Septembkr, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



681 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



Bee Paralysis or Isle of Wight Disease 

 Early this season certain indications of 

 disease began to ai)pear, altho at that time 

 they were not recognized as such. At one 

 time I remember mentioning that it was 

 strange to see so many old worn-out bees so 

 early in the season. Still there were really 

 no great numbers, and the matter was soon 

 forgotten. Again we saw a queen and a 

 few of her bees that apiaarently had a 

 headache, for they were rubbing their heads 

 most energetically. Later we noted a few 

 bees being pulled out at the entrance at a 

 time when there was no evidence whatever 

 of robbing, for honey left exposed for sev- 

 eral hours was not touched by the bees. 



When visiting one of our yards, July 16, 

 we immediately decided that the bees had 

 paralj'sis, for we found several colonies Avith 

 a lot of bees crawling about, bunching here 

 and there in the grass for five or six feet 

 all around the hives. A little distance from 

 the entrance the grass was several inches 

 high, and bees could be seen laboriously 

 climbing the grass only to tumble back help- 

 less before reaching the top or just as they 

 attempted to fly. On a closer inspection 

 one could see that some of their legs seemed 

 paralyzed, and were simply dragged along 

 as they crawled. Some were quite dumpish 

 while others tore about at an a'^iazing rate, 

 turning this way and that, rubbing their 

 bodies, heads, and legs, in so frantic a 

 fashion that sometimes they lost their bal- 

 ance and fell headlong. A few were seen to 

 hop in their efforts to fly. If they could 

 only succeed in getting a start some could 

 fly right off, and others would fall after 

 flying only a few feet. A few had their 

 "feathers" entirely worn off and were quite 

 black and shiny; others — in fact, nearly all 

 — were quite normal in appearance, and not 

 one was noted with distended abdomens. 

 At one hive we saw at one time as many as 

 fifteen or twenty struggling bees being 

 tugged at and unceremoniously liauled away. 

 I picked up a few of these, and, by the way, 

 found the stinging ai^paratus in perfect 

 working order. After watching these T 

 saw that they became dumpish; but when 

 breathed on they again went thru their wild 

 antics. Some would repeatedly raise their 

 bodies high up, and, with their front pair 

 of legs, appear to be pulling their tongues 

 out to an amazing length. After becoming 

 exhausted, they would let their heads fall 

 foi-ward, rolling a little to one side and 

 resting upon their mandibles. The well bees 

 paid no attention to them after removing 



them from the hive; but the sick ones ap- 

 ]iarently found some comfort in each other's 

 society and would bunch together, some- 

 times using their antennae to go over each 

 other's bodies, especially over the heads. 



We read all we could find on the subject, 

 and came to the conclusion that no one 

 knows much about it, but that, so far, it has 

 never proved very serious in the northern 

 states, and would probably disappear of its 

 own accord as soon as warm settled weather 

 arrived. However, two colonies were so 

 badly affected that the odor of dead bees 

 could be noted several feet away. So we 

 sprinkled sulphur on the dead bees in the 

 grass and also treated one colony with sul- 

 phur. Whether this did the slightest good 

 I cannot say ; for with the advent of warmer 

 weather all the colonies began to improve 

 and were practically well again in about 

 three weeks. 



The above description applies only to the 

 worst cases; but all of our 300 colonies 

 showed some slight trace of the disease. 

 Wesent a diseased queen and a few of her 

 workers to Dr. Phillips for experimental 

 puri^oses. He said he could learn nothing 

 from the bees, but had introduced the queen 

 and would watch for further developments. 



Wondering how extensively the disease 

 had spread, we visited most of the apiaries 

 near us, and one as much as twenty miles 

 away. Five of the yards contained from 

 about 20 to 105 colonies each, one apiary 

 being composed amost entirely of Italians. 

 Yet we found each colony more or less af- 

 fected, altho only two of the beekeepers had 

 noted anj'thing unusual in the behavior of 

 the bees. If inspected late in the afternoon, 

 one would not be apt to notice the symp- 

 toms, in mild cases. But on a bright day, 

 an hour or two before noon, the disease 

 appears to show up at its worst. 



Now as to results. We did not lose a 

 single colony, and in only one apiary did 

 we lose any appreciable part of the crop 

 because of the loss of bees. 



Our bees have been more cross this sea- 

 son than ever before. Even in the height 

 of the honey-flow, when no bee would touch 

 exposed honey, they would sting most 

 viciously. Since the season, by careful 

 manipulations it is possible to open one of 

 these same colonies without smoke and yet 

 find them quiet on tlie combs and not at all 

 inclined to sting. We wondered whetlier 

 the disease could have anything to do with 

 tliis characteristic. loxA Fowls. 



Oberlin, 0. 



