February, '17] PELLETT: BEE INSPECTION * 201 



that the plan now in operation in most states is not calculated to bring 

 the best results with the small appropriations available. 



In the beginning the appearance of bee diseases known as foulbrood 

 was a matter of grave concern to the beekeeper. Little was known 

 about either form, and methods of control were not certainly under- 

 stood. Practical men had found that by removing the bees to a new 

 and clean hive and destroying the old combs, including brood and 

 honey, the infection was frequently eradicated. 



The beekeepers were poorly organized and were slow in bringing 

 their needs to public attention. As a result, both European and 

 American foulbrood had spread into most of the northern states, before 

 a serious attempt at control was undertaken. All the laws for the 

 control of bee diseases with which I am familiar are similar in their 

 general provisions. The sole idea seems to be to give a 'state officer 

 authority to examine all the colonies in localities where disease is 

 known to be present, and, by the use of a rigid quarantine, insist on 

 the treatment or destruction of the diseased colonies. Had prompt 

 and decisive action been taken when the trouble first appeared, it 

 might have been stamped out as foot and mouth disease seems to have 

 been. 



The first and greatest difficulty which an inspector is called upon to 

 meet, is to cover thousands of square miles of territory in which are 

 located thousands of colonies of bees, with an appropriation not suffi- 

 cient to cover 20 per cent of the territory efficiently. 



Next to the lack of funds with which to follow the directions laid 

 down in the law, the great problem is to get men who are sufficiently 

 familiar with bee diseases and who have had suflacient experience 

 in dealing with the public to enable them to do efficient work. In 

 most states the work is paid for on a per diem basis. There is a 

 rush of work for a few weeks during the honey producer's harvest and 

 nothing to do the rest of the year. Since a man who is competent to 

 do the work of an inspector can make several times as much for the 

 same time spent, in an apiary of his own, it is necessary to be con- 

 stantly educating young men who are willing to spend their vacations 

 in this work for the experience gained. One who has not been respon- 

 sible for such work under such conditions can hardly realize the amount 

 of irritation that is constantly arising because of mistakes of one kind 

 or another. As soon as a man becomes trained to do the work in an 

 efficient and satisfactory manner, he is sure to find a more attractive 

 opening elsewhere. 



Much tact is required to deal with men who know little about bees 

 and care less. In the average locality where inspection is new, the 

 inspector will find men who don't believe that bees are subject to any 



