.tt'NR 1, 1915 



457 



THE ISLE OF WIGHT DISEASE 



HY GKO. W. BULLAilOnK, I". IJ. :\I. S. 



An attempt has been iiuule to ic'ineseiit 

 tlie Isle of Wight disease as somethiiii>- new; 

 hut the literature of beekeeping- in England 

 atVorils evidence that a disease siniilai- in its 

 elfects lias from time to time ravaged the 

 apiaries of this eountry. Letteis written to 

 tile i>ri'ss during the exceptional mortality 

 among bees in the early 'sixties of the last 

 century describe symptoms identical with 

 those of the present epidemic and also 

 show thai the trouble 

 then had been known 

 for yeais as a pecu- 

 liarity aftecting the 

 beekeeping in certain 

 districts. 



The Italian bee and 

 the bar-frame hive 

 were both introduced 

 here in IS.")!), and trad- 

 ing in bees followed. 

 There is little doubt 

 that this trade has 

 much to do with the 

 severity of modern 

 epidemics. 



Much "beekeeping" 

 in this country is less 

 concerned with keep- 

 ing bees than in per- 

 suading others to do 

 so. Accounts of losses 

 wore therefore sup- 

 pressed owing to their 

 discouraging tendency. 

 An Isle of Wight bee- 

 keeper was the first to 

 break through this 

 conspiracy of silence, 

 and, as a consequence, 

 the disease became no- 

 torious as the Isle of 

 Wight disease. 



I have read thou- 

 sands of descriptions 

 by ot her beekeepers, 

 and have observed 

 many cases myself. 

 Beyond the death of 

 large numbers of bees 

 no symptom is present 

 invariably. While con- 

 fined to the hive by 

 severe weather in win- 

 ter the bees drop dead 

 in a heap on the Ihtoi- 

 board. In milder weath 

 er they may crawl out 



and die on or near the aligliting-board, 

 which is sometimes soiled with light or dark 

 signs of dysentery. At seasons when much 

 activity prevails among the bees death may 

 occur while they are out gathering. Tlie 

 dying bees may then be found under flower- 

 ing trees, on blossoms in the lields, or crawl- 

 ing about on roads and paths. The symptom 

 that usually attracts attention is numbers 

 of crawling and dying bees in front of the 



Ml. lo liliKiosiaplis of Ndseiiia. Ilcpiociucod liy pcniii^sjoii, tlie Board 

 of A'^'riculturo and His Majesty's Stationery Office. 



