18 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 442 



pheles maculipennis, known as a possible transmitter of malarial 

 parasites, proved the more common form. New records were also 

 obtained for Anopheles punctipennis. a form widely distributed 

 in North America. This species, previously known from a single 

 collection at Lolo, was found in three additional localities. 



While carriers of the disease and the mosquito transmitters 

 certainly occur in the same areas in Montana, widespread out- 

 breaks among persons exposed to the disease within the State 

 are not likely to occur. The possibility of occasional cases of local- 

 ly contracted malaria cannot be overlooked, however. 



The problem is dealt with in more detail in an article by Dr. 

 Pletsch in the J ournal-LancetJ 



BIENNIAL REPORT OF THE MONTANA STATE APIARIST, 



1945-46 



A study of bee registrations for Montana indicated that there 

 has been a steadv increase in the bee population of the State for 

 the past few years: in 1941 there were about 36,000 colonies, while 

 in 1946 nearly 60,000 were being operated. 



This increase is a result of two factors. Because of high prices 

 of honey and beeswax (1) new beekeepers have established them- 

 selves, and (2) local producers have increased the numbers of 

 colonies under their operation. With the increase in the bee pop- 

 ulation in Montana there has been a marked decrease in the honey 

 production per colony, as the following table demonstrates: 



Year 



1941 

 1942 

 1943 

 1944 

 1945 

 1946 



The final crop reports for 1946 are not available at the pres- 

 ent time, but for the most part yields appear to be poorer than in 

 1945. This decrease is easily understood. While only a few new terri- 

 tories were brought under production, there were over 20.000 

 more colonies operated, and these additional colonies took 1,200,000 

 pounds of honey for their winter's feed alone and probably three 

 times that much for summer consumption. 



■Vol. B4 (9): 289. Sept. 1946. 



