No. 4.] STATE INSPECTOR OF APL\RIES. 133 



Queens affected. 



I am convinced that the very great mortaUty among queens following 

 sprajdng in bloom can best be explained [by the assumption] that queens 

 receive poison directly from the honey sac of the worker either as food or 

 drink, a thing difficult to prove. 



As recently as November, 1915, a gentleman of Woburn 

 writes that he is certain that the poison kills the adult queens, 

 adding that the "mortality is likely to occur as long as there is 

 any honey or pollen containing poison stored in the combs." 



The Brood. 

 In 1910 Mr. William Hahn, pharmacist, Newton Center, 

 brought to the wTiter's attention a series of carefully made 

 observations, which have been borne out by other observers since. 



I have at different times examined colonies affected [bj^ poison] without 

 my being able to find any trace of foul brood. The brood is not affected 

 in any instance, but the field bees die by the thousands, each morning the 

 ground around my hives being covered with dead or dying. . . . No dead 

 larvse, no odor, only a gradual dying of the old bees, and a consequent 

 dwindling away of the whole colony. 



Another writer also says: — 



The mortahty is entirely among the adults; the only brood that is not 

 normal is that where the larvae have died from lack of nursing. 



Symptoms from the West. 



In any yard located in the fruit belt, in the early morning, and just 

 after the bees had begun to fly lively, the ground in front of the hives 

 would be hterallj'' covered with sick bees trjdng to fly, or crawling along 

 the ground, while at anj'- time of day the dead bees could be found all 

 about. 



The effect of the spray poison is quickly apparent, the bees hopping 

 along the ground, unable to rise, and those which do not yet fly exuding 

 a yellowish or brownish watery mixture, which can readily be seen on the 

 ground and on the hives. On crushing the dead bees, this yellow excretion 

 will be seen to exude. ^ 



> "Gleanings in Bee Culture," Vol. 43, p. 6, January 1, 1915. 



