February, 'IG] PETTIT: APIARY INSPECTION IN ONTARIO 199 



is delayed, a letter goes to the beekeeper which usually gets a re- 

 sponse. As far as possible the inspector looks after these cases next 

 season and burns diseased material in cases of neglect. 



In the central office the vertical system of cards and folders is used 

 exclusively for keeping records. These are filed by a geographical 

 numbering system which is easily explained. Each Ontario beekeeper 

 is assigned a number of seven figures — the first two for his county, the 

 second two for his township and the last three for his place among the 

 beekeepers of his township. His 5" x 8'' record card gives in condensed 

 form most of the information we have of him as- a beekeeper. There 

 is also a 3" x 5" card index of the card record, arranged alphabetically 

 by a numbering system, technicall}' called the "L.B. Automatic Index." 

 The list of beekeepers is on stencils for an addressing machine ar- 

 ranged geographically by numbers. This makes it easy to advertise 

 local meetings in any part of the province. It is also useful for sup- 

 plying lists of beekeepers to county secretaries, district representatives 

 and others. 



Practically every labor-saving device that it would be profitable to 

 use in an office of this kind has been secured. These include in ad- 

 dition to the addressing machine, a stamp affixer, envelope sealer, 

 duplicating machine and dictating machine. 



Without the means to inspect all apiaries in a few years, a definite 

 statement of the disease situation cannot be given. There is no hope 

 of eradicating disease for some time at least; but by education the 

 morale of the beekeeper is much improved, and with the passing of 

 the neglected farm apiary, the chief disease menace to amateur and 

 commercial beekeeping is removed. 



The following items, from the 1915 Annual Report on "Apiary 

 Inspection in Ontario," may be of interest. Twenty-one inspectors 

 were employed for what time they could spare from home during the 

 month of June. In the European foulbrood districts visits were made 

 to 391 apiaries, containing 5,367 colonies. One hundred and ninety- 

 four of these apiaries were diseased, the number of diseased colonies 

 being 1,387. In the American foulbrood districts, 611 apiaries were 

 visited, consisting of 10,825 colonies. One hundred and seventy-nine 

 apiaries were found diseased, the number of diseased colonies being 

 921. As previously stated, inspection in European foulbrood districts 

 was only on the outskirts. In manj^ cases the infection was slight and 

 was under control. The inspector's work consists mainly in warning 

 against the danger of black bees and weak colonies. 



The inspectors of American foulbrood report about the same per- 

 centage of disease as last year. This is encouraging as the failure of 

 the honey crop in 1914 and resultant robbing was expected to spread 

 disease. 



