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 (Vosema apts) 
after passing through various stages, forms spores, 
and it is by means of spores that the disease is 
spread. Itisacomplaint 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, 
