S^:PTFMBER 1.5, 1915 



not increase the sujiply of a colony to any 

 great extent, even if arrangements were 

 xnade to give one colony the exclusive elean- 

 ing-np of five or six supei-s. But to make 

 tliis piactical requires quite a little work. 



753 



If a colony is short of stores, a comb or two 

 of capped honey arlded in tiie brood-cham- 

 ber combines the least trouble with the best 

 results. 



La Sallo, N. Y. 



BEE- DISEASE LEGISLATION IN NEW ZEALAND 



Keeping Bees in Box Hives Illegal 



HV W. i;. 15RAY 



New Zealand beekeepers from the earliest 

 days of connnercial beekeeiiiiig have adopt- 

 ed American methods and appliances. Mr. 

 Isaac Hopkins was the first to recognize 

 the possibilities of the new methods, and 

 the credit is due to him of having shaped a 

 good course for others to follow. To him 

 also is due the credit for the "eflRciency 

 apiaiies act " which we possess. Already 

 it has enabled us to make considerable head- 

 way in the battle against disease. 



Though the bee-journals are concerned 

 mairdy with the commercial side of bee- 

 keeping, the readers now and again get 

 glimpses of the go-as-you-please style of 

 beekeeping which is generally associated 

 with box hives. It is the farmer who keeps 

 a few bees for his own use in box hives who 

 is to blame for the continued spread of dis- 

 ease in the United States in spite of the ef- 

 forts made to control it. ]\fany of the states 

 in the Union have an apiaries act on their 

 statute-books, yet hardly anj' two acts are 

 similar, and. in the opinion of New Zealand 

 beekeepers, none of them are as efficient as 

 curs which was passed in 1907. 



From 190S to 1910, as an inspector under 

 the act. T had practical experience of its 

 application; imd I may say that provision 

 is made for every condition likely to con- 

 front the inspector, and no one has yet 

 d.riven the proverbial " coach and four " 

 through it. Numbers of successful prose- 

 cutions have been instituted under the act, 

 and in this respect I think our act stands 

 alone. 



The in.speetors are permanently employ- 

 ed, there being four on the staff at present. 

 This is much better than appointing bee- 

 keepers to do the work in their spare time. 

 The inspector has the right to enter any 

 place where bees are kept. In some states 

 lie can go only where disease is reported, so 

 lie has little chance of finding the source of 

 infection. Under an amendment passed 

 la.st year we expect regidations to be issued 

 shortly to provide for compulsory annual 

 registration of apiaries so the inspectoi-s 

 AviU have no difficulty in locating every hive. 



In some of the states the inspector is 

 hedged around with all sorts of restrictions 

 due, 1 suppose, to the fact that he is not a 

 permanent official. Our act specifies what 

 tlie beekeeper must or must not do, and the 

 inspector is there to see that the act is com- 

 plied with. No compensation is paid for 

 diseased colonies that have to be destroyed, 

 and the inspector can use his discretion in 

 condemning them. 



But it is the clause that makes the use of 

 the box hive illegal that has been the main- 

 stay of the act. The box hive is the careless 

 beekeeper's hive. The box-hive man never 

 cares — in fact, he does not know — whether 

 his bees are diseased or not. He is satisfied 

 to get a little honey sometimes; but in 

 taking it he may spread disease right and 

 left. This class of beekeeper was all too 

 common in New Zealand; and, while he w^as 

 alloAved to continue, it was hopeless to ex- 

 pect to control disease. He had no financial 

 interest at stake, yet he imperiled the very 

 existence of apiaries which cost hundreds 

 of dollars to establish. 



This clause has been firmly enforced, 

 with the result that a good number have 

 stopped keeping bees altogether, with no 

 loss to themselves and to the benefit of the 

 industry. Others transferred, but they 

 continued their slipshod methods, thinking 

 the frame hive was an automatic affair that 

 required no attention. This class too gener- 

 ally decide to get rid of their bees when the 

 inspector comes along and requires them to 

 do certain work to cure the disease he ttiay 

 find. Then there were others who trans- 

 ferred and realized the advantages of frame 

 hives. They have been only too ready to 

 learn all they can about their bees, and are 

 as anxious as anybody to fight foul brood. 

 It is this class that is to-day swelling the 

 ranks of the up-to-date beekeepers. The 

 result now is that some dislricis are entire- 

 ly free of foul brood, and in most of the 

 l>est beekeeping areas the amount of disea.se 

 is very small to what it was, and is rapidly 

 diminishing. There are fewer beekeepers; 

 but more and better bees and honey are 



