59 



sip the dew on the grass. When the chyle-stomach of the new host is 

 reached, an amoeba escapes from the spore, penetrates one of the cells of the 

 gut-lining, and starts to grow at the expense of the cell. Two or more 

 parasites may enter the same cell, but even one by repeated subdivision 

 may fill the cell with spores. 



II. Some Experiences in Lewis, Outer Hebrides. 



Specimens were first sent to Cambridge from Lewis in October 1911, at 

 the time of the second outbreak of disease in the Island. The specimens 

 were from two stocks, and these are Nos. 54a and 546 in the table on 

 page 47 of the 1912 report. Dr Graham-Smith examined these himself 

 and reported "many young stages" of Nosema. Destruction of both stocks 

 was advised, but they were watched for a few days longer, and only one 

 was killed. The other, a colony of American Golden Bees, completely 

 recovered, wintered in excellent order, and never again displayed crawling 

 symptoms. A stock which "crawled" during the following January was 

 found by Dr Graham-Smith to contain Nosema in all stages. It was allowed 

 to die out, and became extinct on 29th February. In the summer of 1912 

 another stock displayed "crawling" in a very marked degree. Specimens 

 were sent to Dr Graham-Smith, and finally, in July, the remnant of the 

 stock, with combs, was despatched to Cambridge. They were kept for some 

 time there, and in those which died Dr Graham-Smith found " nothing 

 very special." 



In June 1913, there was in Stornoway a very typical case of Isle of 

 Wight Disease. The stock affected was at full strength, crowding ten 

 standard combs, and fully occupying a section crate of the usual size. The 

 crawling bees could be found all over the garden on a fine day, and the other 

 symptoms of the disease were very marked. A number of the " crawlers" were 

 examined for Nosema, but no spores were found. Specimens (" crawlers ") 

 were sent as usual to Dr Graham-Smith. Dr Porter, who had now been 

 entrusted with the work, made the following report with regard to the 

 specimens sent : " The bees examined contained some young stages of the 

 parasite. One had a very few spores. There is no doubt that Nosema exists 

 in them, at any rate in some, which act as parasite carriers." 



I was much interested to learn from this report that Nosema could not 

 always be found in " crawling " bees, because this agreed with my experience 

 in Lewis. By this time I had examined a large number of bees for spores 

 of Nosema, and the result had been surprising. I had no difficulty in 

 getting the spores, but these were found in bees which appeared perfectly 

 healttiy rather than in bees which were displaying symptoms of Isle of 



