Xo. 4.] INSPECTOR OF APIARIES. 209 



Benefit v. Disaster. — In the localities where treatment 

 has been ajjplied beekeepers have learned not only that it 

 is possible to save their colonies, even those badly infected, 

 but also that the brood, the wax, the honey, the hives and 

 the like may be ntilized. It is not now the task and docs 

 not entail the loss which treatment formerly incurred, when 

 it was thought necessary to burn everything infected, bees 

 and all. For illustration : one beekeeper had some 30 

 colonies, all of which were infected and some of which 

 were so reduced that they were regarded as useless and 

 hopeless ; they would have died within a few weeks. All 

 were treated late in July. When these bees were ]nit into 

 winter quarters the disease had not reappeared. The bee- 

 keeper sold some 175 pounds of wax (which wholesales at 

 about 30 cents a pound), GOO pounds of honey, $(39 worth 

 of bees and queens, and has on hand 29 colonies of bees 

 in prime condition, worth at least $200. In its former 

 condition his apiary would have been appraised at nothing, 

 since a diseased colony of bees is without value. Further- 

 more, colonies regarded as hopeless were stimulated with 

 the brood removed from other colonies. In one instance, 

 at least, a colony which had less than a pint of bees was 

 increased so that it could not be crowded into two hive 

 bodies ; it gave a surplus of honey. 



On the other hand, to show the disaster sustained by one 

 beekeeper, out of 55 colonies put into winter quarters last 

 fall, 50 were dead last spring. Those remaining had ad- 

 vanced eases of American foul brood and were successfully 

 treated. Yet this beekeeper sustained a loss greater than 

 half the present appropriation. To make a bad matter worse, 

 the evidence is that the apiarist unwittingly purchased the 

 disease. 



Present Conditions. — It is difficult to draw just and ade- 

 quate conclusions from a tabulation of the number of ajuaries 

 visited, the number of beekee|:)ers in the State, the number of 

 colonies examined and those found infected. Only the most 

 general interpretation of the situation is possible. The 

 list of beekeepers has been increased over the foruior list 

 by about 25 per cent. The indications are that the 2.500 



