1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



387 



change of air and the means for reducing the 

 temperature in cellars where the temperature 

 runs too high. In most cellars a ventilator 

 can be provided by making a sort of blind 

 to shut out daylight, and yet admit air. In 

 order to make this effective there should be 

 an opening in a live chimney to which a 

 stove or furnace connects so there may be an 

 active current. But this ventilation will not 

 be required where the temperature can be 

 held down to 45 — not lower than 40, certain- 

 ly, nor higher than 47. Where the right 

 temperature can be maintained, not so much 

 change of air will be required. 



Some cases of uneasiness on the part of 

 the bees can be allayed by sprinkling the 

 clusters with water every now and then. If 

 the cellar be very dry this should be done 

 any way. 



THE CONNECTICUT FOUL-BROOD BILL; GIV- 

 ING ADVANCE NOTICE OF INSPECTION. 



The Connecticut bee-keepers have agreed 

 upon a foul-brood bill which they are united- 

 ly presenting to their State legislature. This 

 is good; for it is better to pi'esent a united 

 front and get something than to disagree 

 and present two bills and get neither, but, 

 unfortunately, as it seems to us, on the com- 

 promise there is one section that provides 

 that the inspector shall give the owner no- 

 tice in advance of the intended inspection. 

 If by mail, said notice must not be less than 

 48 hours previous to the inspection. This, 

 it seems to us, will defeat to a very great ex- 

 tent the effectiveness of the law in the case 

 of certain parties who might be inclined to 

 conceal the presence of the disease in order 

 to obtain a clean bill of health on the yard. 

 Suppose, for example, that a bank inspector 

 were to give the officers of a bank that he 

 was about to inspect 48 hours' notice in ad- 

 vance of his arrival. Could not that bank, 

 if it were doing an irregular or crooked bus- 

 iness, "fix" things up so that every thing 

 would pass muster, then, after he was away, 

 (continue its illegal banking? Suppose a 

 fire-insuran(!e inspector were to give4?s hours' 

 n(ttice to policy-holders that on a certain day 

 he would make an inspection. Could not 

 these people sweep up their premises, get 

 rid of all inflammable rubbish, and otherwise 

 make their premises presentable, then after- 

 ward let rubbish accumulate, defeating the 

 very object of the inspection? 



Of course, in the case of the foul-brood 

 situation in Connecticut, the presumption is 

 that the great viajority of bee-keepers would 

 l)e honest and would welcome the visit of 

 the inspector, who would be able not only 

 to tell them if they had the disease, but how 

 to cure it. But the chap who continually 

 harbored foul brood in his yard (and there 

 are plenty of them in the country who work 

 on the theory that they can always hold it 

 under control) could very easily remove the 

 affected colonies and then tell the inspector 

 to go through the yard. It is these fellows 

 who could keep the disease alive in their 

 yard year after year. The disease so "pro- 

 tected " by a provision of the kind under, 



consideration would be a constant menace 

 to neighboring yards. 



The other provisions of the proposed foul- 

 brood law seem to be excellent. 



THE INDIANA FOUL-BROOD BILL. 



The following is a copy of the proposed 

 foul- brood bill before the General Assembly 

 of Indiana. It appears to be based on the 

 Wisconsin and Ohio laws. As a whole, the 

 general provisions are good. We have only 

 one suggestion to offer, and that is, that the 

 State inspector be allowed to appoint depu- 

 ties under the general direction of the State 

 Bee-keepers' Association. This is a weak 

 point in some laws already in force, because 

 it very often happens that one inspector can 

 not begin to cover all the territory and do it 

 well. 



The scheme of raising the fund to defray 

 the expense of the law is the same as in the 

 Ohio law, and is a good one. 



The officers of the Indiana State Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association urge all the bee-keepers of 

 that State to send in their dollar and become 

 members of that Association. This dollar 

 will also make them members of the Nation- 

 al. In view of the pending legislation in 

 the interests of Isee-keepers, our Indiana 

 subscribers should rally to the suppoi't at 

 once. Send the money to Jay Smith, Secre- 

 tary, Vincennes, Ind., box 74. 



Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State 

 of Indiana. 



Section 1. — Upon the recommendation of the offi- 

 cers of the Indiana State Bee-keepers' Association, 

 the Governor may appoint for a term of two years a 

 State Inspector of Apiaries. Such inspector shall, 

 when notifled of the existence of a disease known as 

 foul brood among apiaries, examine all such as are 

 reported and all others in the same locality, and ascer- 

 tain whether or not such disease exists, and, if 

 satisfied of its existence, shall give the owner or per- 

 son who has care of such apiaries full instructions as 

 to the manner of treating them. 



Section 2. — Within a reasonable time after making 

 such examination the inspector shall make another 

 examination thereof; and if the condition of any of 

 them is such as, in his judgment, renders it necessary, 

 he may burn all the colonies of bees and all the combs 

 necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. 



Section 3.— Any owner of a diseased apiary, of 

 honey made or taken from such an apiary, who shall 

 sell, barter, or give away such apiary, honey, or ap- 

 pliances, or bees from such an apiary, expose other 

 bees to danger of contracting such disease, or refuse 

 to allow the inspector of apiaries to inspect such 

 apiary, honey, or appliances, shall be fined not less 

 than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, 

 or be imprisoned in the county jail not less than one 

 moAh, nor more than two months. 



SW3TION 4.— There shall be levied annually on the 

 owner of each colony of bees in the State of Indiana 

 one cent for each colony owned, which levy shall be 

 placed on the tax duplicate of the respective counties 

 by the county auditors at the time of the levy of other 

 taxes each year. The amount so collected shall con- 

 stitute a special State fund, to be disposed of in the 

 payment of the salary and actual expenses of the in- 

 spector. 



Section 5.— The inspector shall make, at the close 

 of each calendar year, a report to the Governor, stat- 

 ing the number of apiaries visited, the number of 

 those diseased and treated, the number of colonies of 

 bees destroyed, and -of the expense incurred in the 

 employment of his duties. Said inspector shall re- 

 ceive three dollars for each day actually and neces- 

 sarily spent in the employ of his duties, and be im- 

 bursed for money expended by him in defraying ex- 

 penses: Provided that the total expenditures for such 

 purpose shall not exceed the amount secured by the 

 special assessment as defined in section four. 



