1907.] Bee Disease [n the Isle 01 Wight. 115 



The Board have now received a report from Mr. A. D. Imms, 

 M.Sc. of Christ's College, Cambridge, on a disease of bees, 

 which has been prevalent in the Isle of Wight for the past 

 two or three years. This report will 



Bee Disease in the be published in the next issue of this 

 Isle of Wight. Journal. The disease in question seems 

 to have first broken out in the summer 

 of 1904, in it)o6 it spread very rapidly, and at the present 

 time it is prevalent over nearly the whole island, and in many 

 localities it is practically an impossibility to keep bees at all. 

 The Isle of Wight bee-keepers term the disease " paralysis," 

 but its symptoms are not those of paralysis. As a result of 

 the investigations, which have been made up to the present, 

 it appears that the disease is one of the digestive system, 

 and might be described as distension of the hind intestine. 

 The colon and adjacent part of the rectum are enormously 

 distended with a congested mass of material consisting chiefly 

 of pollen grains. The distended colon exerts pressure on the 

 large abdominal air sacs of the tracheal system and so inter- 

 feres greatly with their function The insect in this way is 

 unable to expand them with the air, which is necessary for 

 flight, and this feature, coupled with the additional weight 

 in the digestive canal renders the insect incapable, when badly 

 diseased, of flying about. The movements of the legs are 

 not impeded, but it only seems to have energy to crawl about 

 in a lethargic fashion. The fact that it cannot fly, is not 

 however, due to paralysis of the wing muscles. 



Affected stocks in the winter show symptoms similar "to 

 those of dysentery, and there appears to be some connection 

 between the dysenteric conditions noted in the diseased hives 

 and the disease under consideration. The death of the bees 

 seems to be brought about finally by blood-poisoning, partly 

 by the accumulation of toxins derived from the congested 

 mass of waste material in the colon and to some extent by 

 the imperfect oxygenation of the tissues owing to the pressure 

 exerted on the abdominal air sacs, 



The demand tor nitrogenous loud seems to be one of the 

 most marked characters of the disease, but why the demand 

 should arise is a question which it is not at present possible 

 to answer. 



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