236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apr. 15 



rOUIi-BROOD LAWS RECENTLY PASSED. 



In several States there has been unusual 

 activity looking toward the passage of foul- 

 brood laws. New Jersey, Vermont, and 

 Kansas have very recently secured the 

 passage of foul-brood laws modeled after 

 those now in force in Ohio and Indiana — 

 the best laws, in our judgment, that were 

 ever enacted. 



A foul-brood bill for Pennsylvania has 

 passed both houses; and from the latest in- 

 formation we have received we have reason 

 to believe that the Governor will sign it. 



Michigan, we are advised, will get a bill 

 amending the present foul-brood law so 

 that it will be more effective, through both 

 houses; and the bee-keepers are requested 

 to write to the Governor of that State ask- 

 ing him to approve the bill when it comes 

 before him. 



Illinois has not been idle. Her bee-keep- 

 ers have been putting forth strenuous ef- 

 forts; but every year they have met opposi- 

 tion from one or two bee-keepers who have 

 tried to make it appear that the supj^ly 

 manufacturers of the country were back of 

 the effort to get a foul-brood bill solely to 

 further their own rather than the interests 

 of bee-keepers. Such a statement is utter- 

 ly false, of course. While they would be 

 interested in having foul-brood legislation 

 passed because it would help the bee-keep- 

 ing fraternity at large, it is not because it 

 would increase the sales of foundation or of 

 bee-hives, because the proposed law does 

 not require the burning of diseased colonies, 

 if we are correct, but, rather, recommends 

 t eatment advised by the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, Washington, D. C. 



A foul-brood bill for Massachusetts has 

 been recommended to the House by the 

 Ways and Means committee, and it is said 

 it is likely to pass; but bee-keepers of that 

 Slate should get busy and write to their 

 legislators. 



Tulare County, California, has passed an 

 ordinance for keeping diseased bees out of 

 the county. For particulars see page 255, 

 this issue. 



So the good work is going on. Fortu- 

 nately, there is almost no foul brood of 

 either kind in Florida and Georgia. 



UNCLE SAM'S increase OF $5000 FOR API- 

 CULTURE. 



The appropriation bill for the United 

 States Department of Agriculture for the 

 year beginning .July 1, 1911, carries an allot- 

 ment for investigations in bee culture of 

 $15,000. This is an increase of $5000 over 

 the amount for the present year. The 

 amendment providing for the increase was 

 olTered on the floor of the Senate by Sen- 

 ator Francis E. Warren, of Wyoming, act- 

 ing chairman of the Senate Committee on 

 Agriculture and Forestry shortly before the 

 adjournment of Congress, and was accepted 

 by the Senate and by the House of Repre- 

 sentatives in conference. 



The additional amount for bee culture 

 was 'ound to be necessary chiefly on account 



of the demand for more work on bee dis- 

 eases. The present wide occurrence of the 

 two brood diseases, and the rapidity of their 

 spread, makes it virgently necessary that 

 every thing be done by the government for 

 bee-keeping that can be done. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, through its specialists, 

 have been at work on the disease problem 

 several years, and a number of valuable 

 publications have been issued. By means 

 of samples sent in, the men engaged in this 

 work have been able to learn more definitely 

 than was ever known before where the two 

 diseases exist. Publications on bee diseases 

 have been sent out to the bee-keepers in the 

 diseased territory as far as the small office 

 force would permit. In a notice issued by 

 the Department last fall it was stated that 

 American foul brood occurs in 282 counties 

 in 37 States, and that European foul brood 

 occurs in 160 counties in 24 States. It was 

 also stated that the annual loss to the bee- 

 keepers of this country is at least $1,000,000 

 annually. Of course, the distribution of 

 the diseases is not yet fully known, but 

 enough is known to make this the most 

 important question before the bee-keepers 

 at present. 



With this increase Dr. Phillips and the 

 other men in the Bureau of Entomology 

 should be able to accomplish more than has 

 been possible heretofore. The work done in 

 the past few years has been conservative, 

 and no tendency has been manifested to 

 rush into print with the results of a little 

 work, as is too often done in government 

 offices. The men engaged in the work are 

 trained for scienti6c investigations, and 

 consequently the work will be of permanent 

 value. It is to be hoped that, with the pres- 

 ent increase, still more of the same kind of 

 work can be turned out. 



The increase in the appropriation for the 

 apicultural work is largely due to the exer- 

 tions of Mr. W. A. Selser, of Philadelphia, 

 who happens to have a good friend in con- 

 gress. He learned that a recommendation 

 for a slight increase had not been favorably 

 acted upon by the Committee on Agricul- 

 ture in the House of Representatives. Mr. 

 Selser was able to present the facts to sev- 

 eral Senators and Representatives in such 

 a way that they agreed to do what they 

 could for the bee-keepers' work. It is nat- 

 ural that the members of the two houses of 

 Congress should not fully appreciate the 

 need for work of this kind, and somebody 

 must take the trouble to urge legislation of 

 this character. The same thing is true of 

 getting State foul-brood laws passed. If bee- 

 keepers want the work in Washington in- 

 creased it will be absolutely necessary that 

 the matter be brought to the attention of 

 Congress, as Mr. Selser did in this case. 

 This is one important way in which the 

 National Bee-keepers' Association could be 

 of benefit to bee-keepers. The bee keepers 

 of the country are indebted especially to 

 Senators Warren and Penrose and Repre- 

 sentatives INIcCreary and Scott for the pres- 

 ent increase. 



