1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



665 





spring dwindling?) isdue, Dr. 

 Zander thinks, to Nosema apis. 

 He is not sure that it ever ap- 

 pears later than June. 



There can be no cure un- 

 less the bees can be furnished 

 with a new set of intestines, 

 and in considering preventive 

 measures two things are to be 

 kept in mind. First, a colony 

 not severely affected may re- 

 cover provided the queen re- 

 mains healthy and forage is 

 plentiful; second, that the 

 soiled combs are the chief 

 means of infection. 



A colony severely affected 

 should be put in a clean hive, 

 as much as possible on foun- 

 dation, and remaining combs 

 of brood placed where they 

 can easily oe removed. Then 

 the colony should be kept 

 warm and be well fed. As 

 soon as convenient, requeen, 

 since there is danger that the 

 queen may be affected so as to 

 succumb the following winter. 

 Infected hives must be thor- 

 oughly cleansed with hot soda 

 water, and the safest thing is 

 to melt up the old combs and 

 give the bees opportunity to 

 build new. 



The probability is that many a bee-keeper 

 will thmk this article has no interest for him, 

 if, indeed, he takes the trouble to read it 

 through; the wise bee-keeper will be glad to 

 be forewarned and to inform himself in ad- 

 vance. Nosema apis may at any time be- 

 come an unwelcome resident here. Are we 

 sure it is not here now? 

 Marengo, 111. 



ANIMAL 



PARASITES AS A 

 BEE-DISEASES. 



CAUSE OF 



Dr. Zander Discovers a Cause for a Dis- 

 ease of Mature Dees. 



BY ALOIS ALFONSUS, EDITOR OF BIENEN-VATER. 

 Translated by F. Greiner, Naples, N. Y. 



The 54th Wanderversammlung (conven- 

 tion) of the German, Austrian, and Hungari- 

 an bee-keepers was held in Weissenfels, 

 Saxony, Aug. 9, 1909. On this occasion, Dr. 

 Zander, assistant at the royal Bavarian insti- 

 tute of apiculture in Erlangen, delivered a 

 most noteworthy address on the above sub- 

 ject, which attracted a great deal of atten- 

 tion, being destined to shed some light on 

 the dark and somewhat unexplored chapter 

 of bee diseases. 



The causes of certain bee diseases have so 

 far not been fully explained; for example, 

 dysentery, also sprmg-dwindling (called 

 "May disease " by the Germans] . Dr. Zan- 

 der discovered in 1907 large quantities of 

 miniature egg-shaped structures in the mid- 

 dle portion of the intestines of honey-bees 



FIG. l.-THE INTESTINAL WALL OF A DISEASED BEE, MAG- 

 NIFIED ABOUT 500 TIMES. 

 a, the one-celled spores of Nosema apis; b, the closely bunched 

 spores almost obliterating the intestinal wall. 



having died in the springtime. His supposi- 

 tion of having to deal with the spores of an 

 animal parasite came true. Examination re- 

 vealed that it was a mono-cellular animal be- 

 longing to the family of the Mikrosporidien, 

 species Nosema. By the way, we have anoth- 

 er species of the Mikrosporidien which kills 

 so many silkworms. 



The Nosema apis, Zander, is a mono-cellu- 

 lar parasite which lives in the middle portion 

 of the bee's intestine, devouring anddestroy- 

 ing the tissues of it. It can not exist outside. 

 When the available food supply is exhaust- 

 ed, spore formation takes place. The spores 

 envelope themselves into shells which pro- 

 tect them, and thus they may remain dor- 

 mant, ready to begin life again as do foul- 

 brood spores. 



The micro-photos which Dr. Zander had 

 the kindness to place in my hands, and which 

 accompany this article, plainly show the 

 spores as miniature structures. They have 

 a length of ,,',,, millimeter and a width of ,,',,t 

 millimeter. Some of the spores are found 

 singly; in other places they occur in regular 

 heaps — see Figs. 1 and 2. 



If a spore finds its way into a bee's intes- 

 tine its shell bursts and the little animal par- 

 asite comes forth. It fastens itself to the 

 wall of the intestine, living thereon, multi- 

 plying with astonishing rapidity, entirely 

 consuming and destroying said wall. After 

 four days its work is accomplished, and it 

 enters again into the spore state. According 

 to Dr. Zander, numerous nosema generations 

 follow another, and the intestines seem com- 

 pletely filled with spores, with the result 



