SEPTEMBER 15, 1913 



Such quarantines as this have heretofore 

 been in force in Texas. That is. whenever 

 the attempt was made to free a county of 

 foul brood, the movement of bees into that 

 county was prohibited except upon their 

 being inspected and found healthy. The 

 restrictive C]uarantine, on the other hand, 

 jirovides for prohibiting the shipment of 

 bees out of any county or other area in 

 which disease is rampant. The object of 

 tlie restrictive c|uarantine is to prevent the 

 general dissemination of disease from any 

 badly infected locality. 



In the enforcement of the new law the 

 State Entomologist is given authority to 

 take testimony under oath, to compel the 

 production of books and papers, and re- 

 ciuire the attendance of witnesses for exam- 

 ination. The sheriffs and constables are re- 

 quired to assist the State Entomologist in 

 the discharge of these and other duties 

 whenever called upon to do so. 



Provision is made for the publication of 

 literature of importance to beekeepei"S. 



Provision is also made for the transfer 

 of bees from dox hives to frame hives, upou 

 order of the inspector; and in the failure 

 of such transfer the inspector may transfer 

 the bees and thereafter legally collect from 

 the owner the costs of the transfer. In a 

 similar manner the cost of treating diseased 

 bees mav be collected from the owner there 

 of. 



The malicious exposure or distribution of 

 diseased combs, fixtures, or infected honey 

 is made punishable by a fine of from 25 to 

 200 dollais. The penalty for selling or bar- 

 tering diseased bees is the same. A similar 

 penalty may be imposed upon any one con- 

 victed of trying to prevent inspection of 

 bees, either through threats of physical vio- 

 lence or by intimidation. 



The foregoing statement includes the 

 most salient points in the law which are of 

 i:iterest to the general reader. Texas bee- 

 keepers will, of course, find it to their in- 

 terest to have a full and complete copy of 

 the law at hand. 



As soon as conditions permit, the State 

 Entomologist of Texas (whose address is 

 College Station, Texas) will issue the new 

 law in booklet form for general distribu- 

 tion to the beekeepers of that State, and to 

 such other parties as may be interested in 

 its provisions. We are advised that these 

 booklets will probably be available -for dis- 

 tribution by Sept. 15 or 20. 



College Station, Texas. 



SMOKERS 



A Larger and More Efficient Smolder Needed 



BY R. F. HOLTERilAXX 



To me the bee fraternity often appear 

 like a flock of sheep uv a cluster of bees 

 especially black bees that have been smoked 

 too much, and are following those who 

 start a run, not thinking Avhither they are 

 going. What I mean is, that there is too 

 much of a tendency for the majority to 

 follow others regardless of the wisdom of 

 doing so. In this article I am going to 

 undertake to say something to the beekeep- 

 ers: and if, incidentally, it hits the supply 

 dealers, it will not be the first blow they 

 have had. 



My special complaint in this article is the 

 smoker question. In my estimation there 

 is not a smoker advertised by any supply 

 dealer in this continent which can not be 

 made vastly more etficient, especially for 

 the beekeeper who uses such a device hour 

 after hour, and also for one who has only 

 a few colonies, because, as a rule, a begin- 

 ner is more timid, and requires a volume of 

 smoke at a moment's notice. Let me say 

 here that I am no advocate of heavj' smok- 

 ing. I object to unnecessary smoking; but, 

 nevertheless, there are times when, owing to 

 weather or possibly to some blunder of our 

 own, the bees become almost unmanageable. 

 And it is then that smoke is needed at once, 

 and lots of it. 



It is unnecessary for me to trace the his- 

 tory of smoking bees. I believe some trace 

 it away back when the progeny of bees 

 burned to death in forest fires inherited the 

 fear of fire, etc. To my way of thinking, 

 the bees fear smoke because of their sensi- 

 tiveness, and because of their highly devel- 

 oped breathing-organs which are irritated 

 and stifled by smoke. 



It has been my hope that somebody would 

 invent something practical for the apiary 

 with which to smoke bees that would be less 

 trouble than the legular smoker. But my 

 present purpose is to seek to improve the 

 smokers. The compartment for the fire has 

 been enlarged somewhat from time to time, 

 and no doubt there has already been a vast 

 improvement; but when a smoker that is 

 alwaj'S in use requires loading so often, and 

 thus takes valuable time. I have wondered 

 why the capacity for fuel could not be still 

 greater and thus save more time. I there- 

 fore ordered Jumbo smokers with the fire- 

 cups three inches longer than usual. These 

 I have used for several years. Last winter 

 I decided that I wanted even a larger fire- 

 cup as well as a larger bellows, and so or- 

 dered a dozen of that kind. The chief rea- 



