1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



369 



til the bee is greatly distended. When a 

 day suitable for flight comes, the droppings 

 are seen all about the hive; and in severe 

 cases the ftpces are deposited in the hive. 

 The fact that dysentery can be produced 

 and prevented at the will of the bee-keeper 

 makes it no serious malady to the progres- 

 sive members of our ranks. Last season, 

 when honey-dew was so abundant in the 

 eastern United States, it was predicted that 

 the winter losses due to dysentery would be 

 great. Such was the case, except among 

 bee-keepers who were forehanded enough to 

 remove the honey-dew and supply good 

 stores. We can, therefore, predict dysen- 

 tery and take steps to prevent it. 



The practical bee-keeper need not worry 

 about this question, but leave it to those 

 qualified to investigate the organism which 

 Dr. Zander has found. If Nosema apis is 

 the cause of dysentery, it is now present 

 with us and we need not worry about its in- 

 troduction. Whether or not it is the cause 

 of the disease, there will be no greater losses 

 from dysentery when the question is set- 

 tled. In the meantime it should be remem- 

 bered that the supposition that Nosema is 

 the cause of paralysis, May disease, Isle-of- 

 Wight disease, or any other adult malady, 

 is only a supposition and not a claim of the 

 author. 



HOW FOUL-BROOD INSPECTION IS CARRIED 

 ON BY VARIOUS STATES. 



As most of our readers know% there is con- 

 siderable difference in the laws that have 

 been enacted by the legislatures of various 

 States in regard to bee diseases, especially 

 in the matter of the appointment of the in- 

 spectors. For instance, in Wisconsin, ac- 

 cording to "Bee-keepers' Legal Rights," 

 published by the National Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation, the inspector is appointed by the 

 Governor. In New York the Commissioner 

 of Agriculture appoints the inspectors of 

 bees. In Michigan, the Pure-food Commis- 

 sion; in Missouri, the State Board of Agri- 

 culture; in Nebraska, the Governor; in Col- 

 orado, the county court; in California, the 

 board of supervisors of the county. In Utah 

 the appointment of a county inspector is 

 made on petition of a majority of the bee- 

 keepers of this county. In New Mexico 

 this is done by the Board of County Com- 

 missioners. In South Dakota the Governor 

 appoints the inspectors; in Canada it is the 

 Lieutenant-Governor in council under the 

 recommendation of the Minister of Agricul- 

 ture. 



It will be noted that some of the States 

 have county, some district, and some State 

 inspectors. In the West, where there are 

 many bee-keepers in a county, and where 

 the number of colonies kept warrants the 

 appointment of a man for the county alone, 

 it will be seen that county inspection is a 

 practical plan. In smaller States of the 

 East, for instance, where the counties, of 

 course, are much smaller, and where the 

 number of colonies kept in a county is com- 

 paratively small, a county law is practically 



a dead letter and amounts to nothing. In 

 some cases groups of counties are taken, 

 called districts, or one man may have charge 

 of the inspection throughout the whole 

 State. The full text of the new Ohio law 

 was given in our March loth issue, page 171. 

 This is a law with some modifications of the 

 one that Dr. E. F. Phillips drew up and 

 recommends. The great advantage of a 

 law of this kind is that no special ajjpropri- 

 ation need be set apart for the inspection 

 work, the State Board of Agriculture assum- 

 ing the expense, at first at least. Legisla- 

 tures can be induced to pass such a law 

 when they would refuse if a separate appro- 

 priation had to be levied. 



Indiana has a statute very similar to that 

 of Ohio. The State Board of Agriculture is 

 authorized to appoint a competent entomol- 

 ogist as chief ins])ector, who may have un- 

 der him assistants. The regular State en- 

 tomologist is logically the one to take this 

 work. 



Ohio is to be congratulated on having, as 

 its State entomologist. Prof. N. E. Shaw, 

 who, besides being an entomologist, is him- 

 self a bee-keeper. The bee-keei)ers of Indi- 

 ana are also to be congratulated on having 

 their State inspection work under the su- 

 jiervision of their State entomologist, Mr. 

 Benj. W. Douglass. 



WHAT IS BEING DONE IN INDIANA. 



The second annual report of the State En- 

 tomologist of Indiana for 1908-'9 is just out, 

 and gives a very excellent report of the 

 work done by Geo. M. DeMuth, assistant in 

 charge of Division of Apiculture, working 

 under the State Entomologist. Our readers 

 will recall the notice of Mr. DelSIuth's work 

 in the article by Walter S. Pouder in our 

 Feb. 15th issue, page 111. It is very evident 

 that Mr. DeMuth's work has been very 

 thorough, and we are sure that he will do 

 all in his power to check the trouble in his 

 State. His report covers some 42 pages, 

 containing a large number of exceptionally 

 fine illvTstrations that show a good many of 

 the details in bee-keeping as well as the 

 modus oj)erandi of inspecting an apiary. 



After a brief history of bee-keeping in the 

 State, a list of the honey-plants is taken up 

 and discussed, with the dates when each 

 plant blooms. One great hindrance to the 

 development of the bee-keeping industry 

 is found to be the use of hives from which 

 the combs can not be readily removed for 

 examination. This includes not only log 

 gums and box hives, but neglected colonies, 

 etc. An inspector is further hindered in 

 his work in promoting successful culture of 

 bees by the bee-keepers who give their colo- 

 nies absolutely no attention or care, so that 

 the combs are probably all built together. 

 Mr. DeMuth rightly points out that one of 

 the main causes of failure in securing a crop 

 lies in not having the colonies in proper 

 condition at the beginning of the honey- 

 flow. The lamentable fact is that the bee- 

 keepers who need this advice probably nev- 

 er read the bee-journals nor take the trouble 

 to secure a copy of this report. 



