1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



111 



THE CHIEF INSPECTOR OF INDIANA LOOKING FOR FOUL BROOD. 



jINDIANAS FOUL-BROOD LAW. 



Some Figures Showing the Excellent Re- 

 sults from the First Year's Work; Some 

 Amusing Incident* Connected with a 

 Foul-brood Inspector's Work. 



BY WALTER S. POUDER. 



Our npw law placed the work of inspect- 

 ing apiaries in tne hands of our State Ento- 

 mologist, Mr. Btnjamin W. Douglass, and 

 tha work required from his office takes in a 

 wide scope. Mr. Dou^jlass appointed Mr. 

 George S. Demuth, of Peru, Ind., as chief 

 inspector of ap aries, and where required 

 deputies were appointt-d. Much valuable 

 work has been accomplished; but when we 

 scan the figures which will appear in the an- 

 nual report we realize hat indi^na did not 

 take the work in hand any too soon. 



We recently asked Mr. Demuth for some 

 statistics on the first season's work, and he 

 inftirms us: — "Dunng the season some in- 

 spection woik was done in each of twenty- 

 two counties. A total of 513 visits were 

 made, and 480 apia-ies were visited; 6036 

 col inies were inspei'ted; 1431 of these were 

 diseased. Of the 6036 colonies inspected, 

 328 were in box hives and 213 were in frame 

 hives from which combs could not be remov- 

 ed on ac( dunt of being built crosswise. Some 

 of these were even in ' Pouder's Best;' but I 

 presume the owners' wives had appropriat- 

 ed for ner tlatirons the foundation which 

 you sent along; at least there was no evidence 

 of any having been used in the frames." 



We then asked Mr. Demuth a number of 

 questions, the answers to which, together 

 with the questions, are as follows: 



" Do you find hives and combs exposed to 

 robbers in which the bees have perished?" 



"Yes. In addition to the 1431 diseased 

 colonies, 495 hives were found from which 

 the bees had died of foul brood and were 

 left exposed to robbers. In many cases rob- 

 bers were found at work on these combs 

 when the inspecrion was made, as colonies 

 contmue dying during the entire season. In 

 the 495 hives the cnaractenstic scales of 

 American foul brood were discovered. Many 

 other hives of combs were fv)und exposed to 

 ronbers, but only those known to contain 

 disease were counted in the 495. The 495 

 hives were not counted in the 6336 colonies 

 inspected. These hives and combs were 

 promptly burned before leaving the prem- 

 ises." 



"Have you found it necessary to destroy 

 any living bees wiiere owners failed to com- 

 ply with the specifications of the law?" 



"Fifty-eight colonies of bees, hives, and 

 combs were burned during the season. No 

 bees were burned unless tae owners abso- 

 lutely refused to treat them." 



"Have you met with any difficulties or un- 

 pleasant features in enforcing your instruc- 

 tions?" 



"A few peculiar features developed from 

 time to time, but they were more of a humor- 

 ous nature than unple-asan tries I recall hav- 

 ing wasted a valuable tialt-hour in trying to 

 convince one man that we had a legal right 

 to inspect his bees, and that each colony 



