No. 4.] INSPECTOR OF APIARIES. 215 



their sui^pression in Massachusetts." This was published 

 at the expense of the State Board of Agriculture. Over 

 3,000 copies have been distributed. It will be desirable 

 to circulate, before the opening of spring, a brief warning 

 against the further spread of the diseases. Colonies which 

 have died during the winter from the disease, if not prop- 

 erly handled before bees fly, can readily infect hundreds 

 of other colonies by robbing the infected honey. A circular 

 giving precautionary measures should do much to prevent 

 the spread by this means. 



The Problem. 



Concisely, the problem is one of education. That bees 

 may be diseased, and that these diseases are depressing, 

 destructive and even annihilating to the beekeeping in- 

 dustry, is relatively a new point of view. Yet bee diseases 

 are at the root and foundation of beekeepers' troubles and 

 " bad luck." The way to relieve the situation is to inform 

 the beekeeper, educate him to know the diseases in all their 

 phases, show him how to treat them and guard against 

 them. Intimately associated is the opportunity to educate 

 along other lines of apiculture. As a matter of fact, in 

 the past season the Avriter has spent quite as much time 

 among beekeepers giving them insight into modern methods, 

 showing " short cuts," new implements, how to increase 

 their harvest to more nearly what it should be, and kindred 

 subjects, as in actual inspection of bees. In many instances 

 it has been found absolutely necessary to instruct in what 

 might seem the most trivial, simple, beginner's subjects, 

 as, for instance, the proper use of the smoker, yet this 

 merely illustrates what beekeeping needs. It thus becomes 

 evident that, while the inspection of disease should be re- 

 garded centrally and primarily important, this is but one 

 slight phase of the general betterment of the industry. It 

 illustrates one of the ideals of educational methods, namely, 

 taking the results of scientific investigation into the field 

 to the man who is to use them, — the farmer, the beekeeper. 



It is the writer's earnest desire that ample provision be 

 made for the general educational benefits which slionld ac- 



