1909.] Disease of Bees in the Isle of Wight. 825 



died on the journey, but on being placed in a hive the bees 

 were sufficiently numerous to cover eight frames, which con- 

 tained an abundance of pollen and honey, but no brood. 

 This hive was kept in a warm room in an enclosure made of 

 muslin. 



By July 8th several hundreds had died. On that date a 

 frame of sealed Italian brood, containing about 2,700 larvae, 

 was placed in the hive. These began to emerge in a few 

 days, and by July 16th had nearly all hatched out. A few 

 had by this time begun to fly about, but the majority still 

 remained on the combs. By July 26th some of the Italian 

 bees appeared to be suffering from the disease, and a few 

 had already died. By August 10th the survivors of the old 

 stock had ceased to fly, and remained on the combs. The 

 Italians were now dying rapidly. On September 1st four 

 frames, which contained a fair amount of honey, were 

 removed as the bees were unable to cover them. In one of 

 the four remaining frames there were a few sealed brood 

 cells, from which the young bees hatched out during the next 

 few days. By September 29th the bees were only able to 

 cover two frames, and only about 50 Italians remained alive. 

 The stock had completely died off by October 26th. The 

 queen was seen on several occasions, and remained apparently 

 healthy up to the end. 



I am not acquainted with any experiments involving the 

 keeping of healthy stocks under these conditions, and con- 

 sequently have no means of gauging how far the artificial 

 conditions affected the course of the disease. 



The majority of my anatomical and cultural observations 

 were made on bees derived from this stock. 



If the opportunity occurs, I hope to continue these investi- 

 gations this year. I take this opportunity of recording my 

 thanks to Dr. G. S. Graham Smith, of this Laboratory, 

 for assistance and suggestions. My thanks are also due to 

 the Isle of Wight bee-keepers, who afforded me every op- 

 portunity of investigating the disease on the spot, and who 

 also sent diseased bees for examination, particularly 

 Mr. H. M. Cooper, of Thorley, and Mr. J. W. Cooper, of 

 Shanklin. 



