688 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Act 200, P. A. 1913. 



An act for tlio suppress«ion of contajiions diseases amoiio- bees in the 

 vState of Mifhigan. by creating the olRce of inspector of apiaries, to 

 define the duties thereof, and to appropriate money therefor, and to 

 repeal act number sixty-six of the Public Acts of nineteen hundred 

 one. and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith. 



.The People of the State of Michigan enact: 



Section 1. The State Board of Agriculture is hereby authorized to 

 establish apiary inspection, and to appoint a competent person as 

 chief inspector, who shall under the direction of said Board, have charge 

 of the inspection of apiaries as hereinafter provided. Said inspector 

 shall investigate or cause to be investigated outbreaks of bee diseases, 

 and cause suitable measures to be taken for their eradication or control. 



Sec. 2. The inspector shall, when notified in writing by the owner 

 of an apiary, or by any three disinterested tax])ayers, examine all 

 reported a{)iaries and others in the same locality not reported, and 

 ascertain whether or not the diseases known as American foul brood or 

 European foul brood or any other disease Avhich is infectious or con- 

 tagious in its nature, and injurious to honey bees in their egg, larval, 

 pupal or adult stages, exists in such apiaries; and if satisfied of the 

 existence of any such disease, shall giA'B to the owners or caretakers of 

 the diseased apiaries, full instruction as to how to treat such cases: 

 Provided, That if the colonies in question seem to be in such bad con- 

 dition that treatment is not likely to be successful, or if it seems to 

 the inspector that the chances of obtaining a cure are remote, and of 

 this the inspector shall be the sole judge, it shall be the duty of the 

 inspector to destroy said colonies by fire or burying or by both, without 

 recompense to the owner, lessee or caretaker of said bees. He may 

 also inspect apiaries in localities not reported, in endeavoring to locate 

 new areas of infection. 



Sec. 3. The insjjector shall, if possible, visit all diseased apiaries a 

 second time after ten days from the time of the first visit, unless he has 

 reasonable assurance that his directions have been can-ied out, and if 

 need be, without recompense to the owner, lessee, or agent thereof, 

 he may destroy, in such manner as to avoid as far as possible, spread- 

 ing the disease, all colonies of bees that he may find still diseased, to- 

 gether with the hives and all honey and appliances which may spread 

 disease: Provided, That when the finding of the disease occurs in its 

 incipient stages veiw late in the season after the honey flow has ceased, 

 and after it is too late to successfully treat and feed, the treatment may 

 be deferred until the following spring, if such delay is necessary in the 

 judgment of the inspector. 



Sec. 4. If the owner, ])OSsessor, agent or lessee of an apiary, honey 

 or appliances, wherein disease is known to the owner, possessor, agent 

 or lessee to exist, shall sell, barter or give away or remove from tlie 

 premises, without the consent of the inspector, any bees from diseased 

 colonies, be they queens, drones, or workers, honey or appliances, or 

 expose other bees to the danger of such disease, said owner shall, on 

 conviction thereon be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor 



