BUKEAU OF ENTOMOLOGY. 651 



tinned, and much of this stock is not inspected at all, or, if inspected, 

 given scant attention. 



As the United States is practically the only important country in 

 tlie world without a rigid inspection and quarantine law, it naturally 

 becomes the recipient of goods of such quality or infestation as can 

 not find a market elsewhere. A notable illustration of this is seen 

 in the potato crop of Newfoundland, which is now known to be more 

 or less infested with the potato-wart disease. Canada has quaran- 

 tined strictly against Newfoundland's potato crop, which practically 

 diverts this crop to the United States. As an interesting result, 

 Canada has recenth^ amended her quarantine act to include the 

 potato crop of the United States, on account of our receiving, without 

 examination, potatoes from Newfoundland and the consequent risk to 

 Canada of receiving some of these ])otatoes again from the United 

 States or potatoes infested from this source. The short crop of 

 potatoes of last year had also the unfortunate result of vastly in- 

 creasing the quantity of potatoes brought in from abroad, and some of 

 this imported stock came from infested districts in Europe. All of 

 it, therefore, is under suspicion. A circular of w^arning has been 

 issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry in relation to these imported 

 potatoes, urging the farmers not to use such stock for seed, but such 

 warnings will necessarily fail to reach many, and imported diseased 

 potatoes may very probably have been planted. Every year's delay, 

 therefore, adds enormously to the risk Ave are running, and prompt 

 action by Congress can not be too strongly urged. 



WORK IN BEE CULTURE. 



The increased appropriation for apicultural investigations has 

 nuide it possible substantiallv to increase the work in this direction 

 during the past fiscal year. It has been carried on, as before, under 

 the direction of Dr. E. F. Phillips. The poor season of 1011 and 

 the severe winter of 1911-12 have served greatly to discourage the 

 bee keepers of the country, and the losses have been enormous. In 

 spite of this discouraging combination of circumstances, however, the 

 interest in the industry seems constantly to increase, and there is a 

 steady and encouraging growth in interest in the work of the bureau 

 on this subject. 



BEE DISEASES. 



The work on the etiology of the brood diseases of bees has been 

 continued, and during the fiscal year the cause of European foul 

 brood has been determined for the first time. This disease, which 

 causes such heavy losses in various parts of the country, is caused 

 by Bacillus vluton, an organism discovered and named by Dr. G. F. 

 White, of this bureau. Dr. A\Tiite now has the credit of having deter- 

 mined the causes of the two serious infectious disea.ses of the brood — 

 American foul brood and European foul brood. The more recent 

 woi'k is described in Circular No. 157 of this bureau. 



The paj)er summarizing the most imi)ortant publications on the 

 etiology of bee diseases, which was mentioned in the last annual re- 

 j.'ort, has been issued as Piullctin No. 08. This bulletin should be of 

 great value in aiding investigators and practical bee keepers to judge 



