid is one of the weakest acids known, and, also, that soda
is one of the strongest alkilies. Now, let us see what takes place
on mixing these two chemicals, salicylic acid and borax. Salicylic
acid decomposes the borax, to illustrate which I will subjoin the
following diagram:

biborate ofS racic acid free in solution.
Borax — .
Soda

{ Salicylic acid____-_-"--——_____ salicylate of soda.

It will-be seen by the above diagram, that, instead of having
salicylic acid and borax in solution, we have boracic acid and sali-
cylate of soda (or sodium). But it is well known that salicylate of
sodium is entirely worthless as a disinfectant, which is true, not
only of this chemical, but of all other salts of salicylic acid. The
acid itself must be employed if a reliable disinfectant is desired, to
corroborate which, I refer the reader to the article on SaLIcyLIc
ActpD in the Dispensatory of the United States, 1877, 14th Edition.

It is quite a matter of course that attempts to cure foul brood by
such a compound could not but be accompanied by entire failure.
Those claiming to have been successful with it, probably never had
a case of genuine foul brood.

By employing the solutions I shall recommend, and by strictly
observing all precautionary measures mentioned, the affected colo-

FOUL BROOD IN BEES, 9

nies will be cured, without disturbing the bees too much, or driving
them out of their hives by the use of obnoxious chemicals, nor will
the bee-keeper be compelled to resort to burning his bees, hives,
wax, honey and implements, and thus incur a double loss. But the
capability of reproduction is so enormous with this contagion, that
its existence is made impossible ouly, if the process of disinfection
is gone through with every six days, until cured (three days would
be preferable), to effect which it will reqnire from three to six
weeks, according to tho stage of the disease aud size of colony.

That bee-keeper who has neither the time nor the ambition to
spend money and work to persistently observe the method deline.
ated in this pamphlet, will certainly muke a failure of his weak
attempts at curing his diseased stocks, and he must not blame the
method, but himself. It is his fault, if his apiary and the sur-
rounding objects have the odor of decaying animals. He will ever
after be unfit to engage in bee-keeping, for the contagion will ad-
here to his heuse, yard, clothes and implements, and no re-stocking
will be of any use, but will prove to be an additional loss to the one
already sustained, caused by a lack of persistency to attain a cer-
tain object. And any bee-keeper who would sel], out of an affected
apiary, bees, queens and honey, should be regarded as a criminal,
amenable to the law as such, for he endangers the health and prop;
erty of his fellow-man. ‘The pretext of ignorance should not
excuse any one, as it does not elsewhere.

INDICATIONS OF FOUL BROOD.

+ Before foul brood makes its actual appearance certain signs fore-
stall the disease, which, though a sign of some other irregularities
in a colony, will admonish the bee-keeper to be cautious, First—
The colony is not as industrious as others of the same size and
stamp. Second—On examination, the brood will be found not to
be compact but scattered, empty cells here and there, where sealed
brood should be. If the bee-keeper interferes now by feeding med-
icated honey, the composition of which 1 will describe in subse-
quent pages, he will prevent an outbreak of the disease. If not,
he will notice, on examining the colony after a few days again,
third—Some cells with small holes in the sealing, which will also
present a sunken appearance. Opening the cells a brown, ropy,
bad-smelling mass will be seen, which, if not removed, dries and
adheres to the base of cell so tenaciously that the bees are unable
te remove it in any other way than by gnawing the cell-walls down

3

10 FOUL BROOD IN BEES.

to the base. On rubbing the dried mass between the fingers, the
odor from it resembles very much decomposed glue.

ORIGIN OF THE DISEASE.

Noted observations regarding the start, spread and cure of the
disease, have led to suppose:

1st. Foul brood originates by bees and brood being exposed to
sudden cold and dampness.

2d. It may also be caused by want of proper and sufficient nour-
ishment.

3d. Also by over-stimulative feeding, in consequence of which
the bees rear more brood than they are able to feed properly. For
there is enough evidence to prove that foul breod originated in
apiaries, excluding the idea of contagion. Now, if even one colony
of an apiary has been subject to one of these causes, and become
diseased in consequence thereof, the disease will spread by cunta-
gion, infecting the whole apiary.

4th. Prevention being better than cure, it behooves a‘careful
apiarist to see that his bees are not exposed to any of the primary
causes, if he can helpit. Combs with brood should not be removed
from the hive on cold and windy days. He should see that his bees
are not in want of proper and sufficient food, honey as well as
pollen. Especially will the want of pollen cause the bees and brood
to die; the more so, if they are actively engaged in brood rearing,
because pollen coutwins the nitrogenous compounds absolutely
necessary so build up the animal tissue. If pollen is wanting, he
should furnish a substitute by feeding the bees flour. If flour is
fed outside the hive, the bees will not take any more than they are
in actual need of ; hence, overdoing stimulative feeding is out of
the question as regards that eubstitute. But there are other sub-
stances which contain albumen in excess, and if these are fed toa
weak colony in the hive, will induce breading to such an extent that
the bees are unable to feed all the brood properly, which, in spite
of abundant food, causes the brood to die of starvation, and thereby
causing the colony to be a first-class subject to the disease.

Besides the above enumerated causes of foul brood in an apiary,
there may be one more, viz.: a poor queen—that is to say, a queen’s
progeny may be so weak as not to have life enough to grow to ma-
turity, but die when they are five, six and seven days old. In such
a case a disinfectant will of course be of no avail, but the queen
must be removed and killed; the colony must be provided with’

FOUL BROOD IN BEES. 11

means to raise a new queen, which is preferable to giving them a
fertile queen, as the colony should be prevented from raising brood
until hive and bees have been thoroughly disinfected. Queens have
even been known whose eggs would not hatch at all. Such cases
are, of course, of very rare occurrence; but it is best to mention
them here, that bee-keepers who have a case of apparently incura-
ble foul brood may be prepared to meet the same.

? TREATMENT OF FOUL BROOD.

A bee-keeper who does not discover foul brood before his nostrils
remind him that something must be wrong with his bees, is not the
proper person to treat the case ; for, most likely, the colony would
be so far gone as not to pay for the trouble, and the best he could
do would be to brimstone the bees late in the evening, when all are
in; burn everything except the hive, taking care that no bees can
get to it before it is thoroughly disinfected.

TO TREAT A COLONY WHICH IS BADLY DISEASED.

If the colony is yet quite strong, but the brood nearly one-half or
more diseased, disinfect the bees by spraying them with an atom-
izer, with Solution No. 3, heated to 90 degrees Fahrenheit; put
them into a new or well disinfected hive, on no more combs than
they can cover well, removing also all parts of such comb as contain
dead brood, and feed 85 CO of Solution No. 5 every day. Every
three or four days the bees must be sprayed with Solution No. 3.
If the colony is put on foundation (don’t put them on already built
out combs), in a few days brood will appear, when the feed must be
changed from No. 5 to No. 6 Solution. If during the honey bloom,
bees will need no further assistance; but if honey is scarce, they
must be fed with good honey or sugar syrup, and a substitute for
pollen provided. To prevent spread of the contagion, moisten the
entrance of all the hives in the apiary every evening with Solution
No. 2.

TO-TREAT A COLONY ONLY A LITTLE DISEASED.

Cut out the comb containing decayed larve. Disinfect the bees
by spraying them with Solution No. 3, heated to 90 or 95 degrees
Fahrenheit ; do this on empty comb, not on their brood frames.
Disinfect brood, honey and ‘pollen by spraying them every three or
four days with Solution No, 4. Put bees and frames in a new or
well disinfected hive, and feed them every day 80 CC of Solution
No. 6.

12 FOUL BROOD IN BEES.

TO DISINFECT HIVES ANI} OTHER IMPLEMENTS,

Wash and rinse well in a warm solution (about 90 degrees Fuhr-
enheit) of No. 2, everything you handle or touch, or having come
in emtact with foul brood, yourself and the onter garments you
wear net excepted.

HOW TO PREPARE TILE SOLUTIONS.

SoLution No. 1— Pare salicylic acid............... 10 grammes,
Alcohol of 95° or of 0.8157 sp. gr. 190 grammes.
Keep in well corked bottles.

Sotution No. 2—Tuke of Sal. No. 1 oo... eee eee eee 30 CO
Soft: WatOlic esa sga- Game eee oe daeners 500 CC
Sotution No. 8 —Take of Sol. Now 1... 1. cee eee eee 22 CC
Gott swiitetvec wen ence ke ee peineaea ...500 CC
SoLtutron No. 4—Take of Sol. Now 1......2. 0... eee. 14 CC
Soft water... 2... ts waar cgyess O00 CC
Soutution No. 5-—Take of Sol. No. 1........... ee eee 10 CC
SOL WAS 4 aaa daieuteuious Mapua Ge aed’ 1000 CC
GoOd NOWEY case ae ack ee ew nels 700 CC

Boil the water and add the honey while boiling, and then add
Solution No. 1, amounts as given above.

Sotution No. 6—Take of Sol. Now Loo... eee eee 5 CC
~ BOLE WAL ED cc sicr eres dise-aaroe-wa ie Basveeina aes 1000 CC
Good Honey... cieckyaseewee .... 760 OC

Prepare as Solution No, 5.

FURTHER EXPLANATIONS AND DIRECTIONS.

It is absolutely necessary to adhere -trictly to the above given
proportions of the different solutions to be sure of success. For
this reason I have not deemed it advisable to reduce the French
weights and measures, which are employed in Germany, especially
in all scientific works, to our system of weights and measures; the
more so, as those employed by grocers and bee keepers are different
from those of the druggists, and as a bee-keeper, or any person
engaged in curing foul brood, has to have “ graduates,” to avoid
going to a druggist to get correct measures, sometimes several miles,
and as these graduates do not cost more in one denomination
than in the other; I have retained those being in use by scientific
men all over the world. Besides that, a reduction would involve

FOUL BROOD IN BEES. 13

large fractions, to which the druggists’ weights and measures are
not adapted. But to guide the intelligent apiarist, [ will explain
the weights and measures aS above used, as far as possible. Solu-
tion 1 is prepared by weight, of which it takes one part of the acid
to ten of alcohol of the proper strength. Solutions No. 2, 3, 4, 5
and 6 are to be prepared by measure. CC means cubic centimeter.
One thousand of these is called a “liter,” and the weight of a liter
of water, at its greatest density, is called a kilogramme, and the
weight of one CO, or cubic centimeter, of water at its greatest den-
sity, is called one gramme, being the unit of weight.

LO -gfaMties sa c.vek eres mince ra reos 154.3402 Troy grains.
100 grammes............06. Seay evens 1543.4023 Troy grains.
10 CC or cubic centimeters..............6. 2.7053 fluid drachms.

100 CC or cubic centimeters *-*1.5675 pints, apothecary’s measure.
It thas appears that if exactness is required, a reduction is not
advisable, and only Solution No. 1 may be prepared by using any
weight in the proportion of one to ten. Hence, to be sure, two
French graduates should be obtained—one to measure up to 100
CC and the other up to 500 OC. A thermometer is also necessary,
to observe strictly the temperature as given above, as also an atom-
izer for spraying. Care must be taken not to mistake the different
solutions, but each one kept in a labeled bottle, well corked. The
solutions should be well heated before using, and cooled down to
the proper degree of temperature before applied. For the conven-
-ience of bee-keepers, J have put up such sets of apparatus, which
‘I shall, with a bottle of Solution No. 1, send by express on receipt
of $5.00.. Orders filled in rotation. Persons ordering such must
allow from two t» three weeks in filling them.

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