Jan. 28, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



65 



the disease, it must be treated or it is a violation of the law, 

 and the man allows you to inspect or treat his bees. 



Mr. Pottenger — There is a man keeping bees near Kan- 

 kakee, who says he would like to see someone come into his 

 vard. He would not permit anyone to come in and see it 

 at all. 



Mr. Whitney — If you had the Wisconsin law he would. 



Mr. France — The first summer out I had to meet men 

 at the gate with a shotgun or a bulldog, who demanded me 

 to—. 



A Member — The official has the authority of a sheriff, 

 and if they undertake to bother you, give them over to the 

 authorities, and you treat the disease. If a man interferes, 

 put him luider cover. 



Mr. Smith — That's what we want. 



Mr. France — I would suggest that in order to get that 

 law it v.'ill be necessary to show how much benefit your As- 

 sociation, through your inspector, has had through the ap- 

 propriation, and how much more has gone undone because of 

 the need of this law. 



Mr. Smith — We w-ill have a report of that kind. 



Pres. York — The legislature meets a year from this 

 winter. 



Mr. Kanenburg — Why didn't they put in that clause in 

 the first place? When we put in our bill we were a little 

 later than the men of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, so of course our bill was a little too late. If that 

 clause had been in, I suppose we would have gotten the law 

 just the same. I know Representative .Austin would have 

 gotten that just as well as the law we did get. 



Mr. Smith — We interviewed the members of the Ap- 

 propriation Committee and they refused to put anything in 

 in a compulsory way; said that it would not pass, and there- 

 fore we put it in in this way. We thought this would be an 

 entering wedge. 



Pres. York — It was either that or nothing. 



Mr. Kanenburg — This law was put out of the tracks al- 

 together, and if it hadn't been for Mr. Austin we wouldn't 

 have had it. 



Dr. Miller — As j\lr. Smith has placed before us, they 

 would do nothing about a law if you insisted on putting this 

 compulsory clause in it. They said we will give you the ap- 

 propriation. The question was. Shall we take the appropria- 

 tion and get a little done by it? and I believe they were very 

 wise in taking it. We haven't any foul brood law. Let's get 

 one. He can tell them at the next legislature. Here, you gave 

 us so much, and we can do so much good with that, but we 

 need a law if we are going to do any good. 



Mr. Smith — The idea was this : By getting this appro- 

 priation — of course, it was late last summer when we got it 

 into our hands, and too late to do anything to amount to 

 much, and we thought this winter we could have pamphlets 

 printed on this subject and distributed all over the State to 

 every bee-keener, and published in the farm journals, and 

 especially in the bee-oapers, and in that way we thought we 

 could reach the people so that the bee-keepers would assist 

 us in having a law passed that would make it a penalty, and 

 I think we can do that. We expect to have quite a lot of 

 material printed this winter, and mailed out to all the bee- 

 keepers we know. 



Mr. Wheeler — One question in regard to how many peo- 

 ple were helped by this law. How many are there here who 

 were helped by the foul brood inspectors of Wisconsin and 

 Michigan? I would like to know who they are. and what 

 report they give. A great deal depends upon what they re- 

 port, to know what we want. We have listened to the in- 

 spectors, now let's listen to the people who have been helped. 



Mr. Wilcox —There isn't a man., ivoman or child here, 

 or elsewhere, but what has been helped directly or indirectly, 

 for everything that helps to nromote the bee-keeping industry, 

 helps neighboring States. It helps all who buy honey, bees 

 or supplies; it helps all who have any dealings whatever with 

 bee-keepers, and a foul brood law, in fact any law. that helps 

 the Wisconsin bee-keeper helps you. You are helped by our 

 law, and it is morallv certain that all the good we do is 

 shared, indirectly at least, by all. 



Mr. Wheeler — Has ' Mr. Wilcox been helped, or anv of 

 his neii^hbors that he knows, so that the disease has been 

 stamped out? 



Mr. Wilcox — If vnn hud the smallpo.x here in our cnm- 

 munitv the Board of Health would exterminate it. 



Mr. Wheeler — We are not talking about smallpox; I .mi 

 talking about foul brood. 



Mr. Wilcox — It is the same kind; it is an infectious dis- 



ease, and it spreads rapidly and far distant. Our Wisconsin 

 law is copied after the State Veterinary law, and is carried 

 for contagious diseases among live stock with the same 

 powers and duties, and all are benefited because we a/TC bene- 

 fited. 



Mr. Meredith— I will say this in regard to those being 

 benefited. Last year I brought a comb in here, not know- 

 ing what the condition of it was, and I found it foul brood, 

 and by following up the treatment as suggested by the Wis- 

 consin inspector I have cleaned up my yard of what little I 

 had. So I have been benefited by knowing that my bees had 

 foul brood, and by using the suggestions about taking care 

 of it. 



Mr. Abbott — How long has Wisconsin had a foul-brood 

 law? 



Mr. France— Our law now has been running seven years. 



Mr. Abbott — It ought to show results. 



Mr. France— I don't like to be personal, but going over 

 into Mr. Wilcox's district, I found apiary after apiary that 

 they said they hadn't gotten any honey from for years, and 

 they called it bad luck and a poor season. Another season 

 I came back there and they said they had the biggest crop 

 of honey they had had for years. Now, as to the amount of 

 seven years' work, I have cured over il,ooo cases of it, and 

 I don't know of but three places where they had it that they 

 have it to-day. What would you do if you had ii,ooo cases 

 of some very contagious disease? 



Mr. Abbott— I want the real gist of it. You may have 

 cured ii.ooo cases, but if the ii,ooo cases are cured, are there 

 22,ooo cases left? Here's the point: A noted stutter doctor 

 had a great many patients coming to him, and he had a 

 world-wide reputation, and people were all hunting him up. 

 There was a man going along the street who wanted to be 

 treated. He met a man and asked him about this doctor. 

 He said, "Well, I — I — have known him; he — he — he— 

 c—c— cured m— me." Now, then, that's the question. Have 

 you done it that way, or is it being wiped out of these places? 

 I am inclined to think that it is being wiped out. Can you 

 wipe it out? 



Mr. France — We will never wipe it out until all the 

 States have the law. Illinois has imported it. Over four 

 or five times I stopped it coming into my State. To-day I 

 know of it in only five counties, and when I started it 

 was in so. 



Mr. Wheeler— That's Mr. France. Now, the question is, 

 if after Mr. France goes into an apiary and treats it, is that 

 apiary forever cured of it, or apparently for one year or a 

 little time? He may lay it to some other State, or someone 

 else in the neighborhood, but I have my doubts about it, and 

 I would like to know. Stick to the same question that I put 

 first. Are there people here who, after six or seven years, 

 have had foul brood permanently cured by Mr. France or any 

 other State inspector? 



Mr. Horstmann— I have cured foul brood. I know that 

 they can do it as well as I can, and people are bound to be 

 benefited. I had foul brood just about as bad in my apiary 

 as I ever heard of. or knew of, and I don't believe there was 

 a bit last vear, and I had any amount of it year before last. 

 We want a foul brood law in this State so that the inspector 

 will have a right to go in and examine bees and treat them. 

 I would never hunt up an inspector to come and treat my 

 bees. I would dig right in and treat them myself. The peo- 

 ple who will not treat their bees are the ones we want to 

 get after, and if there was a foul brood law we could force 

 them to clean up. I am rid of foul brood now, but there 

 isn't anv telling how long I will he. The bees may get foul 

 brood from some other apiary. I cleaned out an apiarv to 

 get it out of the neighborhood. Will it return? I may have 

 had a cold last vear and have another this year. It is not 

 the same cold, "^'ou may cure your foul brood this year and 

 it will be new next year. That's the way I look at it. 



Mr. Wheeler — I call the gentleman to order. We are not 

 talking about colds nor about smallpox. We are talking 

 about foul brood. 



Mr. Horstmann— We must give illustrations to make 

 people understand what we say. 



Dr. Miller— Without using any illustration, let me say 

 to you how I would feel supposing I knew of a case of foul 

 brood in the apiary of a neighbor. I would send word to 

 Mr Smith that I wanted him to come there, and he comes. 

 I don't know enough about it to decide whether it is foul 

 brood or not, and I will go with him over to the neighbor's, 



and the neighbor says, "You go to . France!" and Mr. 



Smith and I will have no chance to go in there, and if there 



