January, 1920 



GT. EAXINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



15 



and E. E. Snodgiass ' work on anatomy arc 

 both the products of this office. 



In addition to the investigations and ex- 

 tension work, it is the policy of the office 

 to make that branch of the Bureau a sort of 

 storehouse for information on all beekeep- 

 ing subjects. Several years ago Dr. Phil- 

 lips told us thru Gleanings about the im- 

 mense file of literature on beekeeping at the 

 Bureau. This has been growing ever since 

 it was begun and is today doubtless the best 

 bibliography on beekeeping in the world. 

 Papers and books are there listed with a 

 record where they may be found if they are 

 not in the library of the office. Dozens, perhaps 

 hundreds, of papers in foreign languages 

 have been translated and placed in the files 

 for references, especially those bearing on 

 the lines of investigation undertaken by the 

 office. These, together with the library of 

 the office, constitute the greatest compila- 

 tion of beekeeping information in the world. 



And now for an important point. All of 

 this information and all of these records are 

 in a frame building in the suburbs of Wash- 

 ington. I stated earlier that this building 

 is convenient, but it has one most serious 

 fault. The Government might be able to 

 lease another building if this one should 

 burn, or it might then build one fit for the 

 preservation of the records after they are 

 all destroyed. Why is this not done before 

 it is too late? This is something which we 



should bring before Congress and keep be- 

 fore that body until the office which repre- 

 sents us at Washington is housed in a fire- 

 proof office and has all the equipment which 

 it needs. It should by all means be in a 

 building where the records are as safe as it 

 is possible to make them. It would be a 

 matter of personal loss to every intelligent 

 beekeeper in the country and in the world, 

 if the present office were destroyed by fire. 



The extension work in beekeeping will be 

 discussed in a later article. All of the work, 

 that in Washington as well as the extension 

 work, is paid for out of the appropriation 

 of $35,000 made by Congress. During the 

 war it was $.50,000. When Dr. Phillips went 

 to the Bureau of Entomology the annual ap- 

 propriation for beekeeping was $8,000, and 

 this has gradually been increased from year 

 to year. It has not increased fast enough, 

 however; for there should be more extension 

 men in the field, more men in the Washing- 

 ton office for investigation work and for an 

 enlargement of the work of the office along 

 all lines. I say this, not because I wish to 

 see the present beekeepers receive more aid 

 from the Government than they are entitled 

 to, but because beekeeping must grow. 



It has been so small thing for beekeeping 

 to have the growing office of the Bureau of 

 Entomology striving to help it in every 

 possible way, aiding beekeepers individually 

 and collectively with their problems. 



C'unvale^teiit suldicr bo} s ttudym^' \.>-i- r-nitmc :it Ft. Mci'herion. Ga. M;iny of the 

 Sam"H 75 army hospitals have taken n l<?fn 'Pterfst in beekeeping. 



HU,IH,I(| 



btill in L'ncle 



