GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1920 



E. F. Phillips took charge of the office, and 

 he stayed on this investigation until he was 

 transferred from the office in 1914. After 

 that Dr. A. H. McCray took up the work 

 and continued until he left to become State 

 Bacteriologist of Montana. When Doctor 

 McCray left, A. P. Sturtevant, who was 

 then at the Massachusetts Agricultural Ex- 

 periment station working on bee diseases, 

 came to Washington and since then he has 

 had charge of the work. In all 6,800 samples 

 of suspected or diseased brood have been 

 examined for beekeepers and apiary inspect- 

 ors since the work began in 1906. More 

 samples are received now than ever before. 



As a result of the work on brood diseases 

 the causes of the three brood diseases have 

 been determined and much valuable infor- 

 mation has been gathered together concern- 

 ing the methods of treatment, the distribu- 

 tion of the diseases in the United States, and 

 other facts which have more or less bearing 

 on the control of the diseases. 



The Bureau has also played a large part 

 in having the right kinds of laws passed by 

 the various States for the control of these 

 diseases. The early laws placed the power 

 of inspection in the hands of an inspector 

 appointed by the governor of the State. 

 Naturally this sometimes led to the appoint- 

 ment of men who had served the governor 

 faithfully during elections. Not all of the 

 early inspectors were politicians, but some 

 of them were. It was evident that inspec- 

 tion needs careful supervision in order that 

 the work might cover the State and that 

 favoritism might not be shown to the friends 

 of the inspector. The Bureau of Entomology 

 early advised that the inspection be placed 

 under the supervision of the State entomolo- 

 gist 's office in each State. At first beekeep- 

 ers were inclined not to approve the plan, 

 but now that it has been in operation in 

 several States for years it is evident that it 

 is the best plan that can be devised. 



It is the function of the scientific investi- 

 gator to explain methods, to tell us why the 

 methods work rather than to discover the 

 methods themselves. So in the matter of 

 bee diseases. Before the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology did its work on bee diseases we used 

 the shaking treatment for American foul 

 brood without knowing why it is necessary. 

 In the case of European foul brood the ap- 

 proved methods of treatment were perfected 

 by beekeepers after the work of the Bureau 

 was begun. It is true that ^ome European 

 beekeepers had used the requeening method 

 for one form of disease years before, but 

 they did not know that there are two dis- 

 eases, and, as a result, the advice was almost 

 useless. The Bureau of Entomology has 

 added much to our knowledge of the way in 

 which the latest methods for the control of 

 this disease may be employed; and now that 

 these methods are well known, the Bureau 

 has been able to show how the disease may 

 be prevented by the application of good 

 beekeeping practices. It can not 1 o stated 

 too strongly that prevention is moro impor- 



tant than cure, and this is the chief effort of 

 work of the Bureau with this disease. 



When the bee-disease work had progressed 

 to the point where it was being handled 

 well by the various States, Dr. Phillips and 

 Mr. Demuth took up the wintering problem. 

 This work is well known. Here again no 

 new methods of wintering have been devis- 

 ed, but the result of this work is that now 

 we know why some methods are successful 

 and why others are failures. It is the 

 "why" that counts, and that is what the 

 scientist is always after. Not only have 

 they been working for the past several years 

 on this problem, but they have tried their 

 best to get the beekeepers of the country to 



Here is the official title of National Bee Tulture 



headquarters as posted on the walls of the new 



office at Somerset, Md. 



adopt intelligent methods of caring for their 

 bees. 



There have been other workers in the Bu- 

 reau who havQ contriVjuted greatly to our 

 knowledge of bees. The work of Dr. D. B. 

 Gasteel on the methods of wax-scale manipu- 

 lation and of pollen-gathering, that of Dr. 

 Burton N. Gates on temperatures of the 

 colony, and other such work on bee behavior 

 are all valuable and all have a bearing on 

 practical beekeeping. 



It will be recalled that the expression 

 "bee behavior" is one which is now com- 

 mon in beekeeping, and this is the result 

 of the emphasis which the Bureau has plac- 

 ed on this work ever since Dr. Phillips has 

 been at the head of the work. Bee behavior 

 is the foundation on which all good beekeep- 

 ing rests, and the Bureau is right is placing 

 so much emphasis on it. Dr. .las. A. Nel- 

 son 's work on the development of the bee 



