GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 





hive. These bees oiawl ui> bhules of grass 

 and sometimes get together in small clus- 

 tei-s. Crawling is an indefinite term used 

 to denote moving slowly, running swiftly, 

 or advancing by short leaps in attempts to 

 rise on the wing. The bowel in a crawling 

 bee is often, but not invariably, loaded with 

 pollen residues. 



Stocks or swarms, apparently healthy, 

 from the same affected district, when placed 

 several miles apart have been known to 

 manifest this crawling symptom on exactly 

 the same date many months after their ar- 

 rival among new surroundings. Stocks may 

 store abundant surplus, and show no signs 

 of disease during the 

 summer and autumn. 

 Shortly after being 

 jacked down for the 

 winter they have died. 

 The facts suggest that 

 the apparently rapid 

 spread is due to simi- 

 lar conditions acting 

 on disease latent in a 

 large number of 

 stocks. 



Epidemics in this 

 country coincide with 

 spells of wet years, 

 and a wet breeding 

 season appears to be 

 an important factor in 

 favor of the disease. 



Queens, drones, and 

 workers are affected. 

 The queen often sur- 

 vives the workers, 

 probably on account 

 of her greater vitality. 

 When her death pre- 

 cedes that of the work- 

 ers the crawling symp- 

 toms usually disap- 

 pear so that queenless 

 stocks are not suspect- 

 ed. 



I have seen stocks 

 exterminated when no 

 sign of brood disease 

 was present. Sealed 

 brood from a mori- 

 bund stock, when plac- 

 ed in a wire cage and 

 incubated, has hatched 

 out successfully. 



Microscopic examin- 

 ation usually reveals 

 the presence of para- 

 sites in the cells lining 

 the stomach of a crawl- 

 ing bee, and these 



jiarasiles are believed to be young forms of 

 Xasema apis. Spores of this organism are 

 less commonly met with in this country. 



A " Report on the Isle of Wight Bee 

 Disease " was issued by the Board of Agri- 

 culture in May, 1912; and by permission of 

 the Board and of His Majesty's Stationery 

 Office I reproduce some micro-photogTaphs 

 of Nosema and also a map illustrating the 

 spread of the disease in a small heavily 

 stocked area. On this map the apiaries 

 which developed the disease in 1909 are 

 represented by black squares; those which 

 developed the disease or died out in 1910, 

 by stars; and those which developed the 



How Isle-of Wight disease spreads in a small, heavily stocked area. 



Reproduced by permission, the Board of Agriculture and His 



Majesty's Stationery Office. 



