146 EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



front of the hive and raked up the dead bees every night and burned 

 them, and some have taken off the bottom of the hives and let the bees 

 drop, and given them more ventilation too. There have been ever so 

 many different suggestions, and among the people who have tried 

 these different things there is always somebody bobs up and says: 

 "Yes,. that is the very thing to cure the disease," they have tried it 

 and they. know it will cure it. 



I seriously doubt whether any of those cures will really cure the 

 disease. When we had the disease we tried several times to get reme- 

 dies, and it was very noticeable that all the colonies got well just about 

 the same time, quite regardless of which treatment we used or whether 

 we used any at all. And a short time ago I read in an old bee journal 

 where somebody was telling what should be done, but it was a rather 

 impossible cure, I think for black brood, and Dr. Miller replied. He 

 said: "I will tell you just what to do for that disease; you just paint 

 your honey house. That is what I did, and my bees got well. 



A Member. — What did you do? 



Miss Fowls. — Well, I will tell you what we did do. We tried 

 several different things, and they all got well anyway. (Laughter.) 



A Member. — How long, by the way, did this continue, from 

 start to finish? 



Miss Fowls. — Sometimes it only continues just a few days and 

 then it disappears. Other times it Avill continue for several months, 

 and there are instances where it has continued the whole season. And 

 David Running in Oregon told me a short time ago that he had it 

 even in his bee cellar, after the bees had been put in his cellar. So 

 that was another condition that varies. 



A Member. — What time of the season do you first see it? 



Miss Fowls. ^I think it is usually about the opening of the 

 honey flow, ])ut that also varies. But Mr. Beyer says that he had it 

 three times in one season, it disappeared and came back. 



A Member. — I was just going to say that in our country we find 

 it at all times, all times of the season. 



Miss Fowls.' — Yes, I think that is true. Different ones have 

 reported that too. There have been different natnes that have been 

 given to the disease, and some say that it is not the disappearing 

 disease at all, that it is paralysis, but I don't think we need to quarrel 

 about that. Whatever it is, it is very noticeable with all these different 

 diseases. Isle af Wight, paralysis and disappearing disease, that in all 

 the very bad vases they haye the same things that we have been men- 

 tioning as distinguishing characteristics; we find them all present in 

 this same disease under cfifferent conditions. AVhether it is similar 

 to the case of European foul brood that Dr. Philhps Avas just speaking 

 of, that some one bacteria bobs up that"^ gives us this special combina- 

 tion of symptoms, whether that is true or not I can't say. But all of 

 the symptoms that have been given for Isle of Wight and bee paralysis 

 and disappearing disease are all present in this one disease, unless we 

 say the disjointed wings that they mention in bee paralysis. I don't 

 know what they mean by those disjointed wings. But we do know 

 that those wings are abnormal. , And so whether the exciting organism 

 is the same or not I can't say( but the distinguishing symptoms are. 



