24 Department Circular 287, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



parasite is found widely distributed in the United States, and under 

 the regulations provided for the enforcement of the importation 

 law the disease which it causes is not considered as one dangerous 

 to adult honeybees, but the fact remains that probably never in the 

 work of the Bureau of Entomology on this disease have bees been ex- 

 amined which contained a larger number of these intestinal para- 

 sites. If such a heavy infection were found in bees in this country, 

 one would ex]Dect there would be marked symptoms of abnormality. 

 It therefore appears strange that the beekeepers of Carniola have 

 never noted any abnormality of adult bees. If Carniolan bees have 

 the ability to harbor this parasite without showing any symptoms 

 or are better able to resist it than are other bees, this has not pre- 

 viously been proved. The presence of Nosema apis in Carniola will 

 not serve to confuse the situation with regard to importations from 

 that Province if the much-needed examinations of adult bees are 

 made by competent investigators. 



AUSTRIA. 



No information has been received by the Bureau of Entomology 

 concerning the details of any search which may have been made in 

 Austria to determine the presence of the Isle of Wight disease. A 

 letter has been received by the author from Alois Alfonsus, of the 

 Austrian Department of Agriculture, Vienna, written from within 

 the United States, in which he states that the scientific institute of 

 that department has so far been unable to find Tarsonemus woodi 

 in that country. He does not state how extensive a search has been 

 made or from what parts of the country bees have been examined. 

 No published report of this work has been reported to the bureau, 

 Austria is immediately adjacent to Switzerland, and Morgenthaler 

 [Ji-Ji) reports finding Tarsonemtis woodi on the contiguous border. 



While it is most essential that a serious effort be made to determine 

 especially whether Italy and Carniola are free from the dangerous 

 diseases of adult bees, it is also of the highest importance to Amer- 

 ican beekeepers that efforts be made to determine these facts for all 

 of Europe, just as soon as conditions are favorable for the prosecu- 

 tion of such investigations. The shortness of the distances between 

 important beekeeping regions in Europe and the considerable traffic 

 in bees which has long been customary throughout Europe make it 

 necessary that detailed studies be made on this point for each coun- 

 try, and it will doubtless be several years before the facts are ade- 

 quately known. 



Although beekeepers of all countries are at present interested in 

 the Isle of Wight disease, the investigation of its presence in many 

 countries is difficult or impossible because of disturbed economic 

 conditions. 



Investigations on beekeeping subjects were not systematically con- 

 ducted in most European countries before the war, and since then 

 some of the work which had been organized has been discontinued. 

 Several countries have so far made no provision for such work. 

 Under these circumstances it will probably be several years before the 

 distribution of the Isle of Wight disease on the continent of Europe 

 is fully known. It will be recalled that the discovery of the cause of 

 this disease was the result of work by members of a university staff, 



