84 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



PROPOSED W^ORK FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1901. 



Aside from the general investigations which the office has been 

 prosecuting, the nature of which will have been gained from the pre- 

 ceding paragraphs, it is proposed during the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1901, to conduct an investigation of the habits of the codling moth 

 in tlie far Northwest, as authorized by Congress. This investigation 

 is necessitated by the apparent, but not well-understood, difference in- 

 the habits of the insect in that part of the country from those sections 

 where it has been carefully worked up and where its control is simply 

 a matter of intelligent care and some small expense. The proi)osed 

 continuation of the investigation of Blastoi)haga in California and of 

 the reintroduction and practical use of the South African locust fungus 

 and other matters have already been referred to. The emergencies 

 of the coming season may alter plans to some extent, and undoubt- 

 edly, as they always do, will introduce some unexpected feature which 

 will interfere with ordinary investigation work. 



SUGGESTIONS AS TO ESTIMATES FOR THE YEAR 1902. 



With one exception, the appropriations made for the fiscal j'ear 

 I'JOl are satisfactory. A like amount, with a slight addition herein- 

 after mentioned, will serve to carry on the work planned for 1902. 

 In the clause appi-opriating for entomological investigations in the 

 appropriation act for the year 1901, an additional investigation, 

 namely, that uj^on the ravages of the codling moth, was inserted, 

 and the sum of 12,500 was added to the amount previously appro- 

 priated. A special plea had been made f(n- the appropriation of an 

 additional amount of $2,500 for apicultural investigations, and the 

 Entomologist is unable to decide whether Congress intended the addi- 

 tional §2,500 appropriated to be used for the codling-moth investiga- 

 tion or for apicultural work. He therefore suggests that in the 

 estimates for 1902 a specific additional amount of $2,500 be asked for 

 for apicultural work, and that tlie purjjose of this additional appro- 

 priation be distinctly specified in the appropriation bill. 



The work that could and should be done under such an appropria- 

 tion would include the following: The continuance of the comparison 

 of honey -gathering qualities under various conditions of different 

 varieties of bees and first crosses of the same; further tests of meth- 

 ods in queen rearing; making of outline maps, which Avould show the 

 areas occupied by important honey-yielding plants; investigation of 

 the possibilities in apiculture in Alaska, Porto Rico, and the Philip- 

 pine Islands; preparation and publication of bulletins on special fea- 

 tures of the apiarian industry. A fourth edition of Bulletin No. 1, 

 new series, " The Honey Bee: A manual of instruction in ax)iculture," 

 Avill probablj^ be needed during the 3'ear, when a revision of some of 

 its pages will be advisable. It is hoped that the introduction of the 

 lai-ge bee of the East {Ajjis dorsata) may be undertaken in accordance 

 with the announcement of the Secretary of Agriculture on page 13 of 

 his last Annual Report to the President. Much other experimental 

 work in apiculture which it is desii-able to undertake suggests itself, 

 but many, even of the lines indicated above, must remain untouched 

 unless some definite sum can be set apavt for the work. 



