95 



weak in numbers but it built up rapidly, and on 12th August the report 

 was as follows : " The seven original combs are now quite inadequate, 

 and the bees have passed behind a double dummy and have built a 

 considerable mass of new comb which is filled with honey. This is a 

 highly prosperous stock." 



On 4th September, the stock was still in excellent condition. At this 

 date eleven months had elapsed since the Isle of Wight disease material 

 was served up to the bees, and throughout the whole of that period the 

 bees had been perfectly healthy, and no infection had resulted from the 

 experiment. 



No. 3. Shawhost. Second Experiment. September 1915. 



On 24th August 1915, the colons and chyle-stomachs of twenty-five crawl- 

 ing bees were taken from front of hives No. 10 of K and the worst stock 

 of H, Fiuuercy. Both stocks were very bad with Isle of Wight disease. The 

 day was warm and sunny, and there were many hundreds of " crawlers " 

 about in both cases. The intestines of all the bees (twenty-five in number) 

 were drawn out, and in every case the colon was congested with pollen in 

 a pasty condition. Most of the chyle-stomachs were purplish. These 

 were laid out in a row and allowed to dry — and on the following day 

 heaped together. 



The above-mentioned bee-material was mixed in a little water and 

 twelve samples examined. It consisted chiefly of pollen grains, a good 

 many of which were digested. A few epithelial cells of the chyle-stomach 

 in various stages of disintegration, some still showing the zymogen granules 

 present, were seen, also some which seemed intact. None of these showed 

 any sign of Nosema infection, and no free spores were observed. 



Bacilli, long and short, and also cocci were seen in the preparations. 

 This material was mixed with candy and sent to Lewis the same day, viz. 

 30th August. The local observer (Ewen) reported that on 4th September 

 he fed this to Shawbost bees, and describes the bees at this date thus: — 

 "I placed the compost on the top of the frames. The day was fine and 

 the bees were very active. The stock in the beginning of June was very 

 weak in numbers, but has done very well during the summer." This stock 

 is still under observation, January 1916, and apparently healthy. 



No, 4. Back Bees, Stornaway. June 1915. 



In this experiment old combs and hives were used. The bees originally 

 occupied only one of two hives, the other being left open in the hope that 



