Part I.] STATE • INSPECTOR OF APIARIES. 147 



was then estimated that probably 60,000 pounds more would 

 be taken, — in all an average of about 290 pounds per colony, 

 spring count. 



It might well be the function of the apiary inspection service 

 to promote the interest and reliance of the public on Massa- 

 chusetts honey. Only a small portion of the honey consumed 

 in the State is locally produced, but this output can be in- 

 creased; also, those marketing honey can supplement their 

 own product with equally good grades of honey from elsewhere 

 in New England or the east. It might well be the function of 

 the inspection service to further the public interest in the utili- 

 zation of honey and the producers' and bottlers' interest in the 

 marketing of honey. 



The Raising and Distribution of Queen Bees. — As has been 

 suggested in the report of your secretary, in order to safeguard 

 the interest of Massachusetts beekeepers and possibly (while it 

 has not been demonstrated) eliminate the possible transmission 

 of infectious diseases of bees through the introduction of foreign 

 queens, the State might well maintain a queen-rearing apiary 

 for the purpose of producing superior queens for distribution 

 in Massachusetts. It has not .been determined whether this 

 could be done so as to reduce the current price of queens, 

 whether a part of the expense of the raising of queens might 

 be borne by local beekeepers' associations and the State, or 

 whether the queens might be distributed at cost. State queen 

 rearing is not new; the project has been taken up by both 

 State and Federal governments. During the current year at 

 least one State has reared and distributed queens to her bee- 

 keepers. In at least one province of Canada a provincial bee- 

 keepers' society has procured reputable queens for its members. 

 Should it not be desirable for Massachusetts to rear queens for 

 her beekeepers, it might be well to assist in procuring reliable, 

 prolific and healthy stock by taking, say, a portion of the 

 queens reared by a given producer. 



Concerning this subject Massachusetts has peculiarly appro- 

 priate localities for the production and mating of pure stock. 

 Should this service be undertaken, every emphasis should be 

 laid on procuring stock not only high in honey-producing quali- 

 ties, but also high in qualities resistant to European foul brood. 



