March, 1916. 



American Hee Journal 



some time past there has been a sec- 

 tion devoted to apiary inspection, and 

 at the last meeting, at the suggestion 

 of Morley Pettit, a session was also 

 held to discuss the problems of the 

 instructor in apiculture. 



At these special sessions representa- 

 tives of probably 1.5 or 20 States were 

 present. Many of these men are di- 

 rectly responsible for the inspection 

 work. Others connected with the de- 

 partment of entomology of a State or 

 agricultural college, had an indirect 

 interest. It is doubtful whether so 

 many official representatives of the in- 

 dustry were ever before brought to- 

 gether. 



Dr. Phillips presided at the session 

 devoted to apiary inspection and made 

 some interesting suggestions in his 

 opening address. Lack of space, since 

 we have so much convention material, 

 forbids our going into detail as much 

 as the importance of the occasion jus- 

 tifies. The consensus of opinion 

 seemed to be that inspection work 

 should be placed on a higher plane, 

 and the service greatly improved. It 

 was pointed out that in some States 

 the work at present is not efficiently 

 handled nor is there competent super- 

 vision. 



The suggestion first made by N. E. 

 France, at the inspectors' conference 

 at Keokuk, Iowa, that there should be 

 some plan of cooperation through the 

 United States Bureau of Entomol- 

 ogy, to the end that inspectors be 

 promptly advised of the appearance of 

 disease near their borders in other 

 States, was approved. The action of 

 the Keokuk conference in undertaking 

 to work out a satisfactory plan was 

 endorsed. The importance of uniform 

 reports in the various States in order 

 that comparisons of results might be 

 possible, was brought out. 



A number of interesting papers 

 which we have not space to review 

 were read. A paper by Dr. McCray 

 concerning the difficulties of diagnosis 

 of bee diseases emphasized the impor- 

 tance of fully trained men for inspec- 

 tors. Dr. McCray has examined thou- 

 sands of samples in the United States 

 Department, and has had a wider gen- 

 eral experience with the problems con- 

 nected with diagnosis of the various 

 brood diseases than perhaps any other 

 living man. 



Morley Pettit explained the system 

 of inspection as practiced in Ontario, 

 and a general discussion of the subject 

 followed. 



At the session devoted to problems 

 in instruction, Morley Pettit presided. 

 The interest in bee-culture is growing 

 at a surprising rate and about a dozen 

 new courses were announced. Among 

 the States where some work in bee- 

 culture is either being given or is 

 planned we made note of the following : 

 Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illi- 

 nois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, 

 Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, 

 Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ne- 

 braska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, 

 Pensylvania, South Carolina, Tennes- 

 see, Texas, Wisconsin, and the Cana- 

 dian provinces of Ontario and New 

 Brunswick. 



Since the work is so new there are 

 no precedents to be followed, and those 

 who have the work in hand are feeling 



their way cautiously. A committee 

 was appointed to outline a course 

 which would be suitable for general 

 use, in the hope that similar work could 

 be given in all colleges where apicul- 

 ture is taught. Arrangements for an- 

 nual meetings were made. 



Some Eastern Bee-Neetings. — The 



writer recently had the pleasure of at- 

 tending several of the meetings of bee- 

 keepers of the eastern States. The 

 weather was rather unfavorable and 

 conditions were such that visits to api- 

 aries along the way were out of the 

 question. It was a great pleasure to 

 meet the eastern men and to learn 

 something of their methods and out- 

 look which differ in many respects 

 from conditions in the West. 



The first meeting attended was the 

 Eastern Massachusetts Society of Bee- 

 keepers which met in Old South Build- 

 ing in Boston, Jan. 8. Within a stone's 

 throw of the meeting place are his- 

 toric spots closely associated with the 

 stirring events of the days of our Na- 

 tion's birth : Fanueil Hall, King's 

 Chapel, Old South Meeting House, 

 Boston Common, and many others. 

 With but a few hours in Boston, there 

 was little time for sight-seeing, but the 

 genial secretary, Benjamin Sands, gave 

 us a wonderful opportunity to make 



and do not find it necessary to travel 

 such long distances as we of the West 

 in order to get a sufficient number of 

 people together for an interesting ses- 

 sion. The question of securing legis- 

 lation to prevent spraying while the 

 trees are in full bloom was discussed • 

 at both these meetings, as there is 

 much complaint on this score in Mass- ; 

 achusetts. 



The next stop was at the Agricultural 

 College at Amherst. Dr. Gates has a 

 most interesting museum of apicultural 

 appliances in connection with his de- 

 partment. Of this we will have more 

 to say in another article. At Amherst, 

 the outside attendance was small, as 

 the day was very stormy. A. W. Yates, 

 the well-known inspector of Connecti- 

 cut, was the only man from outside the 

 State who came. Mr. Yates has been 

 secured by the Agricultural College of 

 Connecticut for a series of lectures on 

 beekeeping to be given at the college 

 during the spring months. 



An all night ride made it possible to 

 attend the meeting of the Ontario 

 County, N. Y., Beekeepers' Association 

 the following day. This was the 26th 

 annual meeting of this county associa- 

 tion and a strong program was carried 

 out. In this section of New York 

 commercial be;keeeping is well devel- 

 oped and a number of those in attend- 

 ance count their colonies bythehun- 



THE TINSLEY APIARY AT AMES. IOWA 



the most of the short time available. 

 This society has held monthly meetings 

 during the winter months, and holds 

 summer field meetings also. In attend- 

 ance and interest the meeting compared 

 favorably with many annual meetings 

 that the writer has attended in western 

 States. 



Mr. Allen Latham, who is a well- 

 known contributor to the bee journals, 

 was the principal speaker of the day, 

 and talked on " Building Up Nuclei into 

 Full Colonies." A number of well- 

 known persons were present and the 

 discussions were lively. Jos. H.Chase, 

 of Maiden, Mass., who is 90 years of 

 age, and who has kept bees continu- 

 ously for 66 years, was in attendance. 



At Worcester, in the evening, there 

 was another good meeting when the 

 Worcester county association held 

 their regular monthly meeting. It is a 

 little surprising to a man from the 

 West to find so much interest in 

 monthly meetings. However, the east- 

 ern men are not so widely scattered 



dreds. Mr. C. B. Howard, the newly 

 elected president, has 1200 colonies. 

 There was not a minute when discus- 

 sion lagged or interest waned. Space 

 will not permit a detailed mention of 

 the various papers read or subjects dis- 

 cussed. 



From Canandaigua to Guelph, Ont., 

 one passes through the fruit belt and 

 sees some wonderful orchards. In 

 both Ontario and New York fruit 

 growing is highly developed in certain 

 localities and land values are very high. 

 At Guelph the short course was in 

 progress in charge of Morley Pettit. 

 There was a very good class in attend- 

 ance, mostly farmers who have but a 

 small number of bees or beginners 

 who intend to develop their apiaries. 

 One encouraging sign was that some 

 young men whose fathers are extensive 

 beekeepers were present. When an 

 extensive honey-producer sends his 

 son to the short course it speaks well 

 for the practical nature of the instruc- 

 tion. Prof. F. E. Millen, of the Michi- 



