78 PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING 



assuming that these are but mild forms of Isle of 

 Wight disease. 



Isle of Wight disease is caused by the presence 

 of a small parasite in the chyle-stomach, and in- 

 testines of the bee. This parasite {Nosema apis) 

 after passing through various stages, forms spores, 

 and it is by means of spores that the disease is 

 spread. It is a complaint which is very difficult to 

 diagnose at times, as the symptoms vary consider- 

 ably. In mild cases it may take the form of 

 'spring dwindling,' or that of a bad case of 

 dysentery, but in its more serious phases it is no 

 longer open to misconstruction. Several things 

 may happen even then, however. Frequently the 

 bees are found dead in a heap on the floor-board 

 of the hive, when the spring examination is made, 

 and at other times the bees vanish entirely, and are 

 never seen again. The very commonest form is 

 the spectacle of great numbers of bees crawling 

 about on the ground, and ascending blades of 

 grass and other objects, unable to fly, and exhibit- 

 ing distortion in several forms. The abdomen 

 may be distended, and appear to hang downward, 

 wings are often projected from the thorax at un- 

 natural angles, and one or more pairs of legs may 

 be paralysed. Occasionally, the combs are soiled 

 with excreta, but not always, although any fouling 

 of the hive interior gives good ground for sus- 

 picion. The worker bees are the first usually to 

 be attacked, and the queen is, as a rule, the last to 

 fall. 



