There are all kinds of possible reasons for the death of bees, apart
from infections, and there is little doubt that bees dying of
non-infectious diseases were often included in casualties attributed
to the Isle of Wight disease. Irnms (1907) found the most successful
remedy was "feeding cane sugar" and in Cumberland, where the disease
was said to he serious in 1915 and 1916, with between 5 and 20% of
colonies "affected" according to a report of their beekeeper's
association at the time, it was said that  "1916 was a poor season,
many colonies were insufficiently provided for winter, and sugar was
practically unobtainable". It appears therefore, that starvation was
often to blame for some losses included in casualties alleged to he
due to the Isle of Wight disease.

So-called treatments for the disease must have killed numerous
colonies. One official report said diseased bees were short of
nitrogen, because their distended rectums contained much pollen. This
followed the mistaken belief that adult bees usually did not need
protein food and, when they did, that pollen was unsuitable; so it was
recommended that all pollen combs should he removed in autumn and the
colonies fed beef extract to make good their supposed nitrogen
deficiency. This would certainly kill or seriously cripple any colony
because pollen is essential for adult bees and beef extract IS
poisonous for them, mainly because of its salt content. The ruinous
idea of removing so-called "pollen-clogged" combs persisted, however,
and was widely practised for many years.

Other remedies that were recommended were phenol, formalin, "Izal",
sour milk, salt and other chemicals lethal to bees, all to he fed in
syrup to ailing colonies and as preventives to healthy ones. Other
reports describe colonies which clearly were crippled with foulbrood
and poison sprays were certainly used, probably with less
consideration than today for bees. Perusal of all the British bee
journals from their beginnings until about the 1920s shows that many
beekeepers eventually attributed all colony deaths that had no obvious
cause to the Isle of Wight disease. Some beekeepers were sceptical;
they pointed out that the symptoms were those of the fairly well-known
disease called paralysis for which there was no known cause, but which
had been described from time to time at least half a century before
the Isle of Wight disease.

from:
Diseases of Unknown Origin: The Isle of Wight Disease

in:
L. Bailey and B. V. Ball (1991)  "Honey Bee Pathology"

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