The Occurrence of Diseases of Adult Bees, II. 13 



French Alps. This finding was confirmed in the report of the pro- 

 ceedings of the December 21, 1921, meeting of the Societe Centrale 

 d' Apiculture de France (55). Berland (12) later discussed methods 

 for identifying the mite. 



In March, Professor Mamelle (#), of l'Ecole Rationale d' Agri- 

 culture de Grignon, asked French beekeepers to send him specimens 

 of bees for examination whenever they find any evidence of disease, 

 and it would appear that he took up the study of the Isle of Wight 

 disease at about that time. At the meeting of the Societe Centrale 

 of April 18, 1922, he reported (36) that the Isle of Wight disease 

 had made its appearance in several Departments of France, especially 

 in Maine-et-Loire, Cote-d'Or, and Saone-et-Loire. Whether these 

 records include the first published record was not stated, but from 

 their location it would appear quite improbable. Two of these 

 Departments are not many miles from the Cantons of Switzerland 

 in which the disease was found at about the same time. It was an- 

 nounced (3) that a committee of four men holding the rank of pro- 

 fessor in various French institutions had undertaken to study the 

 diseases of bees, and in the same month Professor Mamelle, a mem- 

 ber of this committee, addressed the Societe Centrale (26) on this 

 subject. 



In June Giraud and Sevalle (28) gave a summary of the work of 

 Doctor Eennie and recorded some recent instances of diseases of 

 adult bees in France, without, however, stating definitely whether 

 the mite was found in the diseased bees. Without this information 

 the record lacks significance in the present discussion. 



A later record of the distribution of the Isle of Wight disease in 

 France is to be found in a notice (37) in the advertising section of 

 L'Apiculteur for July, 1922, which was an announcement regarding 

 the work of Professor Mamelle, presumably written by him or at 

 any rate published at his request. He thanks beekeepers who have 

 sent him several hundred specimens of adult bees and brood for ex- 

 amination and explains his delay in transmitting his diagnoses, after 

 which the following statement appears : " Regarding the acarine 

 disease (Isle of Wight disease) it can be affirmed that the disease is 

 found somewhat throughout France, but does not seem to present 

 the great injuriousness as in England." 



In an article written in October, 1922, Bouvier (14), another 

 member of the committee which is investigating bee disease in 

 France, gives some additional records of the finding of the disease in 

 France and adds that it is almost certain that there was an outbreak 

 of the disease in Ardennes in 1919. He states that the disease is 

 " found nearly throughout France,'' and definitely records the dis- 

 ease as present in four Departments not previously recorded — Basses- 

 Pyrenees (adjacent to Spain), Lot, Ain, and Hautes-Alpes (adja- 

 cent to Italy). This makes definite records for seven Departments 

 of that country. The definite records are all from central and 

 southern France. Nothing has come to the Bureau of Entomology 

 from French sources to justify a belief that the cases of Isle of Wight 

 disease in France are directly traceable to recent importations from 

 England, nor has any announcement of any regulatory means for 

 the control of the disease in France reached the bureau, and seem- 

 ingly no quarantines have been established as has been claimed (5) . 

 Bouvier is inclined to believe that Tarsonemus woodi may also be a 



