118 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 14 



Under the area cleanup system of foulbrood control, as shown in 

 papers published elsewhere, from thirty-three to sixty-six percent, of all 

 the diseased apiaries in a county clean up completely the first season. 

 Something o^'er one-half of the others free their apiaries from the last 

 traces of disease during the second season, and the few remaining require 

 somewhat drastic action on the part of the inspectors during the third. 

 In the meantime clean apiaries do not in our experience acquire infection 

 in any appreciable numbers during an area cleanup campaign. 



Practically every state apiary inspection law prohibits, as that of 

 Wisconsin did for over twenty years, the movement of material which 

 the beekeeper knows to be infected. Directl}^ in the face of this provi- 

 sion, however, American foul brood has spread from state to state and 

 county to county until the serious condition which is facing all the upper 

 Mississippi Valley states has developed. With these regulations in 

 force, 35 to 45 per cent, of the apiaries in Jefferson, Milwaukee, Manito- 

 woc, Calumet, and Dane counties, Wisconsin, became infected with 

 American foul brood. At the same time an even more serious situation 

 developed in three or four counties northwest of Milwaukee, and along 

 the Wisconsin river in Richland and Sauk counties. In parts of these 

 areas beekeeping has been practically abandoned as a result of the losses 

 from disease. 



When the Wisconsin apiary inspection law was rewritten in 1919, the 

 problem of controlling the transportation of diseased apiaries was very 

 clearly in mind. It was not felt practicable to require an inspection 

 certificate for the movement of all used apiary material and all bees in 

 the state. The expense of sending inspectors to all parts of the state, 

 in case bees are to be moved only short distances or frcm one point to 

 another in heavily infected territory, would be disproportionately 

 expensive. At the same time it seemed to be undesirable to attempt 

 to handle the problem by means of regulations which would specify 

 that bees could be moved either (a) less than six miles or (b) within the 

 same county, or some provision of that kind because of the fact that such 

 a regulation would be as impracticable to enforce as the old one. 



The method finally agreed on by the members of the State Beekeepers' 

 Association who interested themselves in this problem, and by the State 

 Department of Agriculture, was that of requiring a permit from the state 

 inspector in order to sell, give away, or move bees or used bees supplies 

 under any circumstances. The apiary inspector was then given power 

 to refuse to issue such permits whenever there seemed danger of the 

 distribution of disease or until it was determined by inspection that the 

 apiary or material was free from disease. This regulation applies to 

 transportation companies as well as to beekeepers. 



