194 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



(5) INSPECTIONS OF IMPORTATIONS. 



One of the most important duties of this office has been the inspec- 

 tion of imported nursery stock, because of the great danger of the 

 Gipsy moth, the Brown-tail moth, and a number of other very seri- 

 ously injurious insects, as well as numerous plant diseases. In con- 

 nection with the Federal Horticultural Board men have been sent 

 to follow up every importation of trees coming into this State from 

 abroad. A detailed report of the number of importations and plants 

 inspected follows : 



Number of Number of 



Country Packages. Plants. 



France, 339 1,576,351 



Holland 4,001 733,545 



Belgium, 1,892 114,928 



Japan, 123 18,384 



England, 122 192,227 



Germany, 46 27,344 



Ireland 41 48,697 



Scotland, 4 6,006 



Trinidad, 12 7,576 



Italy 6 2,135 



Brazil, 1 500 



Bogota, 6 240 



Bermuda 6 12 



Denmark, 1 50 



Luxemburg, 1 198 



Total, 6,691 2,728,193 



(6) APIARY INSPECTION 



Beginning with the first of June of this year we had, for the first 

 time, at least, a fair amount of money available to start the Apiary 

 Inspection service. The bee-keeping industry of Pennyslvania is much 

 more important that is generally believed. There is more than one 

 million dollars worth of honey annually produced in this State. We 

 can name several persons who produce more than one thousand dol- 

 lars worth of honey each year. The value of bees kept in this State 

 is more than one million dollars, and the value of the bee fixtures 

 and accessories is fully as much. In addition to this millions of 

 dollars worth of money goes to waste as ungathered nectar in blos- 

 soms, because there are not bees to get it. The honey produced 

 is a clear gain in adding to our agricultural wealth. However, it 

 was found that bees were diseased by two diseases that were more 

 sure of destroying them than would be the Asiatic cholera and small 

 pox in a city of human beings. These diseases can only be de- 

 termined by one who is more or less familiar with tliem. What is 

 more remarkable is that by the proper kind of treatment of the bees, 

 and the destruction of the honey they have stored, w^hich is the sole 

 means of carrying the disease germs, they can be cured of these de- 

 structive diseases, and be built up to become useful colonies of bees. 

 Thus is can be seen that there is nothing to which the State can de- 

 vote a fair appropriation that would be more sure to yield good re- 

 turns than the Apiary Inspection service. 



The State of Pennsylvania was unusually fortunate in being able 

 to obtain the services of Mr. Geo. H. Rea, of Reynoldsville, Jefferson 

 county, who is not only a bee-keeper of many years experience, hav- 

 ing handled one thousand colonies during one year when he was 

 making this his specialty, but he is also a keen student of the sub- 

 ject, and a gentleman with a knack of getting along well with others. 



