The use of the term dysentery to describe honey bees fouling the hive goes way back. This is from 1880:

> bees of a necessity must consume food during confinement; that if this confinement was continued longer than they could contain said food in their bodies they would have the so-called dysentery; that the so-called dysentery was no disease at all, but simply the effect caused by a too long confinement, that poor honey, or being disturbed so as to cause more honey to be taken than was required, uneasiness or disquietude of whatever nature which tended toward an undue consumption of honey, that confinement in warm weather, too few bees, dampness, or draft of air through the hive, all helped to produce the effect sooner or later ; while perfect quietude under favorable circumstances, in a well ventilated cellar or a properly constructed chaff hive, would tend to successful wintering. Also, that if we could have weather the year round so that bees could fly every day, no amount of honey dew, poor food, dampness or zero cold during the night would cause the so-called dysentery. The cause of confinement, of course, is our cold weather.  — Dysentery, or Wintering Troubles. GM Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. May, 1880

This is echoed 50 some years later:

> Dysentery, a winter disease of honeybees, has been kno;vn since Aristotle's time. Normal defecation in the honeybee takes place on the wing during the flight season. The wintering bee, confined to the hive, is deprived of this opportunity, and the fecal material accumulates in the rectum. An over-accumulation of feces may lead to a forcible discharge in the hive or on the alighting board; this occurrence is called dysentery. ...  1. Dysentery of honeybees is caused by excess moisture in the feces. 2. This excess moisture is due to the consumption of dilute food or water. It is generally produced by crystallization of the stores; this divides the honey or syrup into a solid crystalline portion and a liquid portion. The liquid portion contains an excess quantity of moisture. 3. Pollen, dextrin, minerals, burned sugar, and fermenting syrup do not produce dysentery. etc. — THE CAUSE OF DYSENTERY IN HONEYBEES By ERWIN C. ALFONSUS, Department of Economic Entomology, University of Wisconsin. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY June, '35

In 1967 Bailey attempts to clear things up:

> Infection by Nosema apis is commonly believed to make honeybees (Apis mellifera) void faeces in and on the colony instead of away in flight — a condition known as 'dysentery' by beekeepers. ...  Severe winter losses of honeybee colonies and poor growth or dwindling in spring were associated with dysentery. They were not caused simply by an enzootic infection with Nosema apis. Infection, although it is common, is usually slight in most colonies, and is spread by dysentery, but it is not the primary cause. — Bailey, L. (1967). Nosema apis and dysentery of the honeybee. Journal of Apicultural Research, 6(3), 121-125.

In other words, the term dysentery has been used to describe the condition long before Nosema apis was even known about, and as a cause it was ultimately discarded. This is just a brief glimpse at the long history of this disorder among honey bees.

PLB

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