February, '21] fracker: foul brood control 119 



Application blanks were devised, making request for certain informa- 

 tion in regard to the material to be moved. These were rather widely- 

 distributed throughout the state to officers of the_ county associations and 

 to beekeepers who were likely to desire to move bees. When an appli- 

 cation is received, either the permit is immediatel}' granted and sent by 

 return mail, or the application is referred to a local inspector who makes 

 an examination of the apiary. 



The regulation has now been in force for eighteen months. During 

 1920, 420 applications have been received, of which 26 came from bee- 

 keepers in southern states who desire to ship package bees to Wisconsin 

 under the federal postal regulations, inspectors being lacking in their 

 respective states. These were granted for the one season of 1920, but 

 all states who engage in shipping bees, except Alabama, have now ar- 

 ranged for inspection for 1921. Of the remaining 394 which were from 

 Wisconsin beekeepers, all were granted except six which were refused 

 on account of the serious danger of the distribution of the disease, two 

 withheld for some months pending treatment and re-inspection, and five 

 withdrawn by the applicant. 



These figures are particularly interesting from a practical standpoint, 

 as of course no information could be secured in advance in regard to the 

 magnitude of the problem of controlling local movements of apiar^^ 

 material. We now know that if the clerical and inspection staffs are 

 organized in such a way that from 450 to 600 applications can be handled 

 per year, about one-half of them coming in between March 15 and June 

 15, the problem can be handled satisfactorily. 



In Wisconsin permits are granted immediately upon receipt of the 

 application in the following cases : (a) Apiaries in clean or moderately 

 clean territory which have been inspected and found free from disease 

 within the past twelve months ; (b) apiaries in heavily infected territory 

 which have been inspected during the same season and found free from 

 disease; (c) regardless of disease conditions, if the movement is to be 

 less than three or four miles ; (e) for the shipment of old comb to founda- 

 tion factories in tight containers during December, January, February, 

 and March. 



Outside of these classes special inspections are made. The latter 

 have been such a small poq^ortion of the total, however, that the total 

 cost of making special inspections has been about $234.60, while the 

 total cost of handling the clerical work has been even less. The number 

 of applications from apiaries which were inspected during the season, 

 either as a result of special application or in the regular course of inspec- 

 tion, was 165. ^ 



