38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



that a man should be employed who can give his whole time to 

 the work, and therefore that a living salary should be paid. I 

 therefore recommend that the present clause of the law, fixing 

 the salary at $500, be amended by giving the secretary of the 

 State Board of Agriculture authority to fix the salary, with the 

 approval of the Governor and Council. 



Apiary Inspection. 



The work of apiary inspection has been carried on as before, 

 under the direction of Dr. B. N. Gates, who will report in detail 

 to the Board. The attention of the inspector this year has been 

 largely confined to following up previously infected areas, 

 giving particular assistance to those beekeepers who were ex- 

 periencing difficulty in suppressing disease. Especial emphasis 

 has been laid on the production of extracted honey, and as a 

 result many beekeepers who have heretofore neglected this prod- 

 uct have given it consideration. Although the season was not 

 favorable for a crop of light honey, considerable marketable 

 honey has been produced, and this has met with a ready local 

 sale. 



Assistance has been given beekeepers in procuring their glass 

 containers as there has been difficulty in securing them from 

 factories or jobbers. A list has been compiled of the beekeepers 

 owning extractors, and the majority of them have signified their 

 willingness to loan their extractors to extract the honey for 

 neighboring beekeepers. 



The inspector of apiaries was appointed collaborator in bee- 

 keeping of the Bureau of Entomology of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and through co-operation with this 

 department has been enabled to distribute many Federal 

 apiary publications as well as the State publications. 



As a link between the beekeepers of the State and the office 

 of the inspector, 58 local agents in beekeeping have been ap- 

 pointed by the secretary of the Board. These agents serve 

 without pay, and keep the central office informed of conditions 

 in their neighborhood. As fast as agents are available they will 

 be appointed for the remaining towns of the State. 



With the present scarcity of sugar there is danger that bee- 

 keepers will fail to properly feed their bees for the coming 



