Isle of Wight Disease in Hive Bees. 23 



IV— Observations and Experiments bearing on "Isle of Wight" 

 Disease in Hive Bees.i By John Anderson, M.A., B.Sc, Lecturer in 

 Bee-keeping, North of Scotland College of Agriculture, and John Rennie, 

 D.Sc, F.R.S.E., Lecturer in Parasitology, University of Aberdeen. 



{With Plate.) 



(Read 24th January 1916. MS. received 11th February 1916.) 



PAGE 



24 

 29 

 31 

 32 



41 

 47 

 51 



C0NTENT8. 

 I. Introduction ........ 23 



II. The Course of Isle of Wight Disease, as observed in three distinct localities : 

 (a) Isle of Lewis ..... 



Summary ..... 



(6) Craibstone — Spontaneous recovery . 



(c) Deeside ..... 



III. Investigations bearing on the relation of Nosema apis to Isle of Wight 



Disease ...... 



Nosema infection experiments 



Conclusions . . . . 



IV. Observations and Experiments bearing on the Infectivity of Isle of Wight 



Disease as distinguished from Microsporidiosis ... 52 



(a) Artificial Infection . . . . . . .52 



(6) Natural Infection ....... 59 



Conclusion regarding Infectivity ...... 61 



V. Explanation of Plate ..... . . 61 



I— INTEODUCTIOK 



These observations were commenced in 1909 by one of us (J.A.), whose 

 journal contains a detailed record of the history of each stock of bees in the 

 Island of Lewis. In the autumn of 1913 J.B. paid two visits to the Nicolson 

 Apiary at Stornoway, and subsequently arrangements were made, through 

 Professor J. Arthur Thomson, for continuing the research in association with 

 the Natural History Department of Aberdeen University. 



The work here reported on was carried out with the aid of grants 

 from the Development Fund and the University of Aberdeen through 

 the Joint Committee on Eesearch in Animal Nutrition of the University 

 of Aberdeen and North of Scotland College of Agriculture. In the 

 work we have been assisted by Mr John Innes, B.Sc, M.B., who has 

 carried out most of the examinations of bees for the presence of Nosema, and 



^ This constitutes a preliminary report, indicating the trend of the results so far 

 accomplished. Although the number of experiments is not large, stress is laid upon the 

 fact that they are the only ones on record in this country which have been made upon full 

 stocks of bees living under natural conditions. Further experiments are in progress, the 

 results of which will be recorded in a subsequent report. 



