Isle of Wight Disease.—This is one of the most mysterious and deadly diseases which affect bees. Further, it attacks the hives in winter when circumstances are all in its favour. Large sums of money have been spent by bee-keepers, and a vast amount of time and thought given by pathologists in the endeavour to trace its cause and remedy, but hitherto without avail.
The usual symptoms are similar to those of dysentery, with a loss of power of flight. In attempting to fly, an affected bee falls to the ground in a helpless condition.
As in dysentery, however, it is the older bees that are affected; the brood and young bees seem immune. It would seem, therefore, that the winter feeding on pollen has something to do with it. Probably because pollen is more of a natural food to them, and because their air organs are not fully developed, the disease does not affect the young bees through that channel.
There are many so-called remedies which claim to be efficacious, but I have no faith in them except in very mild cases. I fail to see how a remedy can be administered when a hive is attacked in mid-winter and the bees are clustered, or when it reaches the stage when paralysis occurs. In such a case there is nothing to be done short of destruction.
If, however, a bee-keeper should have reason to suspect the conditions of a hive, and it is at all possible to feed it outside, I would recommend that the method should be tried, for no harm would be done and possibly a certain amount of good. The food given should be thinner than usual—to counteract the effect of the farinaceous pollen food—and contain double the ordinary amount of salt. The hive should be cleared of any dirt, and the floor-board washed over with a weak solution of carbolic acid.
Should the combs become full of syrup as the result of this feeding, take some of them out and place them near the feeder, replacing them with empty ones.
The outside feeding encourages the bees to take exercise, which is all to their advantage, but it is not permissible where there are large numbers of hives in the district. In such a case a quilt of open material must be placed over the hive instead of the several thick ones, and inside feeding adopted.
Chilled Brood.—Although this cannot in every instance be accounted a disease, yet, unless care be taken, there is no knowing where an incipient case will end. The cause is suggested by the name— the brood in the cells becomes chilled, and the effect is death. As a rule, when this has happened the cappings of the cells become black, and the appearance of an affected comb is something akin to that presented by foul brood. Whenever a hive contains any quantity of chilled brood, the bees should be given to another hive, and the queen, together with the combs, destroyed, unless the hive be a very strong one. In such a case the worst half of the combs can be removed and their space filled with a dummy.
If new combs are added it will generally be found that it is merely to afford facilities to the spreading of the evil. It is useless to add bees to an affected hive, for they will immediately fly away from the danger zone.