Report; of Apiary Inspector. 



61 



REPORT OF APIARY INSPECTOR. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the State Board ol 

 Agriculture : 



In presenting this, my fourth annual report as 

 Apiary Inspector, I take pleasure in assuring you 

 that a greater interest has been manifested in the 

 line of apiarian work during the year just closed 

 than in any preceding year of its history. 



This new interest is not displayed by the bee 

 keepers alone, l)ut by men and women from the 

 various walks of life who begin to recognize Api- 

 M. E. Darby. culturc as an important branch of agriculture and 



worthy of recognition and protection. In the work of inspection, many 

 parts of tlie State have been visited, and the work pushed to the best 

 advantage under existing conditions. Other parts have asked for help, 

 and will receive attention as soon as it is possible to give it. But it is 

 impossible for one man to do all the work and get over all the territory 

 in one summer. During the season for inspection work, 3,635 colonies 

 were examined, with the result that 140 colonies, or a little less than four 

 per cent, were found diseased. 



This is more than a fifty per cent gain in our efforts to control bee 

 disease, which certainly is a very, gratifying result to be obtained in 

 four years, when we consider the many disadvantages labored under 

 during this time. In connection with the regular work, I have taken 

 advantage of every available opportunity to meet with farmer's insti- 

 tutes, horticultural societies, land congresses and bee keepers' associa- 

 tions, where I could have the opportunity of explaining my work to the 

 people, and of giving them some information along practical lines. In 

 these efforts I have been very kindly received, and very much encour- 

 aged in the work. 



"While I am glad to be able to report a reasonable degree of success 

 in my effort to control bee disease and diffuse apicultural information 

 among the people, it pains me to make the admission that the larger 

 per cent of our population is yet almost entirely ignorant of the true 

 worth of the honey bee, and the part it performs in our national life 

 and activities. Taking the figures given by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 



