418 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



churning, except that our barrel 

 churns are mounted at the middle in- 

 stead of the ends. The churn, how- 

 ever, would serve the same purpose 

 very well. By the time the outyard 

 is reached the agitation has mixed 

 the syrup sufficiently and it is drawn 

 off by means of the faucet, which can 

 be seen in the picture. 



A Grafting House for Queen 

 Breeders 



ON my trip through the south I 

 became much interested in the 

 grafting house in use at sev- 

 eral of the queen breeding yards. The 

 one shown in the picture belongs to 

 W. D. Achord, but I found similar 

 ones in use by M. C. Berry and also 

 at the Forehand yards. The queen 

 breeder finds it necessary to continue 

 his work regardless of weather con- 

 ditions. At times the days are wet or 



chilly and the delicate larvae used 

 for grafting are in danger of chilling 

 if left long exposed in the open. As 

 will be seen from the picture, there is 

 an abundance of light, since the top 

 is of glass as well as the large win- 

 dow directly over the bench at which 

 the beekeeper sits. It is an easy mat- 

 ter to select a few combs of newly- 

 hatched brood and carry them into 

 the little house where the queen 

 breeder can work in comfort. Where 

 the business is extensive it is neces- 

 sary to graft a large number of cells 

 every day. To carry the combs to 

 the regular honey house and back to 

 the queen yard is not as convenient 

 as to step into this little building 

 which is used for no other purpose. 

 One great advantage of the grafting 

 house is the freedom from the an- 

 noyance of robbers which are always 

 buzzing around where combs con- 

 taining honey are exposed. The build- 

 ing is only about four by six feet, and 

 is easily moved. 



GRAFTING HOUSE AS USED BY A SOUTHERN QUEEN-BREEDER. 



LEGAL SERVICE 

 « DEPARTMENT 1 



Dangerous Laws 



In several States the responsibility 

 of bee inspection is placed in the 

 hands of men who are appointed by 

 the Governor for a term of years. 

 The office thus becomes a political 

 one and is subject to al! the dangers of 

 the political system. When competent 

 men happen to be appointed the 

 work may be efficiently handled, but 

 competent men will not always be se- 

 lected, for it too often happens that 

 political appointments are made for 

 political reasons rather than because 

 of the special qualifications which the 

 appointee may have for doing the 

 work of the ofhce. 



Even though high-grade men are 

 always selected, there is likely to be 



frequent changes in policy. Since 

 the inspector is responsible to no one 

 in particular, he is free to decide to 

 follow any particular policy or none 

 at all, as appeals to him. 



In many States the inspector is 

 given absolute power to visit the bee- 

 keeper's premises, examine his hives, 

 and if he finds disease to be present 

 to destroy the property. This in it- 

 self may easily prove to be as great 

 a danger to the beekeeper as the 

 presence of foulbrood in the neigh- 

 borhood. The inspector is constituted 

 sole judge, jury and executioner and 

 there is no appeal from his decision. 

 Since the inspector has no supervis- 

 ion, if he is disposed to use the au- 

 thority of his office to punish some 

 beekeeper against whom he holds a 



grudge, the latter has small chance 

 to get a square deal. 



I certainly can see an advantage 

 in laws that require proper attention 

 to diseased bees, but feel that the 

 inspector should be under supervision 

 and subject to some check in case he 

 is remiss in his duty. In case he 

 is mistaken in his judgment and de- 

 stroys healthy colonies there should 

 be some relief for the owner of the 

 bees. Rather there should be some 

 provision to insure that healthy bees 

 could not be destroyed under author- 

 ity of the law. In States where the 

 inspectors are under the supervision 

 of the agricultural college there is 

 little danger that incompetent inspec- 

 tors will long be permitted to re- 

 main in office. There is also likely 

 to be a uniform policy which will re- 

 sult in constant work toward a defi- 

 nite end. In case of a mistake or ill- 

 advised action on the part of an in- 

 spector, the beekeeper can always ap- 

 peal to the college authorities. 



Supervision has another advantage 

 in getting much better returns for 

 money expended. At the New York 

 meeting of inspectors and instructors 

 in apiculture, it was common talk 

 that in some States inspectors waste 

 much time and money in visiting 

 among the well known beekeepers of 

 the State instead of spending the 

 time in much needed field work. 



After holding the office of State In- 

 spector of Apiaries for five years un- 

 der the political system, I have had 

 a good opportunity to become famil- 

 iar with the dangers of the system 

 and with the difficulties under which 

 the inspector must work. Supervision 

 seems to me to be as much to the ad- 

 vantage of the inspector as to the 

 beekeepers, and I fail to see how an 

 inspector who has the welfare of the 

 industry at heart can fail to welcome 

 the change from the political sys- 

 tem to the supervision of the agricul- 

 tural college, or department of agri- 

 culture. 



Spraying During Bloom 



"I had 25 stands of bees poisoned and killed 

 by people spraying Iheir trees in full bloom. 

 What can I do about it?" ILLINOIS. 



There has been so much complaint 

 from beekeepers who have lost bees 

 from spraying while in bloom that 

 several States have passed laws mak- 

 ing it a misdemeanor to spray the 

 trees while in bloom. New York has 

 such a law, but the extreme penalty 

 is only a fine of fifty dollars. 



The best remedy which the bee- 

 keeper has in cases of this kind is 

 to convince the fruit grower that it is 

 to his own interest to spray after the 

 petals fall. At this time the poison 

 will be more effective in destroying 

 the codling moth as well as saving 

 the bees. Horticulturists and ento- 

 mologists very generally advocate 

 spraying after the blossoms fall and 

 their influence is doing more than 

 anything else to save the day for the 

 beekeepers. The fruit grower and 

 beekeeper have a mutual interest 

 which should not conflict. The bees 

 are of so much value in carrying pol- 

 len among the blossoms that the fruit 

 grower would in many cases gather 

 but poor crops without them. Ac- 



