FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE INSPECTOR 

 OF APIARIES. 



To the State Board of Agriculture. 



I respectfully ])roseiit the first annual report of the State 

 Inspector of Apiaries, whose services were available begin- 

 ning July 1, 1910. 



Brood Diseases of Bees. 



The season has been favorable for making a pronounced 

 beginning in the check of brood diseases of bees, — - Amer- 

 ican foul brood and European foul brood. The results demon- 

 strate ])riniarily that these diseases are infinitely more 

 pi-e\al('nt and generally distributed than has been hereto- 

 fVire supposed. In some localities of a hundred square 

 miles or more nearly every colony has been found in a 

 sei-ious condition. The possibility of successfully control- 

 ling these diseases has been shown to the satisfaction of 

 beekeepers. 



Public Nuisance. — Colonies of bees infected with brood 

 diseases are public nuisances as they occur throughout the 

 State. They endanger ]n-o]ierty, handicap the eflorts and 

 mar the investments of the most earnest and painstaking 

 beekeepers. They not only reduce the returns of the in- 

 dustry, l)ut also make sales of bees and bee products difficult 

 and uncertain. The annual loss caused is inestimable, affect- 

 ing not only the beekeepei', but also the orchardist, market 

 gai'dener, cucumber grower, cranberry grower and other agri- 

 culturists. 



Infectiousness. — That a single case of disease may en- 

 danger a whole beekeeping community has been re])eatedly 

 ol»served. IToney is largely the medium through which the 

 disease is spread. Tomparison might be made to the ti-ans- 

 mission of typhoid fever and other human diseases in milk 



