120 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 2 



As fast as the returns came in they were arranged preparatory to 

 recording by county, town and name of bee keeper, corresponding to 

 the arrangement of the record file. Recording was done on the type- 

 writer, in symbols and abbreviations. Thus "8 L" stood for eight 

 frame Langstroth hive; "It" or "It.x" represented Italian bees or 

 Italian hybrid: "E. F. B." designated European foul brood. If a 

 bee keeper was reported "deceased" or "out of the business" it was 

 found best to so mark his cards and retain them in the files. 



Gradually as the work progressed, through the fullness and char- 

 acter of reports, representative apiarists were selected and designated 

 "Informants." These served as correspondents, and in many cases 

 were asked for details of certain interesting local conditions. In some 

 instances informants assisted in obtaining replies from neighbors who 

 were indifferent in responding. In three cases very valuable and de- 

 tailed information was received on local nectar floras. The discover- 

 ing of reliable correspondents was an exceedingly valuable feature of 

 the work. 



The results of the writer's study in ]Massachusetts will illustrate 

 what is possible in a state where no definite knowledge of conditions 

 was previously available. In the first place more than 2,100 bee keep- 

 ers were located, which was several hundred more than recorded in 

 the 1900 Census. Between sixty and seventy per cent, of these re- 

 ported. The size of crops were obtained. It was possible to learn the 

 prevailing types of hives and to what extent the old-fashioned box 

 hive still exists. Foci of American and European foul brood were lo- 

 cated. Lists of the most important honey plants were made up. The 

 extent of the trade in queen bees and colonies of bees' and the extent 

 to which bees are used in cucumber greenhouses was ascertained. Some 

 sections of the state were found more progressive than others. Such 

 things are not afforded bv the Federal Census. 



Tuesday Afternoon Session, December 29, 1908 



The meeting was called to order at 1.00 p. m., with President S. A. 

 Forbes in the chair. 



President Forbes : The first paper on the afternoon program will 

 be presented by Mr. C. E. Hood. 



