AUGUST 15, 1914 



around. As this was an extensive alfalfa 

 country we began to subscribe again for 

 Gleanings, and decided to get some bees. 

 We pui'chased 14 old gums, transferred and 

 Italianized them, and it wasn't long before 

 we had 50, then 75 colonies. This was new 

 to the natives around there, we having 

 queens come through the mail, and handling 

 the bees without gloves. So it soon became 

 the talk of the town. 



My father was a busy man, preaching at 

 several different small appointments, and 

 moving and building a church. I was the 

 oldest boy, and liked bees, and was kept 

 from school a great deal. At examination 

 time I had to study hard, sometimes in the 

 vacation months, to pass in September. We 

 rigged up a honey-house, bought a four 

 frame extractor and other necessary articles, 



and ran mostly for extracted honey. We 

 made some great records, used to extract 

 every two weeks in June, July, and August. 

 We sold all or nearly all our honey in 

 Carson City for 50 cents a quart. Mason 

 jar and all. In bulk we received $5.00 for 

 a five-gallon can. One reason of our success 

 was that the Lord was with us, just as he 

 has been with our old friend A. I. Root all 

 these years. He always led a good Christian 

 life with a personal Savior. 



We have always enjoyed Mr. Root's writ- 

 ings. I remember when quite a small boy 

 my father reading '" Merrybanks and his 

 Neighbor " out loud to us. It was so good 

 we read it again. Also, " What to Do and 

 How to be Happy while Doing it." 



Kent, Wash. 



FOUL-BROOD INSPECTION IN ARIZONA 



BY W. I. LIVELY 



I have noticed several references to the 

 report of the Arizona bee inspector. It 

 seems to me that some of these writers, 

 probably without meaning to do so, rather 

 reflect on the work of Mr. Ivy. I think the 

 Arizona beekeepers, almost without excep- 

 tion, feel that we have one of the most effi- 

 cient inspectors to be found anywhere, and 

 I think a little explanation will clear up 

 some of the wonder as to the vast amount 

 of work performed by him. 



To begin with, there is but one county in 

 the State in which foul brood is to be found, 

 and in only a very few apiaries there. Until 

 very recently it was unknown here. The 

 eases at present are in an isolated region. 

 We have not a single case in the Salt River 

 Valley, and we will not permit it to come in, 

 as some have found by experience. 



Now, in the regions where foul brood was 

 found, our inspector went through each api- 

 ary and each hive; and wherever a trace 

 was found (and if it is there, believe me Mr. 

 Ivy will find it), the hive was branded and 

 the owner given so many days in which to 

 eradicate it ; and the fact was emphasized 

 that it must be eradicated. Thus it was in 

 a short time brought under control, and at 

 this writing is practically eliminated. 



Outside of this one locality there is no 

 disease, and never has been. This fact, as 

 Mr. Foster says in his department, June 1, 

 makes it unnecessary to go through every 

 hive in an apiary. If an inspector came 

 into my apiary, where both he and myself 

 knew in all reason that there was no dis- 

 ease, and began systematically to examine 



every comb, running the risk of starting 

 robbing, I should certainly hit him over the 

 head with some little object like a hive- 

 cover. On the other hand, if I even sus- 

 pected its existence I would send post haste 

 for the inspector; and once my suspicions 

 were conflnned I would treat it by bonfire 

 That is the approved Arizona method of 

 dealing with it. 



This explains why Mr. Ivy could cover 

 more territory than he could have done in a 

 State Avhere the disease is quite generally 

 disseminated. He is certainly wide awake, 

 and on his job, and is an expert on foul 

 brood, having been raised with it in another 

 State. Not long ago I phoned him that I 

 had a colony which showed symptoms of 

 paralysis. He promptly ran up in his car, 

 a round trijD of nearly twenty miles, con- 

 firmed my suspicions, and advised me as to 

 treatment. 



But, to return to the number of colonies 

 which can be examined in one day. Isn't 

 " from thirty-five to fifty " putting the av- 

 erage pretty low, even where the most thor- 

 ough inspection is necessary? I regularly 

 extract from 20 to 25 hives per day, work 

 ing alone. Some of the more progressive 

 beekeepers of this State could go through 

 35 hives in a day, and strike up a personal 

 acquaintance with a large per cent of the 

 individual bees. Mr. Foster's estimate of 

 100 per day looks better to me. Send some 

 of your inspectors to Arizona, and let them 

 live on alfalfa and sunshine for awhile, and 

 see them speed up. 



Glendale, Ariz. 



