10 July, 1919.] Bee Paralysis. 437 



the most vigorous stocks, a more or less immune strain of bees can be 

 established. Having established a comparatively immune strain of 

 bees, this immunity is not easily maintained. In the process of elimin- 

 ating paralysis there may be a less of colour and an addition of tamper, 

 and the apiarist comes to the conclusion that he must introduo© fresh 

 blood. Being unable to get it from a locality similar to his own, he 

 goes farther afield. He gets colour and gentleness, and, very likely, 

 also paralysis. Sometimes it does not show in the hives with the new 

 queens till the following spring. In the meantime some of the young 

 queens of his own strain have been mated to drones of the new kind, 

 and thus the predisposition toi paralysis is incorporated again in the 

 apiary. Incidentally, I should like to say here that there is often no 

 need for new blood, and queens are sometimes intrcduced only with 

 the idea of preventing in-breeding. There need be no' fear of in-breeding 

 as long as intelligence and common sense are used in selection of breeding 

 queens. When it is necessary or expedient to obtain queens from 

 unknown sources for breeding purposes, caution should be exercised, 

 and only a limited number of young queens raised during the 

 first season. If these and the parent colony pass through the following 

 winter and spring without indications of paralysis, then re-qvieening 

 can be practised on a more extensive scale. There is no cure for bees 

 affected with paralysis, and the only treatment at all effective is to 

 replace the affected and pre-disposed with others immune to the 

 disease. This is done, when the disease- is only of a mild type, by 

 replacing the queen with one of another strain. When a co ony "is 

 badly affected, it is necessary to change the brood at the same time, 

 otherwise there may not be enough active bees left in the hive by the 

 time the brood from the new queen begins to hatch. Even in the 

 worst cases, when there are not enough bees left to be worth saving, 

 there is no need to destroy or waste the brood. It may be given to 

 unaffected colonies without risk, provided that no bees are transferred 

 with it. To sum up the position in regard to bee paralysis, the fol- 

 lowing points may be recommended :—(l) Don't try to cure piralysis 

 witli sulphur, salt, or any other remedy; these only aflfect the symptoms 

 without removing the cause. (2) Don't breed from queens producing 

 highly-coloured bees and queens, particularly those having an abnormal 

 amount of brood — a sign of weakness. (3) Destroy and replace the 

 queens of any colonies showing the slightest symptom of paralysis, no 

 matter how beautiful and gentle the bees, or how prosperous the colcny 

 may be. (4) Introduce new blood cautiously, afld, as far as possible, 

 from districts in which paralysis has run its course. 



The Egyptian hen, it is curious to note, does not possess the sitting in- 

 stinct. This is attributed to the practice of artificial incubation, which is 

 generally followed in Egypt. It is contended by those who have investi- 

 gated the subject that the art of hatching eggs by artificial heat originated 

 in Egypt in very remote times.— Ttmes Trade Supplement, Februarv. 

 1919. 



