. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. April 3, 1919. THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL. 121 comb to saA"e time, food, and energy, may be, in the long run, detrimental. Are there any observed conditions which this theory would explain? There seem to me to be several. It would vindicate those who claim that skeps are healthier than bar-frame hives, since the comb is formed de novo; it would account for the queen being usually among the last sur- vivors, since she does not secrete wax, and could not suflfer in this way ; and it would explain why such in^-eterate swarmers as Dut^-li be
. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. April 3, 1919. THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL. 121 comb to saA"e time, food, and energy, may be, in the long run, detrimental. Are there any observed conditions which this theory would explain? There seem to me to be several. It would vindicate those who claim that skeps are healthier than bar-frame hives, since the comb is formed de novo; it would account for the queen being usually among the last sur- vivors, since she does not secrete wax, and could not suflfer in this way ; and it would explain why such in^-eterate swarmers as Dut^-li bees are comparatively free from this observation until further experience and experiment had confirmed or shat- tered its value, but we seem to have reached such an impasse that any new line of thought and investigation is a relief, therefore, I venture to ask for its serious consideration. I do not find the wax in the chyle stomach of diseased bees, but only in the small intestine and rectum. It is possible, therefore, that the substance is discharged by the Malpighian tubules, instead of taking its normal Photomicrograph of portion of contents of rectum of honey bee suffering from so-calLed " Isle of Wight " disease. P = Pollen grains which serve to indicate the scale. W=Particles. of wax, a very large one lying to the right. Almost all the small particles are wax; not merely those marked W. the disease, since they are constantly ex- ercising the wax-secreting function. The fact that swarms sometimes show it is difficult to explain on this hypothesis, but the trouble may arise from the sudden demand made upon organs impaired through generations of comparative dis- use. A more serious difficulty is that I cannot at present make the theory fit the apparently infectious nature of the disease, nor its sudden onset in a num- ber of hives simultaneously. It was my intention to say nothing of Whether the wax in the rectum exer- cises a poisonous, or any other effec
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Keywords: ., bookcentury, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondon, booksubjectbees
