24 The Bulletin. 



on the wild Black bees, and have not been so particular about 

 the introduction of Italians as would have been best. We are also 

 too prone to use the old log "gum" or crude plank box hive instead of 

 the modern frame hives. In consequence of these facts our yield of 

 honey is smaller than need be, the price received is lower than should 

 be, and the colonies are more easily destroyed by bee-moth than should 

 be. These difficulties will disappear or be gradually overcome with a 

 little closer attention to the details and fine points of the business and 

 with more general reading and study along these lines. Whether the 

 bee-Jceeper sells comb honey or extracted honey, Ids best interests will 

 be served if he will Italianize his swarms, keep them in hives with 

 movable frames, and keep them in strong condition. 



WHAT ENCOURAGEMENT CAN BE GIVEN THE INDUSTRY 



« 



The writer is not a bee-keeper and does not claim to be able to 

 advise in bee-keeping matters, except in such general matters as are 

 discussed in this Bulletin. Indeed, he knows nothing about the 

 business, except what he has learned in conducting this inquiry and 

 in averaging and tabulating the results. When we began this work 

 several bee-keepers at once expressed satisfaction that an effort was 

 being made by our Department to aid the bee-keepers, and from time 

 to time inquiries have come, which we have answered as best we 

 could. Fortunately, most of these were about the bee-moth, the 

 remedies for which are well known. But the bee-keeping industry 

 never has been, and is not now, sufficiently well organized, or suffi- 

 ciently important, or, at least, has not made itself sufficiently felt, to 

 bring about the employment of a skilled and experienced man to 

 especially aid and protect the industry ; and until the industry can 

 successfully do away with these obstacles, the employment of such a 

 man is not probable. 



Recently the State Department of Agriculture has added to its 

 staff of workers Mr. T. B. Parker, well known to the farmers of the 

 State. Mr. Parker has in the past been a practical bee-keeper, and at 

 the time was an exceptionally close student of bee-keeping matters. 

 Although he is now employed for other lines of work, our bee-keepers 

 can in future benefit by his knowledge when they send inquiries to us. 

 We realize that this, is not providing as fully and as satisfactorily 

 for the bee-keepers as we should like, but it is the best that can be 

 done in the present state of the industry. 



The United States Department of Agriculture at Washington has 

 recently increased its work in apiculture, and our bee-keepers can at 

 all times feel free to call on that Department for reasonable advice or 

 for publications on this subject. The man in charge of this work is 

 Dr. E. F. Phillips, Apiculturist, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



