266 THE BEE-KEEPERS* REVIEW 



and speakers. 1 had always wondered why l:)ees were not repre- 

 sented on those trips, or at Farmers' Institutes. After a certain 

 amount of digging I was introduced to Prof. L. R. Taft, who has 

 charge of Farmers" Institute work, and who was arranging and had 

 charge of the Institute Special, and he kindly agreed to include me 

 as one of the speakers. The object was to try out a plan I had, 

 and see just how much interest there was in bee-keeping. 



So that is why I was on the train. And I am more than pleased 

 with the result. The trip is not yet finished, and I will probably 

 write more about it for the August number, but I want to tell you 

 a few things I discovered. 



First, I discovered that we as bee-keepers have a lot of help 

 lying around waiting for us to ask for it. For instance, I found 

 that if I would prepare the copy, that the State \vould print for me 

 a lot of placards, calling the people's attention to the disease known 

 as foul brood, and telling about the law^ governing it. But they 

 could not distribute them for us. 



So I took a lot of them with me on the trip, and left a dozen 

 at each stop with some one who would see that tiiey were posted 

 around the place. Then while riding from one place to another I 

 happened to overhear the Industrial Superintendent of the railroad 

 we w^ere riding on. and who was with us while we were on his road, 

 talking to an Institute man about how they (the railroads) could 

 distribute placards for the college if they w^ould only get them out. 

 Instantly I was all attention, and I got up close and began asking 

 questions. I showed him one of ours, and after reading it he said 

 if I would furnish him with enough to send all their agents located 

 on their main lines, he would see that they were distributed free. 



Now, if the Michigan Central would do this, what would hinder 

 the other lines from doing the same? They reasoned that anything 

 that would help the farmer along production lines would, of course, 

 help the transportation companies; hence it would be to their ad- 

 vantage to co-operate. 



So I am going after every Railroad Company doing business in 

 Michigan. If I succeed I will soon have warnings regarding foul 

 brood posted in every railroad town in Michigan, at no expense to 

 the bee-keepers. Now if I can do that m Michigan it can also be 

 done in every state in the union, and with this information before 

 them it should do much to stop the spread of disease. I will be 

 glad to mail a copy of the placard to officers of local or state bee- 

 keepers' associations, or to foul brood inspectors, if they wish one. 



But about my talk on that institute train. I told of the annual 

 production of honey in Michigan, then explained that the honey 

 was only a part of the product of the honey bee, for we must credit 

 a large part of the fruit crop to it for its work of carrying the 



