1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



333 



bloom, and the succeeding crops will be much heavier 

 than if the first crop is allowed to stand until it is all 

 in bloom I have just read Bulletin No. 114, issued 

 from the experiment station at Manhattan, and it 

 says, "Alfalfa should be cut when not more than one- 

 tenth of the plants are in bloom. Early cutting in- 

 vigorates the plant. The late cutting of the first crop 

 seems to injure the plitit more than at any other 

 ti^ne." In September, 1901, I planted six acres to al- 

 falfa and got a splendid stand. In the last week of 

 May, litO'2, I concluded that one-tenth of the plants 

 were in bloom, and the crop was ready for cutting, 

 and I cut ten swaths around the field. It set in so 

 rainy and cloudy that I stopped the mower and wait- 

 ed two weeks for fairer weather, lamenting all the 

 time that I was injuring the hay crop by letting it 

 stand .so long without cutting. But I was surprised, 

 when I came to cut the second crop, to find that the 

 piece that I cut earlier did not turn off more than 

 about one-half as much as the piece I cut later; and 

 this was the case with the third and fourth cuttings. 

 All through the season I could distinguish the very 

 line where the earlier cutting left off ^n I the later 

 cutting commenced. The ground and soil are all the 

 same, rich bottom, about thirty feet above permanent 

 water, no weeds foxtail, or crab grass in the field. 

 The hav from the earlier cutting did not remain on 

 the field to injure growth of second crop. Please ex- 

 plain to me whv my alfalfa acts so contrary. 

 Garnet, AndeVson Co., Kan. J. 5l. Craig. 



I also inclose a photo of part of my apia- 

 rj' — four hives, with my wife standing be- 

 hind them; the other two hives are on an- 

 other stand which doesn't show in the pic- 

 ture. E. S. Webstkr. 



Hutchinson, Kan. 



FOUL = BROOD LEGISLATION IN CALIFORNIA. 



BY J. M. HAMBAUGH. 



Among- the very first bills introduced into 

 the California legislature in January was 

 one with the following title: 



An Ac/— To amend an act entitled an act fo por- 

 mote the apicultural interests of the State of Califor- 

 nia by providing county inspectors of apiaries, and 

 defining their duties, and providing for their compen- 

 sation, and repealing an act entitled, " An act to 

 authorize the board of supen'isors of the several coun- 

 ties of this State to appoint inspectors of apiaries, and 

 provide for their compensation, and defining their 

 duties, and for the further protection of bee culture," 

 approved March 13, LSS3, said first-named act having 

 been approved February, 20, 1901, and adding five new 

 sections, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven, and pro- 

 viding for making the violation of certain .sections 

 thereof a misdemeanor. 



Senator Ward and Assemblyman Bur- 

 gess, both of San Diego Co., introduced the 

 bill simultaneously in both houses, and 

 they made rapid headway, reaching the 

 Governor among the very first, to claim his 

 signature. All honor to them, and thanks 

 to all in our legislative halls who so gener- 

 ously contributed to the needs of the suffer- 

 ing bee-keepers, with their influence and 

 votes. Many thanks, also, to those wide- 

 awake officers and members of the Califor- 

 nia State Bee-keepers' Association, TTniver- 

 sity Farmers' Club Institute, California 

 Central Bee-keepers, etc., and especially 

 our good friend Prof. Cook, who so ably 

 and generously championed the cause of 

 the bee-keepers, and while, in our individ- 

 ual estimation, it does not meet ever3' re- 

 quirement, we believe we now have upon 

 our statutes the best foul-brood law on the 

 continent of America. It will be noticed 

 the last live sections and the amendment to 



the fourth section were enacted at this ses- 

 sion of the legislature. 



Sec. 1 — Whenever a petition is presented to the 

 board of supervisors of any county, signed by ten or 

 more persons, each of whom is a property-holder, 

 resident of the county, and possessor of an apiary or 

 place where bees are kept, stating that certain or all 

 apiaries within the county were affected with the dis- 

 ease known as foul brood, or any other disease which 

 is infectious or contagious in its nature, and injurious 

 to the bees, their eggs, or larv:e, and praying that an 

 inspector be appointed by them, whose duty it shall 

 b:f to supervi-se the treatment of said bees and apia- 

 ries as herein provided, the board of .supervisors 

 shall, within twenty days thereafter, appoint a suit- 

 able person, who shall be a .skilled bee-keeper, in- 

 spector of apiaries. Upon petition of ten persons, 

 each of whom is a resident property-holder, and pos- 

 sessor of an apiary, the board of supervisors may 

 remove said inspector for cause after a hearing of the 

 petition. 



Sec. 2. — It shall be the duty of the inspector in each 

 county to cause an inspection to be made, when he 

 deems it necessary, of any or every apiary or other 

 place within his jurisdiction in which bees are kept ; 

 and, if found infected with foul brood, or any other 

 infectious or contagious disease injurious to the bees, 

 or their eggs or larvae, he shall notify the owner or 

 owners, person or persons, in charge, or in possession 

 of said apiaries or plact s where bees are kept, that 

 the same are infected with foul brood or any other 

 disease infectious or contagious in its nature, and 

 injurious to bees, their eggs, or larvae, and he shall 

 require such person or persons to eradicate and re- 

 move such disr-ase or cause of contagion, within a 

 certain time to be specified. 



Said notice may be served upon the person or per- 

 sons or either of them, owning or having charge or 

 having possession of such infected apiaries or places 

 where bees are kept, by any inspector, or by any per- 

 son deputized by the said inspector for that purpose, 

 or they may be served in the same manner as a sum- 

 mons in a civil action Any and all such apiaries, or 

 places where bees are kept, found infected with foul 

 brood or any other infectious or contagious disease, 

 are hereby adjudged and declared to be a public nui- 

 .sance: and whenever any such nuisance shall exist at 

 any place within his jurisdiction, or on the property 

 of any non-resident or on any property the owner or 

 owners of which can not be found by the inspector 

 after diligent search, within the county or upon the 

 property of any owner or owners, upon whom notice 

 aforesaid has been served, and who shall refuse or 

 neglect to abate the same within the time specified, it 

 shall be the duty of the inspector to abate the nui- 

 sance — either by treating the disease or by destroying 

 the infected hives, together with their combs and bees 

 therein. 



The expense thereof shall be a county charge, and 

 the board of supervisors shall allow and pay the same 

 out of the general fund of the county. 



.Sec. 3. — It shall be the duty of the county inspec- 

 tor of apiaries to keep a record of his official acts and 

 doings, and make a monthly report thereof to the 

 b ard of supervisors; and the board of supervisors 

 may withhold warrants for salary of said inspector 

 until such time as said report is made. 



,Sec. 4 — The salary of the county inspector of apia- 

 ries shall be four dollars per day when actually 

 engaged in the performance of his duties, and item- 

 ized necessary traveling expenses incurred in the per- 

 formance of his duties, as prescribed in this act. 



Sec. ".—The inspector of apiaries may, in his discre- 

 tion, order the owner or owners, or other persons in 

 charge of bees kept in box or other immovable or 

 stationarv comb hives in apiaries infected with foul 

 lirood or any other infectious or contagious disease, or 

 within a radius of three miles of such diseased apia- 

 ries, to transfer such bees to movable-frame hives 

 within a reasonable time to be specified in such order 

 or notice; and in default of such transfer by the 

 owner or owners, or other person in charge of such 

 bees, the inspector may destroy or cause to be de- 

 stroyed all such hives,' together with their contents, 

 and the expense thereof shall be a county charge, as 

 provided in section two of this act. 



.Sec. 8. — Any-person or persons who shall import 

 bees into the State of California, which said bees are 

 not accompanied with a certificate from a duly author- 

 ized inspector of apiaries, or bee-inspector, certifying 

 that such bees are free from foul brood and other infec- 

 tious or contagious diseases, or who shall import bees 

 from another county within this State not having a 



