THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



some obstinate bee-keeper who could not 

 otherwise be induced to get rid of foul 

 brood. In this way the laws may have 

 done good. 



At the late Michigan State bee-keepers' 

 convention, at Mt. Pleasant, the above 

 objection was urged against the Michigan 

 law. Still other faults were urged against 

 it. For instance, considerable work is 

 necessary to put the law in operation. 

 If a bee-keeper has reasons for thinking 

 that foul brood exists in his neighbor- 

 hood, he must get other bee-keepers to 

 join with him in petitioning the judge of 

 probate for the appointment of a foul 

 brood commissioner. After he is appoint 

 ed then complaint must be made against 

 the bee-keeper upon whose premises the 

 existence of foul brood is suspected. If 

 it proves upon examination that his sus- 

 picions were unfounded, the cost of the 

 examination is thrown upon the one mak- 

 ing the complaint. The necessity for the 

 exercise of all these efforts, and the risk 

 of incurring what may prove a useless or 

 needless expense, deters many from tak- 

 ing the necessary steps to put the law in 

 force. If there were a State commission- 

 er already appointed to whom any one 

 could simply send word that the exis- 

 tence of foul brood was suspected, in such 

 and such an apiary, complaints would al- 

 ways be sent in whenever foul brood was 

 svispected. 



Then again, it would often be the case 

 that a competent man could not be found 

 in some county to be appointed to the 

 commissionership. This is really an im- 

 portant point. Not only should a com- 

 mi.ssioner be able to detect foul brood 

 with unerring certainty, and to know, from 

 actual practice , how to best get rid of the 

 disease, but he should be a man of mature 

 years and judgment posse.ss an ability for 

 handling men as well as bees and toul 

 brood; and stand high in the estimation of 

 bee-keepers. Such a man could probably 

 be found in each State; but to find one for 

 each county would not be possible. 



Ontario's foul brood inspector, a man 

 who has had much experience in curing 



fold brood according to lazL', says that the 

 Wisconsin law \sperfecf\ and I can see no 

 fault with it; and with such a man as Mr. 

 N. E. France for commissioner I shall 

 look for good results in Wisconsin. If 

 we had such a law in Michigan with R. 

 L. Tayior for commissioner, I should have 

 hopes of the suppression of foul brood. 



At the Michigan convention it was 

 suggested that possibly our Live Stock 

 Commissioner, in the absence of any laws 

 upon foul brood, might take steps for its 

 suppression. I wrote to the head man 

 of our Live Stock Commission, and he 

 said that, as bees came under the head of 

 live stock, that he supposed the Cotnmis- 

 sion could be employed in the suppres- 

 sion of any contagious disease among 

 bees. He sent me a copy of the law, but, 

 upon reading it, I find that it would have 

 to be changed somewhat, or a very liber- 

 al construction placed upon its meaning, 

 to enable the Commission to cope with 

 foul brood. I think a law and a commis- 

 sioner such-as there is in Wisconsin and 

 Ontario are far superior to anything else. 



A Condensed View of Current 

 Bee Writings. 



E. E. H.\STY. 



Blame where you must, be candid where you can. 

 And be each critic the Good-natured Man. 



GOLDSMITH. 



(S'URE enough, brother Hutchinson, I 

 ^ have got over gasping for breath, and 

 want to argue a little — and rip and snort 

 — in opposition to that inevitable plain 

 section. Look here, the wood of the sec- 

 tion is not brought to the table to be ad- 

 mired. Basswood small lumber an tiat- 

 urel is not eaten by my lady and her 

 guests at tea — no more than the coat and 

 buttons of our ship's officer is eaten by 

 the cannibals. The cannibals aforesaid can 

 not be fooled with pretty coat and but- 

 tons. If they have any choice in the 

 matter they are going to choose the man 



