1490 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



For the benefit of those who desire to watch a 

 colony under a sealed cover, a sheet of glass may 

 be substituted in place of a thin board. Over 

 the glass should be placed a good-sized cushion, 

 or a tray of chaff, sawdust, or planer shavings. 



THE IMPORTATION OF BEES AND QUEENS INTO 

 HAWAII. 



In the Oct. 1st issue, page 1176, we mention- 

 ed the fact that some restrictions had been placed 

 on the importation of bees and queens into Ha- 

 waii. We wrote Mr. Van Dine, and have receiv- 

 ed General Circular No. 3, October, 1908. In 

 it we find the following regarding the importa- 

 tion of queens and bees into the island: 



RULE 4. — IMPORTATION OF QUEEN-BEES. 



In orderto prevent the introduction into this Territory of infec- 

 tious, contagious, or communicable diseases amone honey-bees it 

 is hereby ordered that 



All queen-bees imported into the Territory of Hawaii shall be 

 subject to the following terms and conditions hereinafter set 

 forth, namely: 



(\).— Labels.— A label shall be affixed to the cage, box, or 

 other container in which any queen-bee is enclosed, which label 

 shall set forth: 



(a) The number of queen-bees enclosed; 



(b) The locality where each was produced; 



(c) The locality from which each was shipped; 



(d) The name of the shipper; 



(e) The name of the consignee. 



(2). Requist for Inspection. — The importer shall file with the 

 Board of Agriculture and Forestry, at least two weeks prior to the 

 date at which the queen-bee or bees will arrive, a written state- 

 ment signed by himself or his agent or attorney which shall set 

 forth his purpose to import said queen-bee or bees into the Terri- 

 tory of Hawaii, which statement shall contain as accurately and 

 fully as possible the following information: 



(a) The number of queen-bees sought to be imported; 



(b) The probable locality where each was produced; 



(c) The locality from which each is expected to be shipped; 



(d) The name of the proposed shipper; 



(e) The address of the importer, and shipping-marks. 



Said statement shall also contain a request that the Board, up- 

 on arrival of said queen-bee or bees, proceed forthwith to inspect 

 or cause to be inspected such queen-bee or bees. 



(3). Inspection. — Immediately upon the receipt of such request 

 for inspection, or as soon thereafter as may be, an inspector of 

 the Board shall inspect each queen-bee; and, if it is found free 

 from such disease, shall cause it to be transferred from any cage, 

 box, or other container in which it shall have been imported, and 

 shall transfer it to a new and clean cage properly supplied with 

 clean and fresh candy, and with sufficient bees known to be free 

 from disease to care for said queen-bee properly. 



(4). Certificate. — The inspector shall thereupon give to the 

 importer a certificate of his findings upon snch inspection, and de- 

 liver to him such of the bees as he finds free from all infectious, 

 contagious, and communicable diseases. 



(5). Destruction of Cages., Bees, etc. — Immediately upon the 

 transfer of any queen-bee from any cage, box, or other container 

 as set forth in Section 3 hereof, said inspector shall cause to be 

 burned and destroyed such cage, box, or other container, together 

 with the candy and bees therein, excepting such queen-bee. 



If said inspector shall at said inspection find any queen-bee to 

 be infected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable 

 disease he shall in his discretion destroy the same or hold the 

 same for further treatment. 



In relation to No. 3 in brackets, on the subject 

 of inspection, it is not quite clear to us how any 

 inspector would be able to determine whether a 

 queen-bee in an ordinary mailing-cage was af- 

 fected with any bee disease, except, possibly, with 

 paralysis. No queen, unless she were killed, dis- 

 sected, and examined with a microscope, would 

 show the presence of disease germs. A dead 

 queen in either case would be of no use to any 

 one. It would mean the actual prohibition of 

 sending queens by mail to the islands. 



But it is possible to know the locality where 

 the queen was produced, and the name of the 

 shipper; and even then the information would be 

 of but little value unless the inspector were thor- 

 oughly familiar with the locality in which the 

 queen was produced. If, however, the queen- 



bees came in a nucleus-box or hive accompanied 

 with combs, then the inspector could offer an in- 

 telligent opinion as to whether the combs were 

 free from disease, but not the bees or queen. 



It should be the duty of the inspector to in- 

 quire whether the bee-candy put in the cages for 

 tha transmission of the queens was made of hon- 

 ey that had been thoroughly disinfected by a 

 reasonable amount of boiling; and it might be 

 wise to go further and recage all queens and bees 

 that come in the mails, burning up the others. 



In a further ruling, all foreign honeys are sub- 

 ject to examination before they are allowed to 

 pass into the island. It is proper to remark right 

 here, however, that a microscopic examination 

 might not show the germs of disease — especially 

 so as bacteriologists to-day are not entirely agreed 

 as to what constitutes the cause of some of our 

 diseases. It would seem to us that nothing but 

 a thorough boiling would insure safety, and that 

 would probably spoil it for table use. Inasmuch 

 as honey of good quality is so cheap in Hawaii, 

 there is no probability that any foreign honey 

 would find a market on the islands, as it could 

 not be laid down for any thing like the cost of 

 the domestic article. Resident Americans pos- 

 sibly might be willing to pay a fancy price for 

 clover comb honey, but it would be impossible 

 to inspect this with spoiling it. Under the terms 

 of the rulings it would seem that all foreign 

 honeys would be barred from the islands. 



In relation to the importation of bees and 

 queens it will be wise on the part of the prospec- 

 tive importer to communicate at once with the 

 committee on bee industry, consisting of Mr. A. 

 Waterhouse and Mr. P. R. Isenbery; also with 

 the Dir'ision of Entomology, Mr. Jacob Kotin- 

 sky and Mr. Albert Koebele, Hawaii. 



THE DETROIT-CONVENTION PICTURE. 



We take pleasure in presenting in this issue a 

 picture of the members of the Detroit convention 

 of the National Bee-keepers' Association that 

 met in the City of the Straits, Oct. 13 to 15. It 

 was the special property of Mr. W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son, who has been and is still selling beautiful 

 large reproductions of it, 20X24, that necessarily 

 bring up more clearly the details than can possi- 

 bly be shown here. His regular price for the 

 picture is $1.50 prepaid; but we have made spe- 

 cial arrangements with him by which we are per- 

 mitted to reproduce it in reduced size. Many a 

 bee-keeper will want and should have a copy of 

 the full-sized picture for framing in his home, es- 

 pecially if he is in it himsMf. It probably con- 

 tains the faces of more representative bee-keepers 

 — men who are prominent as writers, or who are 

 successful as honey-producers, than any other 

 photo of late years, and it will probably be many 

 a year before we have as many of our leading 

 men again in one group. Our readers will doubt- 

 less be glad to get the original so that, in the 

 future, they can see how Mr. So and So looks 

 when his name is seen in public print. 



The final stenographic report of the conven- 

 tion is now ready for distribution to the mem- 

 bers only of the Association in regular standing. 

 This picture, in connection with this report, will 

 make a very interesting contribution to our lit- 

 erature. 



