TWELFTH ANNUAL KEPOET OE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 205 



is needed is badly needed. It is fortunate that the kind of training 

 and information needed for this work is so similar to general eco- 

 nomic entomology that one of the regular force of this department 

 of the agricultural college can do this work in connection with other 

 regular duties as provided in the State Entomologist law of Mon- 

 tana. 



"It is, therefore, proposed and recommended that in the near 

 future the work of apiary inspection be regularly taken up by the 

 State Entomologist's office and that legal authority be provided 

 by the next Legislature." 



IMPORTANCE OF THE BEE INDUSTRY TO MONTANA 



No exact figures indicating the amount of honey produced in 

 Montana are available. We have given above the figures for one 

 company, and we know of other large apiaries and many small ones. 

 Assuming that this company produces one-tenth of the honey grown 

 in the State (and it probably does not), then Montana produces 

 iinnually a crop of about 1,000,000 pounds, which at 15 cents a 

 pound, certainly a low enough price, is worth $150,000. 



Montana grows an enormous acreage of alfalfa and alsike and 

 white clovers, as well as many other honey-producing plants, thus 

 offering a great opportunity for the bee industry. This disease is 

 already doing serious harm, not only by killing the bees, but by 

 discouraging the apiarist and generally blighting the business. It 

 can be checked and controlled, if not eradicated, at a comparatively 

 small expense to the State if the matter is taken up soon. 



AN ASSISTANT NEEDED 



The Montana State Entomologist law has been in operation 

 tor twelve years. During this time the Experiment Station ento- 

 mologist has served, as provided by law, with no salary other than 

 that received from the Agricultural College and Experiment Station. 

 The fund has been gradually increased from $300 to the present 

 S3,000, all of which is used in office and field expenses. It is 

 lo the State many times over in the saving of agricultural and hor- 

 ticultural produce from destruction by insect pests, 

 believed that the small sum annually expended has been returned 



During these twelve years great changes have come about in 

 Montana agriculture. The tillage area has been greatly increased, 

 dry-land farming has come into prominence, the orchard industry 



