January, 1916. 



American Hee Jonrnal i 



'pebrine'of the silkworm caterpillar. 

 The name applied to this organism is 

 Xoscma <(//s, this designation having 

 been applied by a German scientist by 

 the name of Zander, who first made a 

 critical study of the cause of the dis- 

 ease. The germs attack the middle 

 portion of the intestine, which is eaten 

 away by the disease. The minute active 

 spores of the parasite accumulate in 

 the head of the bee, particularly about 

 the roots of the tongue. 



"The disease is spread through in- 

 fected honey, according to Zander. 

 Hives decimated by the disease are 

 attacked by robber bees and the para- 

 sites are thus carried in the stolen 

 honey from one colony to another. No 

 appropriate common name has been 

 suggested for the disease, although the 

 term bee malaria ' might very appro- 

 priately be used. The name 'Isle of 

 Wight disease ' has also been applied 

 to it as it seems highly probable that 

 our disease is identical with the malady 

 that swept over considerable areas of 

 Europe. 



"As to the symptoms of the disease, 

 they are striking, and you will not 

 readily confuse it with anything else 

 that destroys the bees. As soon as the 

 disease attacks a colony, the bees will 

 be found in a dead or dying condition 

 upon a limited area of the ground im- 

 mediately in front of the hive. When 

 the attack is severe the ground may at 

 times be fairly carpeted with dead bees. 

 The insects seem to be unable to fly 

 back to the entrance of the hive and 

 crawl about until they perish, or until 

 they are dismembered and carried 

 away by the wasps. 



"Considerable variation seems to 

 exist in the susceptibility of the sev- 

 eral hives in the apiary. Certain stocks 

 seem to be relatively resistant. I have 

 been keeping just a few hives for ex- 

 perimental purposes and for my own 

 pleasure, and I find that of three that 

 wer; attacked two were entirely de- 

 stroyed while the third one recovered 

 and is now in apparently excellent 

 condition, with no bees dying so far as 

 I can see. About the same story comes 

 to me from the other beekeepers who 

 have suffered. 



" As to the distribution of the dis- 

 ease, I may say it has been reported 

 from a number of localities in west- 

 ern Washington, and Dr. Phillips writes 

 me from Washington, D. C, that it has 

 appeared in several sections of the Mid- 

 dle West, notably in Wisconsin. It 

 appears also to be present in California. 



"While I was absent from the city 

 about a month ago, my assistant in- 

 forms me that some person from east- 

 ern Washington called on me to secure 

 advice concerning a bee-disease, which 

 from the description given is evidently 

 the same thing as we have with us. I 

 did not secure the name of the person 

 or his address, but I understood he 

 was from the Yakima district. I hope 

 you are not visited by the malady, but 

 it is safe to predict it will in due time 

 make its appearance in all sections of 

 the country where beekeeping is prac- 

 ticed. 



"As to remedies, none have been 

 suggested that seem likely to be effec- 

 tive. The prevention of robbing, to- 

 gether with the destruction of the hives 

 seriously affected, seems to be a wise 



precaution. It does not seem likely 

 that a suitable medicine can be fed to 

 the diseased bees. Requeening from 

 resistant stock will probably help mat- 

 ters out in the long run. I wish I could 

 suggest something that would be more 

 immediately beneficial." 



The Xosema afis mentioned in this 

 letter was described simultaneously in 

 the American Bee Journal and Glean- 

 ings in Bee Culture, in November, 19011. 

 In 11)10, in the August number of the 

 American Bee Journal, the present 

 editor supplied information concerning 

 the different causes ascribed atdifferent 

 dates to this malady. English scien- 

 tists had discovered a bacillus which 

 they called flaci/lus depilis, and which 

 they thought caused the disease. 

 The word di-pi/is was given because 

 the bees attacked with the disease 

 often lose their hairs and become 

 shiny before death. Cheshire called 

 the same disease "bacillus Gaytoni," 

 because a Miss Gayton had supplied 

 him with diseased bees. 



Previous to the Zander discovery, 

 the Germans also had described a 

 micro-organism, which they called 

 mucoy-mucido, and which is described 

 in Thos. W. Cowan's book, "The En- 

 glish Beekeepers' Guide Book." 



A similar disease, or perhaps more 

 correctly several similar diseases of 

 the same kind have been noticed in 

 widely separated countries, in France 

 as Mal-de-Mai, or vertigo, in this coun- 

 try as paralysis, from the North to the 

 South, and from California to Florida. 

 In Italy a similar sickness was given 

 the same name as in France, Mal-di- 

 Maggio. In the Province of Ancona, 

 it made terrible ravages among the 

 bees several times in wet springs. 

 During our visit there, one of the most 

 active beekeepers assured me that 

 there was more or less of the disease 

 apparent among the bees during the 

 entire summer. 



In the " Rucher Beige," May and 

 June, 1914, a Mr. Bage described sev- 

 eral forms of "fullness of bowels," 

 which he called " refertum pollinis, 

 refertum viscini, refertum dextnni, 

 refertum nutriciae." We wrote to this 

 publication for more ample informa- 

 tion, but the war was just declared and 

 we have not only heard nothing from 

 the editor of the " Rucher Beige," but 

 do not even know whether he is dead 

 or alive. If he reads these lines we 

 would be glad to hear from him. 



Now as to the remedi s proposed : 

 Mr. Poppleton. of Florida, sprinkles 

 the combs and bees of the diseased 

 colonies with powdered sulphur. This 

 kills the diseased bees and they are 

 carried away and a cure seems to re- 

 sult. The brood must be removed pre- 

 viously as the sulphur would kill it. It 

 is a very heroic treatment. The Ital- 

 ians use a syrup made of honey diluted 

 with hot water and in which herbs with 

 tonic properties have been boiled, such 

 as thyme, lavender, ginger, savory, etc. 

 This is fed to the diseased colonies. 

 The English do not seem to succeed in 

 eradicating Isle of Wight disease, ex- 

 cept by renovating and disinfecting 

 their hives. 



Dr. Zander recommends giving the 

 bees salt water as a preventative and 

 cure. 



Mr. E. G Le Stourgeon, head of the 

 Southwestern Bee Company, of San 



Antonio, Tex., says that in his opinion 

 the disease is caused by excessive mois- 

 ture, lie succeeds in stopping it by 

 shaking the bees of diseased colonies 

 on dry combs. 



Excessive moisture is usually present 

 where the disease exists. The Isle of 

 Wight, where it is most deadly, and its 

 vicinity in England are very d mp 

 countries. In our locality, the disease 

 is to be found, at its incipiency, after 

 long, cold winters, when a wet spring 

 follows. We often thought it caused 

 by constipation of bees that had been 

 confined a long time to the hive. In 

 France, Italy, as well as in many parts 

 of the United States, it follows spells 

 of damp, unpleasant weather, that has 

 confined the bees to the hive. 



Whether Xoscma apis is really the 

 cause of this malady, or only an accom- 

 panying symptom may be ascertained 

 after experiments which will require 

 specific knowledge and must be con- 

 ducted in special laboratories. Xosema 

 apis has been found in healthy bees in 

 small ntimbers, but this is not an evi- 

 dence either way, since the causes of 

 disease appear to originate throughout 

 the world. It takes particular condi- 

 tions for their spread in an injurious 

 way. 



A New Bee Disorder in South- 

 ern California 



BY T. E. PLEASANTS. 



THERE has recently appeared in a 

 few apiaries in my territory a dis- 

 ease apparently of the adult bee. 

 It also affects the larva to some extent. 

 This at first caused it to be taken for 

 European foulbrood. The adult bees 

 lose all energy, crawl out of the hive, 

 tremble and die. A colony becomes 

 gradually weaker and weaker, some- 

 what as they do in paralysis. But we 

 have been unable to find any in the 

 swollen condition as in paralysis. One 

 beekeeper told me that his had acted 

 somewhat as though they had been 

 poisoned, rolling out of the hive, quiv- 

 ering, and soon dying. In some hives 

 there would be dead bees an inch deep. 

 But as there is no evidence or any way 

 of their being poisoned, I think it is 

 just symptoms of the same disorder. 



Mr. John F. Green, who first called 

 my attention to the trouble, is recently 

 from New York, and has had a great 

 deal of experience with European foul- 

 brood. He is convinced, as I am, that 

 this is something entirely different 

 from either that disease or paralysis. 

 Mr. Green and I spent several days 

 among the apiaries showing the symp- 

 toms just described, and he told me he 

 had tried all means in his power to 

 check the disease. He has caged the 

 queen, requeened, etc., and while in 

 some yards he had good results, in 

 others all efforts resulted in failure. 

 This would show that the fault does 

 not lie with the queen, as the same 

 stock of queens would help in some 

 instances and fail in others. Mr. 

 Green's No. 3 yard is only about a mile 

 and a half from No. 7, but over a moun- 

 tain. No. 7 is badly attacked by the 

 disease. No. 3 is in the finest condi- 

 tion of health. 



This disease seems to be similar to 



