The Occurrence of Diseases of Adult Bees, II. 19 



Because of the thoroughness of the search in Switzerland and the 

 wide distribution of the mite, the supposition of Morgenthaler that 

 the mite will doubtless be found in adjacent countries when it is 

 sought must have greater weight than the statements which have 

 appeared from these adjacent countries that the mite is absent, since 

 in all the adjacent countries except France no effort has been re- 

 ported of surveys of the kind demanded for definite statements on 

 this point. 



The Government apiary inspection service of Switzerland has 

 taken steps to prevent the spread of the Isle of Wight disease (35) , 

 and the methods employed are discussed later (p. 26). 



GERMANY. 



The situation regarding the Isle of Wight disease in Germany is 

 yet very indefinitely known. In a publication issued in 1922, Hirst 

 (32) states that apparently Acarapis woodi has been found only in 

 English bees, but he adds a footnote in which he states (p. 97) : 

 ''According to Vitzthum, Doctor Ellinger, of Weimar, has reported 

 that the disease has made its appearance in Germany also (Bayer- 

 ische Bienenzeitung, April 1922)." Count Vitzthum is a well-known 

 specialist in mites and Doctor Ellinger is the author of several papers 

 on bee diseases. There also appeared a statement from Alfonsus, of 

 Vienna (6), in which he states (p. 2) : "The occurrence of Tar- 

 sonemus woodi has now also been established in Germany * * * 

 (Archiv fur Bienenkunde, vol. Ill, 6, 1921)." The number of the 

 Archiv fur Bienenkunde to which Alfonsus refers contains two 

 articles (33, 39) on the Isle of Wight disease, but in neither case is 

 there any statement which can be interpreted as supporting the state- 

 ment quoted. 



The Bayerische Bienenzeitung to which Hirst refers is not regu- 

 larly received in the Bureau of Entomology, but the editor, Hof mann, 

 of Munich, kindly sent the copies of his journal which contained 

 articles on this subject. In the article by Vitzthum (57) to which 

 Hirst refers there is only the following statement on this subject: 

 " Doctor Ellinger of Weimar communicates that the disease has also 

 appeared in Germany." No additional information is given and it is 

 not stated whether this statement is based on an examination of dis- 

 eased bees for the mites or merely on the general symptoms observed 

 in diseased adult bees, which are known to be quite unreliable. Since 

 this statement appeared only a few months (November to April) 

 after Eennie's announcement of the discovery of the cause of the 

 disease, it appears somewhat doubtful whether any search for the 

 mite had been made, especially since these intervening months were 

 during the winter. In order to clear up this point, a letter was 

 written to Doctor Ellinger, who replied under date of January 10, 

 1923 : " Your question on the occurrence of the Tarsonemus woodi 

 in Germany I answer as follows: It is not yet certainly found in 

 Germany." Doctor Ellinger also kindly sent some advance proof 

 sheets of an article of his (23) on the diseases of bees which is soon 

 to appear in a new edition of Unsere Bienen (Ludwig, editor), in 

 which he makes no reference to the finding of the Isle of Wight dis- 

 ease in Germany. It would, therefore, appear that his statement to 

 Count Vitzthum was based solely on external symptoms, although 

 this is not stated. 



