18 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE 



Jan 1 



RECEIPTS. 



Bal. on hand as per last year's report $131.22 



Rec'd from Mr. Newman 173.95 



" " Dr. Mason, Sec 7B.8.b 



" " members direct 383.47 



Total. 



DISBUKSEMENTS. 



765.49 



Paid Dr. Mason's expenses to Jackson, Mich $ 3.60 



Freight on printed matter from Mr. Newman.... 4.25 



Mr. Abbott attending Pure-food Congress 41.25 



" Bees and Horticulture " pamphlet 12 00 



Postal Cards and printing 16.25 



Postage-stamps 39 30 



2500 envelopes and printing same 8.00 



This report— 6.50 copies 12 00 



Other printing 11 00 



Salary of General Manager 76.69 



Extra clerk hire 20 00 



Bal. cash on hand 521.15 



S765.49 

 It appears from the foregoing that the As- 

 sociation, from a financial point of view, was 

 amply equipped to enter into the fight that 

 has resulted so happily in reversing the deci- 

 sion of the lower court in the case of Utter v. 

 Utter. If it had accomplished no more, the 

 bee-keepers all over this land, far and wide, 

 might consider it worthy of its support ; but 

 it has done more. It has put up a fight against 

 town councils, against disagreeable neighbors, 

 and against adulteration. The showing for 

 1900 is simply magnificent ; indeed, in the 

 matter of actual results no organization, ei- 

 ther past or present, has for one year equaled 

 it, in my humble opinion. Every bee-keeper 

 in the land should at once send in one dollar, 

 thus in a substantial manner showing a merit- 

 ed appreciation. 



BLACK BROOD IN NEW YORK UNDER CON- 

 TROL. 



In my recent trip through New York there 

 seemed to be a general impression among bee- 

 keepers that black and foul brood were under 

 control. As a corroboration of this, the re- 

 port of the Commissioner of Agriculture will 

 be read with much interest. It is as follows : 



The work of the Department of Agriculture by the 

 four inspectors who have charge of diseases among 

 bees has just closed for the season, and has been most 

 satisfactory. Statistics convey only in part an idea of 

 the labors performed by these experts. They have 

 visited some of the fall fairs and other meeting places 

 of apiarists, and their " missionary" work has awak- 

 ened an interest which will stimulate the industry to 

 more profitable proportions. 



The sections of the .State where foul brood has ap- 

 peared are now known, and its control and extermi- 

 nation may be expected. 



Number of apiaries visited 1,128 



of colonies 30,372 



" " found diseased '7,253 



" " condemned for treatment or 



destruction 5,972 



" " destroyed 1,281 



C. A. Wreting, 



Com. of Agriculture. 



This goes to show that one inspector could 

 not have done this work. The Wisconsin law, 

 which has often been pointed to as a model, 

 provides for only one inspector ; but the New 

 York law is flexible enough to permit the Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture to appoint as many 

 nspectors as, in his judgment, the exigencies 

 of the case require. Four inspectors were ap- 

 pointed last season, and this number was 

 deemed sufiicient to cover those portions of 



t^e State where the disease had been raging. 

 The very fact that 7253 diseased colonies were 

 found, is pretty good evidence that a real dan- 

 ger was threatening the very life of bee-keep- 

 ing in one of the best honey-producing States 

 in the Union ; and that it was found necessary 

 to destroy over 1000 colonies is further evi- 

 dence of the awful spread of the disease, and 

 what it might have done had it not been 

 brought under control. Of course, it will 

 break out again next spring and summer ; but 

 the task of controlling it will be much easier 

 than it was last season ; and in the very near 

 future I have reason to believe it will be stamp- 

 ed out. Fortunately the disease was confined 

 to a narrow section in the eastern part of New 

 York. I did not hear of any traces of it in 

 the western or central portions of the State. 



bees in court ; the case of utter vs. 

 utter; a verdict for the bees. 



The celebrated case of Utter v. Utter came 

 off on the 17th, 18th, and 19th, at Goshen, N. 

 Y., the county- seat of Orange Co. The case 

 was a peculiarly hard-fought one ; and after 

 25 or 30 witnesses had been examined on both 

 sides the jury brought in a verdict, after being 

 out about ten minutes, for the defendant, bee- 

 man Utter. 



I need not say that the National Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association took an active part in this 

 case — one that seemed to involve the very life 

 of bee keeping in New York. It pledged $100 

 to Bacon & Merritt, two of the leading at- 

 torneys of Orange County — lawyers who have 

 been retained in some of the most important 

 cases that have been tried in that vicinity. 



The trial was originally set for the 13th, but 

 was postponed to the 17th. A. I. Root and 

 myself arrived in the little city on Saturday, 

 the 15th. We found that Mr. Benton had pre- 

 ceded us, but would be back in time for the 

 trial on Monday morning. On the 17th, Mi. 

 O. U. Hershiser, an attorney and also a bee- 

 keeper, came from Buffalo, and also W. F. 

 Marks, of Chapinville, N. Y. These five came 

 prepared to render expert testimony to the 

 effect that bees do not and can not puncture 

 sound fruit. Something over a dozen witness- 

 es from the vicinity, as well as from New Jer- 

 sey, had been called by bee-keeper J. W. Utter. 

 Among them were nurserymen, fruit-men, 

 and bee-keepers, so that, all in all, the defense 

 represented two of the best attorneys in New 

 York, and some 16 or 17 witnesses. The at- 

 torney for the plaintiff, Mr. Sanford, at the 

 last moment, called upon a distinguished at- 

 torney, a Mr. Cane, to assist him, as he had 

 probably found he would have to put up a 

 hard fight to win. The battle royal began on 

 Monday afternoon, and continued until Tues 

 day night, with the result as already stated. 



There were many laughable incidents and 

 some queer statements on the part of the wit- 

 nesses for the plaintiff as to how the bees did 

 and could puncture fruit ; how they used their 

 "horns" (antennae) to make the holes, etc. 

 In the lower court, several of the witnesses, so 

 I am told, testified that the bees get up "on 

 their hind legs " and stung the fruit ; went off 



