June 8 1905 



THfi AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



407 



one say that tiiis is not Horal honey ? We thus seo the ab- 

 surdity of giving any definition of honey other than " sweets 

 stored by bees," not specifying the source. 



I wish in this article to commend acacias for {leiiiial 

 [ilanting. Soutliern California is already one of the most 

 beautiful parts of the world. There is a general feeling at 

 present prompting to general roadside planting. Clareinont. 

 Pomona, and 8an Dimas, all neighboring towns with a com- 

 mon telephone, have recently engaged in very extensive road- 

 side tree-planting. It is worthy of remark that each of these 

 places has a vigorous farmers' club. Communities with such 

 clubs are not usually asleep to their own best interests. One 

 of the trees that these communities have planted quite exten- 

 sively is the black acacia. The following are some of the rea- 

 sons why it pays to plant acacias, not only along the roadside 

 but in our private grounds : 



In the first place let me say, these trees come from an 

 arid region. Thus they are used to drouth, reach far down 

 into the ground for water, and so are fortified against neglect. 

 If we plant acacia then we may be quite sure thit our trees 

 will live, and with a dry season or neglect to irrigate we will 

 not be disappointed with a lot of dead or sickly trees throwing 

 reproaches at us. 



Another gain in planting these trees comes from the fact 

 of their exceeding beauty. I don't know of any trees that are 

 more attractive. With many of them the foliage is as deli- 

 cate and graceful as that of the fern or that of the sensitive- 

 plant ; and when there is mingled with this wondrously ele- 

 gant foliage the rich profusion of bloom that these trees lling 

 out for us, we have before us truly objects that are a joy for- 

 ever. We often desire in our yards shrubs or small trees that 

 are lieautiful. 



To any who may be wishing for such, I would, recommend 

 Acacia cultriformis, A. pulchella and A. pendula. The first 

 of these is as beautiful in foliage as in flower, and when the 

 two are combineil people coming suddenly upon the plants are 

 forced to pause in admiration. Pulchella is true to its name, 

 while the nodding habit of pendula adds another feature to its 

 grace and elegance. 



If one wishes larger trees, then I would recommend the 

 willow like A. nereifolia, usually known as A. floribunda ; or, 

 most beautiful of all, A. baileyana, which is incomparable in 

 its foliage among the acacias, and when in bloom becomes 

 simply unparalleled in its beauty. I really think this is " the 

 noblest Roman of them all." For roadside planting, probably 

 the Australian blackwood, or black acacia, A. melanoxylon, is 

 to be preferred, as it is a very rapid grower, fine in form, and 

 gives a beautiful avenue eiiect. The blossom, however, is 

 white instead of yellow, rather small, and so quite inconspicu- 

 ous. 



Before closing let me suggest that in roadside tree-plant- 

 ing we do not mix trees, but plant all of one kind. This gives 

 a much finer effect, and is recommended by all our best land- 

 scape gardeners. 



CALIFORNIA HONEY- TREES. 



"3 From what I have written above it needs hardly be said 

 that the acacias are worthy a place in our planting because 

 of their value as honey-trees. The eucalypts are also to be 

 selected for this same reason. Indeed, the eucalypts have all 

 the virtues that belong to the acacias. Like the acacias, they 

 have been brought from the southern hemisphere to the 

 northern, hence there is a tendency to change their time of 

 bloom. Consequently, we have in these, as in the acacias, 

 trees blossoming at every season of the year. 



Another tree worthy of consideration both for its elegance 

 and as a honey-tree, is the incomparable pepper. I know of 

 no tree the world over which has more to recommend it. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



State Inspection of Apiaries in Illinois 



[Read at the Illinois State ConTention Nov. IS, 16, 1904] 



No more interesting occupation can be imagined than that 

 of an inspector of apiaries. Early in the summer of 1904 the 

 writer got his commission from Hon. J. Q. Smith, Inspector 

 of Apiaries for Illinois. Soon after he started on his ri.uiuls 

 among the Cook County bee-keepers. 



Quite a number were visited who kept bees in bo.x-lu\v>. 

 and never saw the interior of a broocj-nest from one year's 

 end to another. Some of these said their bees had nearly all 

 died out. that they had not done well, etc. Of course in 

 such cases it might be necessary to break up a colony or two 



of the weakest live ones, to make a thorough examination, 

 transferring the bees and combs to another hive. In the 

 cases that I have in mind the p;irties were somewhat ignor- 

 ant of our language and custom-, and were entirely unwilling 

 to have the hives touched, almost refusing to let me go into 

 the back yard to have a look at the outside of the hives. Of 

 course the colonies might be diseased, and the losses might 

 have been caused by disease, bin under the law as it stands, 

 an inspector has no power to touch a hive for any purpose, 

 without the consent of the owner, and the disease continues . 

 to spread in all directions from an infected apiary. By all 

 means should the legislature be asked to give a drastic law, 

 similar to the Wisconsin act. Otherwise it seems like wast- 

 ing the money. 



In my work of inspection I pass the home and apiary of a 

 ne'ar neighbor and friend. He is an old-timer, having kept 

 from 100 colonies up and down for 20 years or so. I never 

 supposed his bees had the disease until one day I made him 

 a formal call, asking him how his bees were. His answer, 

 "They have got it." expressed the situation. We spent some 

 time that day, and another day I returned and w-e examined 

 nearly the whole apiary, and found 4 out of 5 colonies had 

 foul brood. His loss w-ill be over $100.00 this season, by the 

 disease. I questioned him as to where they could have gotten 

 the infection. He named a party a mile away as the likely 

 one. He said further that he had allowed the bees to clean 

 out a honey-barrel that had been shipped in from Wisconsin. 

 I visited the party named and found only the lady of the 

 house at home. 1 told my errand. We went out to the col- 

 onies, and found 3 dead and only 1 alive. The live one I opened 

 without smoke, and found a few bees on three frames and 

 brood on two frames. They were in the last stage of foul 

 brood. Now, I should have had the power to burn up the 

 whole outfit, except the hives, on the spot. I urgently re- 

 quested the lady of the house to have them burned up at 

 once, and .she promised to have it done. My time was too 

 short, and the ground too large to get over it the second 

 time, so I don't know whether it was done or not. 



Now here is the condition that confronts us : The big 

 State of Illinois has 102 counties, with about 350 apiaries 

 to the county. Suppose an inspector can reach 5 apiaries in 

 a day, it would take 70 days to cover one county effectually. 

 This does not seem far out of the way when you remember 

 that second and third calls must be made on a certain 

 number of them. Seventy days to a county, 102 counties — 

 7140 days' time to inspect the State. Suppose each deputy 

 could put in 6 months — INIay, June, July, August, September, 

 October, and put in 25 days in each month, which would 

 make 150 days for each inspector. It would take about 48 

 inspectors to cover the ground. Allow $5.50 a day for each 

 inspector— $4.00 and $1.50 expenses. That makes $39,270 as 

 the sum needed to cover Illinois properly in one season. The 

 moral of this is that we must ask the legislature for $5,000 

 at the very least. 



In order to get the money we must show them what was 

 done with the money already given us the past two years. 

 We must make a report of work done and money expended. 

 We must show why we need a new law, and why we need 

 more money. This report must be in proper form and ad- 

 dressed to the Governor and the legislative bodies. It must 

 not be too voluminous, for they will not read and understand 

 it if too many words are used. It seems fairly certain that 

 we can get the largely-increased appropriation if the proper 

 means are used. The Hon. H. W. Austin has consented to 

 introduce our bill. You may remember that we would have 

 had no law in 1903 without his aid. He recognizes the fact 

 that even $5,000 is an insignificant sum to cover the great 

 State of Illinois. 



It seems to be a fact that the aid of the Chicago-North- 

 western Bee-Keepers' Association is necessary to the success 

 of this plan. Let us suggest that a clause be incorporated in 

 the new law to give the control of the fund to a joint board 

 composed of the executive conunittees of both associations 

 equally. It seems as if under such an administration the 

 largest constituency could be reached, and the greatest good 

 done to the greatest number. The Chicago-Northwestern 

 is looking forward to great things. Two thousand invitations 

 have been mailed for the coming' convention at Chicago, Nov. 

 30 and Dec. 1. 1904. If these two of the best associations in 

 America join hands, there will lie no limit to their usefulness. 



Herman F. Moore, 

 Secretary of Chicago-X'-rthwestern and Member of 

 Illinois State. 



