766 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1917 



:^ FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



Disappearing Bee Disease 



rOn page 671 of our September issue we quoted 

 Mr. S. D. House, of Camillus, N. Y., as believing 

 that tlie cause of the Isle of Wight or disappearing 

 disease was due to the eating of too much pollen, 

 and a lack of honey or nectar. Mr. R. P. Holter- 

 mann, of Brantford, Canada, one of the most ex- 

 tensive beekeepers on the continent, and one who 

 has had a rather severe attack of the disappearing 

 disease this season disagrees with Mr. House, and 

 the following letter explains his reason for be- 

 lieving that the malady is due to a germ. — Ed.] 



Your editorial giving Mr. House's opin- 

 ion of the cause of Isle of Wight disease 

 in the September number of Gleanings is 

 before me. I will give briefly my reasons 

 for disagreeing with him and asserting that 

 the Isle of Wight disease is a germ disease. 



The symptoms in connection with the 

 diseas-e under discussion have been abso- 

 lutely unknown (so far as public records 

 go) for many years — in fact, until quite 

 recently. We have had damp seasons, we 

 have had poor seasons during which bees 

 gathered little honey and much pollen, and 

 yet I kept bees for 35 years during which 

 I came in contact with many beekeepers 

 without ever hearing of a disease such as 

 this. It must, then, be something more 

 than pollen and moisture. 



This year during the damp weather 

 I noticed a conspicuous and peculiar con- 

 dition in two apiaries. The bees would 

 rush thru the grass as if trying to get away 

 from a foe against which they had no power. 

 The four wings would be raised and the 

 pairs separated. They appeared to me to 

 be emaciated and light; and wherever there 

 was a bit of bare ground there could be 

 found a bunch of dead bees. Tliis disease 

 bears no resemblance to bee paralysis. I 

 had a .slight experience with that disease 

 fifteen years ago. Then the bees appeared 

 paralyzed, not active. They would bunch 

 up on a chip, entrance-block, or piece of 

 wood and appeared to be almost unable to 

 move. From widely sej^arated beekeepers 

 this season I have heard the report of symp- 

 toms similar to sucli as I saw among our 

 bees this summer. 



Having bees in ten apiaries and under 

 varying conditions I began to observe that 

 the disease showed up worst where the 

 apiary was much shaded, and where high 

 fences prevented a current of drying air 

 passing thru. We had a lot of cool and 

 damp weather during May and early June, 

 and the gi'ound and vegetation were almost 

 constantly wet. In the Ebei't yard I drew 

 the attention of one of my sons to a seri- 

 ous condition. In a few colonies (only 

 some colonies in an apiary appeared to 



have the disease) almost all the old bees 

 seemed to have (yes, had) disappeared, and 

 only young bees and brood were left in 

 the hive. This apiary was well shaded. 

 The Knisley yard was not so bad, but there 

 were lots of dead bees in the grass. This 

 apiary is fenced and shaded. 



Then I reasoned this way : The Isle of 

 Wight has a moist climate, and there bee- 

 keeping was practically wiped out. The 

 germ must have a moist atmosphere to give 

 it favorable conditions for doing its dead- 

 liest work. We have the disease among us ; 

 but it will not do us serious damage unless 

 the season is very damp, as the last two 

 seasons have been. As soon as the idea 

 struck me I made large openings in the 

 fences, let the air circulate to dry out the 

 ground partly upon which the bees stood, 

 and upon our next visit, some five days 

 after, we noticed an improvement. Of 

 course the weather was getting to be less 

 humid ; but judging from conditions in 

 these ten apiaries I would advise, for the 

 prevention of ravages from this disease, 

 that beekeepers have only a moderate 

 amount of shade in the apiary, and take 

 enough of a winter fence down during the 

 summer so as to give a free circulation of 

 air about the hives. I have no doubt 

 whatever that we would have had a larger 

 honey crop in the above-mentioned • api- 

 aries had the disease not been present. 



R. F. Holtermann. 



Brantford, Out., Canada. 



[Miss Fowls, whose article appears on 

 page 681, Sept., after reading the above, 

 says that her father didn't kick any boards 

 off his fence (because he didn't have any 

 fences), and yet the disease disappeared 

 anyway in a few days. Among Mr. Fowls' 

 six apiaries the one where the disease was 

 the worst this year was on high ground with 

 free ventilation between the hives. There 

 have been many cures suggested, such as 

 moving the hives a few feet, changing 

 brood, changing queens, sprinkling with 

 sulphur or salt, feeding medicated syrup, all 

 of which have seemecl to help. But what 

 shall we say when in so many instances the 

 trouble disappears of its own accord? How 

 can we tell whether the treatment is re- 

 sponsible for the cure or only incidental 

 to it? The source of the trouble would be 

 easier to locate if the disease did not mys- 

 teriously go away of its own accord ; and 

 yet we can be thankful that so far in this 

 countrv it does disappear in a short time. — 

 Ed.] 



