1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



267 



to the beehive, one and one-half 

 ounces of sulphui- will be sufficient 

 for each tier of ten hives. Sulphur in 

 proper amounts may also be burned 

 in a room which is tightly closed and 

 the hives of combs well exposed to 

 the fumes. 



Paradichlorobenzene 



This strange looking language 

 names a chemical which is coming 

 into prominence as a fumigant and 

 promises to be effective against the 

 beemoth. The gas given off is heavy 

 and non-poisonous and is not inflam- 

 mable, which makes it 100 per cent 

 safe. It is obtained in flakes similar 

 to naphthalene flakes, and is used in 

 the same way as bisulphide. 

 Carbon Tetrachloride 



This chemical is also a liquid which 

 quickly evapoi'ates as a heavy, suffo- 

 cating gas and is sometimes recom- 

 mended as a fumigant. However, it 

 is not effective against the beemoth. 

 L. R. Watson, of Texas, who is a good 

 chemist, experimented with it to some 

 extent, but was unable to kill the 

 moths in the usual confinement of 

 tiered hives, even with large doses of 

 the gas. The gas is considerably 

 heavier than carbon bisulphide and, 

 while it tends to suffocate the moths, 

 and probably does kill many larvae 

 and pupje, the higher levels of air are 

 so free from it that the adult moths 

 collect in the upper parts of the tiers 

 and thus escape injui-y. Large quan- 

 tities of the gas, used in an abso- 

 lutely air-tight space, might be ef- 

 fective, but this would probably re- 

 quire amounts of the tetrachloride, 

 which would make the process more 

 expensive than the use of bisulphide. 

 Hydrocyanic Acid. 



The most effective of all iumigants 

 is produced when potassium cyanide 

 reacts with sulphuric acid to form 

 hydrocyanic acid gas, and there is no 

 doubt of its ability to kill beemoths 

 in all stages almost at once. Unfor- 

 tunately, however, every other form 

 of life that breathes it is also killed, 

 and only a chemist or a fumigant ex- 

 pert should handle it. It has a prom- 

 inent use against insect pests of many 

 plants, but requires tight containers 

 to prevent the escape of the gas. 



It is interesting to learn that one 

 of the chemists of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture tested its 

 use with combs of honey and found 

 that when four ounces of cyanide 

 were used to 100 cubic feet of space, 

 a dose four times greater than that 

 given dormant nursery stock, sealed 

 honey absorbed none of the gas. Un- 

 capped honey absorbed about 21 

 parts of the gas per million, but after 

 ■ exposure to the air for 24 hours there 

 were only 2.4 parts per million re- 

 maining. After standing for two 

 days the uncapped honey was safe for 

 consumption. 



A SUBSTITUTE FOR ROYAL 

 JELLY 



By J. A. Nininger 

 Those who have reared queens re- 

 alize how difficult it is at times to 

 secure royal jelly. It has been a 

 question in my mind whether the lar- 

 vae deposited on such small quantities 



of jelly find proper nourishment at 

 the start. I have adopted a simpler 

 method and one which, according to 

 my experience, gives as good results, 

 if not better. 



I prepare the cell cups as usual, but 

 instead of putting a bit of royal jelly 

 in each cell, I put in a drop of honey 

 from a comb filled with unripened 

 nectar. For this purpose I use a 

 match or toothpick. Any small stick 

 will serve. 



For grafting, I select a comb with 

 larvae of the desired age and shave it 

 down to a very shallow depth. Larv'ae 

 from 12 to 24 hours old are selected. 



I have found this method so simple 

 and satisfactory that I have aban- 

 doned the use of royal jelly alto- 

 gether. 



Kansas. 



DISCOVERY OF THE ACARINE 

 MITE 



An Account of the Investigations re- 

 lating to Isle-of-Wight Disease 



By P. Bruce White, B. Sc. 



In the opening years of the present 

 century a serious epidemic disease of 

 bees broke out in this country. The 

 earlier outbreaks were probably re- 

 stricted to the south of England, but 

 the disease is now disseminated 

 throughout the length and breadth of 

 the isles and has become the most 

 serious of the pests with which the 

 British beekeeper has to cope. As 

 the disease was first recognized and 

 examined in the Isle of Wight, it has 

 come to be known "faute de mieux," 

 as "Isle-of-Wight" disease. 



The disease is characterized both 

 by the symptoms of the individual bee 

 and by the disorganization of the 

 communal life of the hive. 



The onset of the disease in a stock 

 may be marked by various pre- 

 monitory symptoms. The foraging 

 bees, leaving and returning to the 

 hive, may show a certain listlessness, 

 lingering before the hive. Pres- 



Fumigating 



in a tight stack oi in 

 bodies. 



ently the first crawlers appear, bees 

 which, incapable of flight, crawl aim- 

 lessly on the ground. As the disease 

 progresses the number of crawlers in- 

 creases, and on warm days hundi-eds 

 of stricken bees may be seen before 

 the hive. The disease may run a 

 varying course; it may progress stead- 

 ily till the depleted and disorganized 

 stock perishes or may wax and wane, 

 often showing signs of periodicity. In 

 badly affected stocks the routine of 

 the hive is upset, foraging is half- 

 hearted, the hive becomes soiled with 

 feces, the brood may be neglected, 

 and the bees no longer withstand rob- 

 bers, which enter with impunity. It 

 is seldom, if ever, that a diseased 

 stock survives the winter. 



The stricken bee falling to the 

 ground in its attempt to fly from the 

 hive may, for a short time, perform a 

 series of short flights, a few feet in 

 length, but eventually it takes to 

 crawling. In some cases there is dis- 

 location of the wings; in others there 

 is dragging of the legs. Death is 

 probably due to cold and starvation. 

 The abdomen is usually found dis- 

 tended by an accumulation of faeces 

 in the intestine, which is filled to the 

 limit of its capacity. 



In 1907 Imms reported on the dis- 

 ease, but made no suggestion as to 

 its cause. He laid stress upon the in- 

 testinal symptoms. His work was fol- 

 lowed up by Maiden, who was of the 

 opinion that the site of the primary 

 disease was in the chyle stomach, 

 and suggested that an organism, 

 called by him bacillus pestiformis 

 apis, was the causal organism. In 

 1912 Fantham & Porter held that the 

 disease was due to the microsporidian 

 parasite, Nosema apis, mainly attack- 

 ing the chyle stomach. This view 

 quickly gained acceptance and "Isle- 

 of-Wight" disease was considered 

 identical with "Bee microsporidiosis" 

 and "Nosema disease." Later this 

 theory was called in question by An- 

 derson, of Aberdeen, and then by An- 

 derson and Rennie. Following up 

 this work, Rennie and Harvey showed 

 the existence of two distinct diseases 

 of the bees, Nosema disease and Isle- 

 of-Wight disease, each having its own 

 symptom-complex. 



A special joint committee of the 

 University and College of Agriculture 

 of Aberdeen was formed and with 

 funds provided by A. H. E. Wood, 

 Esq., of Glassel, Aberdeenshire and 

 the Development Commissioners, the 

 search for the cause of Isle-of-Wight 

 disease was renewed under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. Rennie, of the Parasit- 

 ology Department of the University 

 of Aberdeen. 



In June, 1919, the writer joined the 

 research to attack the problem on the 

 bacteriological side in Professor 

 Shannon's Pathological Department. 



An interesting excursion was first 

 made into the normal bacteriology of 

 the bee which brought to light some 

 interesting facts in the bacterial bi- 

 nomics of its intestine. The bacteri- 

 ology of Isle-of-Wight bees was then 

 taken up, but after much work no 

 clue as to the causation of the disease 

 was forthcoming. 



In May, 1920, however, the writer, 



