648 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1919 



January. If all the associations send repre- 

 sentatives this will be a large gathering of 

 beekeepers. It is feared that most of the 

 organizations are not 3'et quite ready for 

 such a step, but the National can perhaps 

 form the machinery thru which they may all 

 get together later, when the advantages of 

 such a large organization are more manifest. 

 Growth of Extension Work. 

 The forming of associations is merely in- 

 cidental to the work of these extension men; 

 in fact, this is a small part of their work. 

 While we do not know the total of the work 

 done by other agencies in the way of getting 

 beekeepers together for mutual help and for 

 instruction, we can get a line on the meet- 

 ings held by the extension men, for those 

 connected with the Bureau of Entomology 

 make reports on all meetings held. During 



gether, and most of us know that they did 

 far more than this, the work is worth while, 

 for beekeepers cannot get together without 

 deriving benefit therefrom. The bee journals 

 cannot report all these meetings, for there 

 is not space in them even for adequate an- 

 nouncements. Photographs of the beekeep- 

 ers at these meetings are not taken, altho 

 there is almost always a camera enthusiast 

 who wastes a few films on the crowds. If 

 all the photographs taken were printed. 

 Gleanings would have to be greatly enlarged 

 even to give room for the cuts. 



The Extension Man, Himself. 

 What is an extension man? It is general- 

 ly recognized that he is a man who knows 

 beekeeping, and that in his meetings and 

 elsewhere he gives freely of his knowledge 

 to the beekeepers with whom he comes in 



Some of the soldiers are showing considerable interest in beekeeping, due to the government's offer to teach 

 the business to returned soldiers. The short extension courses to assist soldiers in becoming efficient and 

 financially successful apiarists are similar to those recently held at Ithaca, N. Y., and various places in 

 California. The entire cost of acquiring the education is borne by the Government and the soldier paid a 

 monthly compensation while the training lasts. Those in the above cut are disabled soldiers from Walter 

 Reed general hospital visiting the Bureau of Entomology apiary. 



the year ending June 30, 1919, these men 

 held over 1,000 meetings, the total attend- 

 ance being over 25,000 beekeepers. They 

 also visited beekeepers in their own apiaries 

 in 2,500 instances. This is, beyond doubt, the 

 largest effort in getting beekeepers together 

 that has ever been made, and it means some- 

 thing to the beekeeping industry. If we 

 were to assume that the extension men did 

 nothing else than get the beekeepers to- 



contact. He is more than this, however. 

 Going about as he does among the beekeep- 

 ers he has oi>portunity to get for himself a 

 vast store of knowledge concerning beekeep- 

 ing methods, local conditions, and the com- 

 monest mistakes in beekeeping, practice. 

 Since he is a man of intelligence, going 

 about with his eyes open, he cannot fail to 

 gain a better outlook on beekeeping in the 

 State in which he works than is possessed 



