DISEASE IN BEES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 711, 10 January 1910, Page 6

DISEASE IN BEES.

V:;;' ; \TBpTO^ - AT-;TB3I::HTJTT.X;;:;,:>V '.■■Hutt'apiarists are'.being troubled wiffi .: a strange I disease that is killing - off the. ; . bees at a Tate that will deplete the hives : to'a serious extend .One resident at tho -:. >Ta'ita confesses to ha,ve lost half.of the', bees" he.: possessed, and is "hot tod ~sure" '■ ivhether he "will bo able:to' save- the -rest.. : , It is feared that -the causo of'.the'.troublo :." is the'idreaded Isle of Wight bee disease,: \ which- was .'first- discovered 'by r ;:apiarists,,' in the .summer .of .1904: .and ■has ravaged>' the, bee'counties of- the south of 'Sigi '■ land.- Writing of thiSydiscaseTm'June. i , last,' the: London "Daily Mail" says:— -■■..■>:, .-' "A,more serious menace to the ■- boe-keoping ;. industry ..could'::;not: .to:'.-. imagined,, for there is no: known remedy:, for tho scourge, tho bacillus •of whrcn.■'..■:.•;. , closely, resembles. tho: bacillus of plague." ■•: ,i! The 'disease 'can bo} detected >j from _- tho '"--• following■■signsrr-. :' ,; -.:.■• ■-..•■■,;v-.'.- : '. ■••:'" ::'-;;-:v>S':. l.'.'The bees.jfly'aimlessly, and' do: no-' work".: Tho- power- :of; .flight:,:gradualbj.. '- lessens,. and-' thoy.drop 1 , to ;■ tho : ground; ' •from weakness, ■ where they-crawl. about till thoy/'dio.-; ': l:-\ : <-) -';■"'-; :y ; - -i-S^i~ '■'■ " ,2. 3dauy,,.of -tho djseased.:.bees:'Vhav»;. , swollen"bodies,"'. which.- they'.aro; miable: . to : extend . fully. '■ Tho \ wings :'■:. am * often.,', dislocated,: but this is not invariably,tho:' : r case. ; : In a \badly T hifectbd., stock,';largo',. '■■:■■ ■ numbers'-of bees : are seen crawling.'about,..,-,', «y masses on the ground in'ifront, of 'the:,;.. live. ■■'.'. ■':.- ; Vv ; '"■■ ■'•!.-■ '■;■ :-; ! 4.;:.w :>''.}•' .The exporionco\ of h ; Isle','.■■ of y' Wight ■;;.. apiariste is that the' end. of,;,:May.Xaiid.,'-': Juno' (which coincides with our December,: and January) is the period in which, the/' disease!is most rapidly:-fatal, ; stocks-being,. frequently. dbstrpyed- in from; two, to}four ■";•-■. ! .weeks,..' .; /", ;\ v ',:.'■ '■*.■.. .■■:;;-^ , iX' -Xl''.''--'..-