40 



not found them to be disease proof, although, when attacked 

 by the disease, they do not succumb nearly so quickly as native 

 stocks. Particularly was this the case with Dutch, Italian, 

 American, and Punic bees. There is no doubt that judicious 

 crossing of foreign bees with our own tends to increase vigour 

 and disease-resisting powers. We observed this particularly 

 in the case of Dutch crosses. 



It will also generally be found that foreign bees imported 

 from districts which are low-lying and wet, and where there 

 is a lack of sunshine, will give the best results in withstanding 

 the disease; at least this has been our experience. 



With regard to resistant strains of native origin, it may be 

 interesting to observe that the smaller-sized bees appear to have 

 greater disease-resisting powers than larger-sized bees. These 

 hardy little bees are often to be found living in trees in wood- 

 lands, and in the roofs of castles and houses. 



The work on the production of immune strains of bees is 

 being continued, and it is hoped that we shall shortly be 

 in a position to re-stock disease-swept districts in the College 

 area from our apiary at Kilmarnock. 



