128 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



long-experienced and the beginner or novice, always have equal 

 access' to the best energies of the service proportionate to avail- 

 able funds. 



The figures for the work for the year show that upwards of 

 a hundred more apiaries were visited in 1916 (1,622) than in 

 the year previous, and that the number of colonies examined 

 (4,121) exceeded that of the previous year. Moreover, 132 of 

 these apiaries were visited two or more times, and some even 

 four, five or six times. This amount of work was done in spite 

 of the excessively rainy season during the early part of the in- 

 spection period, when the best efforts of the inspectors were 

 foiled. It is in the early season, too, that inspection is par- 

 ticularly important and urgent. 



As an example of the thoroughness with which the inspection 

 work is carried on, and showing that all apiaries, large and 

 small, are visited, it has been calculated that the average num- 

 ber of colonies maintained in the apiaries inspected in 1916 is 

 three and a fraction. Doubtless had inspection been in terri- 

 tory free from disease, the average number of colonies in an 

 apiary would be much greater. It is encouraging, too, to find 

 there are marked reductions this year in the percentages of 

 infected colonies, as is mentioned below. 



Early in the season, the year 1916 promised to be phenome- 

 nal in clover honey production. The remark was common, "I 

 never saw so much white clover." To the beekeepers' great 

 disappointment it rained and rained. While the bees did their 

 best, and in some instances much better than might have been 

 expected under the circumstances, it is difficult to estimate 

 what the clover honey crop would have been with favorable 

 w^eather. This was the first year in five or six that clover 

 growth approached a high standard in Massachusetts. 



The year, however, was not without its important results; 

 the State apiary produced a grade of clover honey which ex- 

 celled in color, flavor and body similar honey sampled by the 

 writer over a wide range of the eastern United States. A com- 

 parative display was made at the Eastern States Exposition in 

 October. It demonstrated that Massachusetts beekeepers can 

 with care and skill secure clover honey equal to any offered by 

 eastern producers thus far known. 



