P.D. 123 29 



The 1939 season of Apiary Inspection was particular satisfactory. In 

 Massachusetts, as elsewhere in the country, the prevailing bee disease is 

 American foulbrood; the few mild cases of European foulbrood found are 

 of slight significance. These apiaries in which American foulbrood had been 

 found in 1938, as well as the adjacent apiaries, were re-inspected in 1939. 

 In a large percentage of these apiaries, the disease was found to have been 

 suppressed. Forty-five towns in which disease occurred in 1938, were appar- 

 ently free from American foulbrood in 1939. If, however, disease had 

 persisted, the apiary was continued in quarantine until such time as the 

 disease could be suppressed. Thus, all the quarantined apiaries were con- 

 tinued under observation and control. 



Essex County was thoroughly examined where considerable, but localized 

 American foulbrood was found. The situation in this county is thought to 

 be under control, and in 1940, a noticeable decrease in the prevalence of 

 disease is anticipated. Inspection was extended to include towns not pre- 

 viously visited in Middlesex County and about half of Norfolk County. Addi- 

 tional towns in the Connecticut Valley were also inspected. By means of this 

 "area clean-up" during the past two years, a satisfactory control of American 

 foulbrood has been obtained from the northern boundary of Bristol and 

 Plymouth Counties, north to the State line and west into the hill-towns, to a 

 line between Heath and Granville. Relatively few colonies are kept in the 

 Berkshire hill-towns; ultimately, it is intended to inspect all of these towns. 

 It is hoped to continue the "area clean-up" policy established in 1938 and 1939 

 gradually enlarging the area under control. 



It is apparent that the American foulbrood condition in a major part of 

 the State has been vastly improved during the last two years; further im- 

 provement may be anticipated in 1940. New work is desirable south of 

 Boston, as soon as practicable. 



During the season, 2,503 calls were made as compared with 2,247 in 1938. 

 The Deputy Apiary Inspectors were — Fred E. Challet, Northampton; Ray- 

 mond Prud-homme, Lowell ; and Howell W. Shuman, Billerica, working under 

 the supervision of Dr. Burton N. Gates, Worcester, as Chief Apiary Inspector. 

 Continued progress was made in combating the white pine blister rust 

 disease in the State. This fungous disease which is transmitted to white 

 pines by means of wind-borne spores produced on wild and cultivated Ribes 

 (currant and gooseberry) plants is quite generally present throughout the 

 Commonwealth. Control is accomplished by the eradication of Ribes where 

 they are growing within infecting distance of white pines worth protecting. 



As heretofore, control work was conducted under the cooperative direction 

 of this Division and the Division of Plant Disease Control, Bureau of Ento- 

 mology and Plant Quarantine of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Federal 

 emergency relief funds were allotted by the Work Projects Administration for 

 control work in Massachusetts under the sponsorship of the Bureau of En- 

 tomology and Plant Quarantine. Six towns participated by providing trans- 

 portation facilities for relief workers and 248 individual property owners 

 cooperated in connection with the removal of European black currants and 

 other cultivated Ribes. A limited number of man-days was allotted for work 

 on State Forest lands by enrollees of two of the Civilian Conservation Corps 

 camps in the State. 



Excellent field conditions prevailed during the Ribes eradication season, 

 the almost unprecedented drought making work in swamps less difficult and 

 thus more efficient and effective. Control work was performed on a grand 

 total of 109,217 acres from which 1,089,036 wild and 2,662 cultivated Ribes 

 were cleared by the field personnel. 



During the approximate periods from January 1-April 30 and from October 

 1-December 31, pine and control area maps were prepared in the field, on which 

 control areas amounting to 138,972 acres were recorded. These areas included 

 an aggregate of 41,560 acres of white pine. 



Miscellaneous control activities included the elimination of blister rust 

 cankers from certain pine plantations on the water supply reservation of the 



