92 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



APIARY INSPECTION 



The Legislature of 1911 enacted legislation providing for apiary 

 inspection in Pennsylvania. This became necessary because the 

 honey bees Avere becoming so diseased as to be annihilated in some 

 sections, and thus the State was deprived of an income of a million 

 dollars' worth of honey, and the rural people were suffering great 

 inroads on their possessions of over a million dollars' worth of bees. 

 The diseases of bees are readily discernible, and, in fact, are curable 

 by one who understands them. It is not difficult to teach an apiarist 

 how to recognize and treat bee diseases, but the man to give such 

 instruction must himself be a practical apiarist versed in a knowl- 

 edge of bees and bee diseases, and he must give the instruction by 

 the only effective manner possible, viz., by demonstrations. 



With the wise co-operation of the Legislature and the Governor, 

 Pennsylvania passed a Bee Inspection Bill that has been pronounced 

 by the apiary experts in this and other states as ])ractieal]y perfect. 

 It properly placed the bee inspection in the hands of the Economic 

 Zoologist of the Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, the 

 Legislature of 1911 did not appropriate funds for this inspection 

 service, and consequently little could be done excepting that which 

 was performed by voluntary inspectors. There were some advanced 

 beekeepers who knew the bee diseases and how to treat them, and in 

 their willingness to help their fellowmen volunteered their services, 

 and even paid their own expenses for the bee inspection work. How- 

 ever, this meant that the service could not be rendered systematically 

 and in a fully satisfactory manner, and the Legislature of 1913-1914 

 made a small appropriation amounting to only five hundred dollars 

 ($500) annually for apiary inspection in Pennsylvania. It can be 

 seen that this is less than ten dollars (|10) for each of the sixty- 

 seven (67) great counties of Pennsylvania, and of course it is im- 

 possible to do a great deal with this limited appropriation; but un- 

 der all circumstances it is best to do what is possible. Three able 

 inspectors were appointed at a salary of three dollars (|3) per day 

 and necessary traveling expenses when away from their homes on 

 this service. These persons were as follows: 



Mr. George H. Kea, Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, Pa. 



Mr. J. O. Buseman, Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pa. 



Mr. F. G. Fox, Pipersville, Bucks County, Pa. 



Each rendered earnest service to the Commonwealth for the lim- 

 ited salary mentioned above, and as a result the apiary inspection 

 work was definitely started in the right manner. 



It was found that in addition to the two important bee diseases 

 known as American foul brood and Black brood the bees of this 

 Commonwealth are troubled with the disease commonly known as 

 Bee paralysis, as well as by the Wax worms or moth, and by ants. 

 In many cases the owner did not know that he had such diseases 

 present, and in other cases he knew there was sometliing of the 

 kind wrong, but was not specifically acquainted with the trouble 

 and did not know what to do, and in other cases they knew of the 

 presence of the disease but did not know the remedies. 



The inspectors gave the bees proper treatment in shaking them 

 from the infected honey, being careful to destroy every drop of the 

 latter, and after getting the colonies started in clean hives found 

 that in nearly all cases the treated colonies were cured. In only 



