The presence of brood diseases among bees has been recognized since ancient time. It is probable that its presence was discovered by men almost as soon as they learned to look to the honeybee as a source of sweets. Modem beekeepers can boast of progress in many directions, but we have done little better than the ancients in dealing with the disease now known as American foulbrood.

In the Miller Memorial Library, at the University of Wisconsin, is a copy of an old book by Nickel Jacob, published in 1568, which was a masterpiece of its time. From this book we learn that the author knew of this disease, which he called "die foule Brut, " and that he used exactly the same treatment which we use today. His instructions for treatment were as follows: "First cut out all the honey and comb, keep the bees locked in for three days and starve them. Afterwards, take a new hive and put it in the same place where the sick one was standing. Take the sick hive and lay it on top of the new one. Give them good honey so they will improve. It is better and safer to undertake this when the cherries start to bloom. "

Even today we know no better way to deal with this disorder, without destroying it by fire, than to remove the bees from the diseased hive, take away all their honey and wax, and leave them without food until they have consumed all that they have carried in their honey sacs. Hungry bees, in a new and clean hive where they start over again, can free themselves from foulbrood.

Until the time of the invention of the movable comb hive, the average beekeeper knew but little of the life of the colony, and disease was permitted to run its course in most apiaries. Fortunately, it was not widely distributed in this country prior to that time.

Moses Quinby appears to have been one of the first among American beemen to recognize the true nature of brood disease and to find for himself a practical method of control, which was none other than the plan described by the old German master, Jacob, so long before. Quinby had started beekeeping in 1828, with little instruction available as to management of bees. In this connection it is well to remember that most of our present day practice has been developed since that time, and that this same Quinby was one of the first to succeed in making the business of honey production profitable.

That he was a close observer is apparent from reading his book, first published in 1853. He introduced the chapter on diseased brood with the statement that the subject was new, since he had never seen one thus headed. He stated that his first experience with the brood disease dated back nearly twenty years. A strong colony had cast no swarm and had gradually become so weakened that he feared to attempt to winter it. An examination of the combs revealed that most of the cells contained dead larvae which emitted a disagreeable stench.

Nowhere was he able to find any information as to what was the trouble. Most beekeepers of his acquaintance had never heard of it. Probably, where the disease was present, the bees had died and the combs were consumed by waxmoths, with the owner none the wiser. The worms were blamed for the loss of the colony. No book that he was able to consult mentioned such a difficulty.

As other cases developed Quinby followed the developments carefully and soon learned that once diseased a colony was doomed. He tried cutting out all the dead brood and leaving only the honey, letting the bees build new combs in which to rear brood. When disease again appeared, he assumed that the disease must be carried in the honey and, to make sure, fed some of it to healthy colonies. When these promptly developed disease, he recognized the source of infection. He then drove the bees into new and clean hives and usually succeeded in freeing the colony from the disorder. Thus, unaided, did this pioneer learn the source of disease and a practical method for its control.

So many cases developed that he made inquiry through an agricultural paper for a remedy, but those who replied advised that chilling of the brood or accumulation of filth during winter was the cause. Such causes appear to have been generally ascribed where the condition was recognized, and Quinby alone, in America, appears to have known the facts. He, likewise, found that he could safely feed the honey back to the bees after it had been boiled and all the scum removed. He advised careful examination of the brood area at frequent times, and the condemnation of all diseased colonies found at the close of the season. He stated that the honey was wholesome for human use if separated from dead brood.

Many years were to pass before anything was to be added to the discoveries of such men as Jacob, of the sixteenth century, and Quinby, of the nineteenth. It was not until scientists, at work in the laboratories with test tubes and microscopes, began looking for the minute organisms that caused all the trouble that the real secret behind the brood diseases was uncovered. That time marked the beginning of the end of the golden age of beekeeping. When secrets began to be unlocked by scientific men in laboratories, instead of by curious ones pottering about among their bees, men soon ceased to be beekeepers and became honey producers.