MONTANA INSECT PESTS, 1955-1956 23 



STORED GRAIN INSECTS 



The clean grain program in Montana is carried out to a large 

 extent bv this office. That it has struck home and has been taken 

 seriously is attested to by the fact that few lots of wheat from Montana 

 have been condemned by the Food and Drug Administration because 

 of sanitary reasons. Two publications by this office and numerous 

 meetings at which thousands of farmers were contacted have added 

 materially to the effectiveness of the program. Among those stored 

 grain insects identified during the biennium were: confused and red 

 flour beetles, Pondera County; rusty grain beetle, Liberty County; 

 Mediterranean flour moth, Richland County; mealworms, Liberty and 

 Flathead counties; bran bugs, Pondera and Chouteau counties; fungus 

 beetles, Liberty County; and grain mites, Valley and Gallatin counties. 



BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE STATE APIARIST 

 1955 and 1956 



During the past biennium the State Apiarist has carried out his 

 various duties as prescribed by the Montana Apicultural Law. The 

 State Apiarist, operating on the premise that regulations should be 

 resorted to only when education fails, has, through his assistant, placed 

 major emphasis on the education of beekeepers in more efficient and 

 profitable methods of production and marketing. He has also worked 

 toward educating the public to more favorable acceptance of the 

 beekeepers and an understanding of their problems. Beekeepers report 

 that in recent years many farmers have been coming to them and 

 requesting that bees be placed on their land, whereas a number of 

 years ago beekeepers often had trouble getting the farmers to allot 

 a small piece of ground on which bees might be kept. 



Last year the State Apiarist's Office conducted a 2-day school in 

 beekeeping at one of the 4-H summer camps. It was very well re- 

 ceived and already several informal applications for such a school 

 have been requested by others. Articles for magazines and news 

 releases attempting to better inform the general public in matters of 

 beekeeping practices have been written and talks to school children 

 have been made. 



Movie films from the State Apiarist's Office are often used at 

 meetings of adults who are interested in beekeeping, and on two 

 occasions the State Apiarist's Office has sent a man to talk to nearby 

 Rotary Clubs. 



This office offers timely tips to beekeepers on their operations 

 and often makes recommendations on prices so as to provide for 

 more orderly marketing of honey and beeswax. The State Apiarist's 

 Office offers moisture testing and color grading of honey as a free 

 service to Montana beekeepers. It also provides for identification 



