P.D. 123. 27 



In addition to the control work performed under the direction of this depart- 

 ment, the Division of Forestry of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation 

 has been conducting Ribes eradication work on lands under its jurisdiction. In 

 this work 8,900 acres have been examined during the field season. From this area 

 613,870 wild Ribes were removed. 



The Director wishes at this time to express his appreciation of the work done 

 by Mr. C. C. Perry, who has had charge of the white pine blister rust; to his 

 untiring efforts and conscientiousness are due the excellent results which have 

 been accomplished. The services rendered by Mr. Q. S. Lowry as assistant have 

 been very helpful and his thoughtfulness has been greatly appreciated. 



Apiary Inspection. 

 The first matter of the year brought to the attention of the inspector of 

 apiaries, was the possibility of desirable legislation for the elimination of bees 

 kept in box hives and similar containers, the purpose being to require such 

 colonies to be transferred to hives with removable fixtures, to the end of more 

 possible and accurate inspection for bee diseases. This proposal was made by 

 the members of the Attleboro Beekeepers' Society. After careful consideration 

 it was determined that the provision in the apiary inspection statute, empower- 

 ing the Inspector of Apiaries to make reasonable regulations for carrying out 

 the necessary provisions, aftorded the Department plenty of authority to regulate 

 the problem of the box hive as presented. At the annual meeting of beekeepers 

 held in Worcester, during the Annual Union Meetings, the various angles of the 

 IDroblem were carefully considered. It was agreed by all, including the delegates 

 from the Attleboro Society, that the Department should first make this a de- 

 partmental regulation ; then if experience showed that legislation was necessary, 

 this should be looked for in the future. In accordance, a regulation governing 

 the use of box hives and similar equipment was prepared. 



With the commencement of the active season of inspection, this box hive regu- 

 lation was enforced by the inspectors. Only a slight amount of objection was 

 encountered, limited joerhaps in most cases to the more aged beekeepers, who all 

 of their lives had been accustomed to the old-fashioned box hive, and to 

 foreigners, whose custom was to keep bees in similar hives in the old countries. 

 In some instances objection to the expense of new equipment has been raised, 

 but this objection has usually been overcome, in one way or another. Similarly 

 other objections have been met, so that as a whole the regulation has caused a 

 considerable number of colonies to be transferred, "taken ui)," sold to other bee- 

 keepers with the understanding that the colonies would be transferred, or have 

 been otherwise satisfactorily disposed of. There are a considerable number of 

 colonies being held, pending transfer in the spring, when the season will be 

 more favorable than it was in middle or late summer, when tliese eases were 

 encountered. The trial of the regulation can be considered highly successful 

 thus far. It is observed that this provision in apiary inspection powers is con- 

 sidered one of the four legal requisites in the proposed plan for "National Foul- 

 brood Eradication," referred to elsewhere. 



As Deputy Apiary Inspectors, the following were appointed on the usual per 

 diem basis : Mr. Fred Challet, Northampton, who served in the Connecticut 

 Valley; Mr. Charles N. Ellis, Westwood, worked north and south of Boston; 

 Mr. 0. F. Fuller, Blaekstone, covered southern Worcester County and south- 

 eastern Massachusetts toward Cape Cod; Mr. Ivan Rawson, Pittsfield, was as- 

 signed to Berkshire County; and Mr. Edwards Thorne, Worcester, inspected in 

 northern anc^ central Worcester County and east in Middlesex County. The 

 writer as Inspector of Apiaries directed the work. 



The diseases encountered were American foulbrood in isolated and limited 

 districts, particularly in the east; European foulbrood in Berkshire County, the 

 Connecticut Valley and east, but to a noticeably limited extent in most all locali- 

 ties ; sac-brood was reported in a few apiaries, but this disease is usually of self- 

 eliminating character. In one or two instances treatment was recommended by 

 the inspector. Diseases of the adult bees like the so-called nosema disease were 

 not appreciable this year. 



