I: 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



January 



been made in the list of inspectors, 

 the discussions were of an advanced 

 nature which made them very help- 

 ful in systematizing the work and 

 bringing about uniformity of meth- 

 ods. Perhaps the most important ac- 

 tion taken was the framing of a reso- 

 lution asking for a change in the 

 foulbrood act calculated to control 

 the sale and shipping of diseased bees 

 from one locality to another. The 

 proposed change would substitute 

 for clauses 5 and 6 of the act the 

 following clauses : 



5. Any owner or possessor of dis- 

 eased colonies of bees or of any in- 

 fected appliances on beekeeping who 

 sells or barters or gives away or re- 

 moves from the premises such dis- 

 eased colonies or infected appliances, 

 or who exposes in his bee-yard or 

 elsewhere any infected comb, honey 

 or other infected thing, shall incur a 

 penalty of not less than $50 nor more 

 than $100, or he may b? imprisoned 

 for any term not exceeding two 

 months. 



6. Any person who sells or offers 

 for sale or barters or gives away any 

 bees on combs or used appliances for 

 beekeeping, before being authorized 

 by the inspector so to do, shall incur 

 a penalty of not less than $50 nor 

 more than $100, or he may be im- 

 prisoned for a term not exceeding 

 two months. 



It will be seen that the purpose of 

 this desired change is to prevent the 

 moving or disposal of bees which may 

 be diseased and still have not been 

 inspected. It has been found that 

 there is a great deal of traffic in colo- 

 nies of bees and used appliances and 

 that disease is spread by this means. 

 At present the law only allows the 

 inspector to prevent this when the 

 apiaries have previously been in- 

 spected and found diseased. Many 

 apiaries are advertised for sale at a 

 season when they cannot be inspect- 

 ed, and under the act as it now stands 

 the sale cannot be prevented unless 

 the bees have previously been found 



diseased, even when they are known 

 to lie in a diseased district and are 

 very likely to be infected. 



The following is a list of inspec- 

 ting and the counties in their charge: 



Angle, W. B — Wentworth, Brant, 

 Victoria, Hastings, Peterboro. 



Armstrong, Jas. — Lincoln, Welland, 

 Frontenac, Grenville, Leeds, Lennox. 



i hristian, .1. E.— Muskoka. Simcoe. 



Denison, Alf. — Dundas, Prescott, 

 Russell, Gloucester, Carleton, (Os- 

 goode.) 



Devins, C. J. — Grey, Dufferin. 



Fowler, R. A.— Perth, Waterloo. 



Gowan, L. B— Norfolk, Haldimand. 



Hunter, R. M.— Oxford. 



Hutchinson, E— Wellington. 



McCauley, J. H.— Halton, Peel. 



Robertson, N — Essex, Kent, Elgin. 



Rumford, S.— Lambton, Middlesex. 



Schrank, J. S.— Bruce, Huron. 



Scott, W. — Northumberland, Prince 

 Edward. 



Selwyn, H. H. — Glengary, Stro- 

 mont, Lanark, Renfrew, Carleton (Ex- 

 Glou. Osg.) 



Weir, W. A. — Durham, York, On- 

 tario. 



The backward spring and fre- 

 quent rains in early summer made the 

 inspection work very difficult. It also 

 held back the home work of the in- 

 spectors so that in many cases they 

 refused to leave home when the 

 weather became favorable for inspec- 

 tion work. On this account the money 

 available for inspection and demon- 

 stration work was not all used and 

 not nearly all of the known cases of 

 disease were attended to. This is 

 one of the worst features of our sys- 

 tem of inspection by men who are 

 not devoting their whole time to the 

 government work. 



Because all beekeepers in the 

 Province cannot receive attention the 

 policy of this department in apiary 

 inspection has been to give the ser- 

 vices to those who appreciate it most. 

 This also, coupled with the fact that 

 at no time have we been in a position 

 to take care of all known diseased 



i 1 1 E R APIARY in riFLIS 

 To protect the bees against thieves the hives arc placed in a sort of crib weighted down 

 with rocks. The bees fly in and out through the cracks of the crib. Note the skulls 

 of domestic animals to preserve the bees from the "evil eye." 



areas renders any sort of statistical 

 report of little value. A statement 

 of the percentage of inspected api- 

 aries found diseased under such a 

 system, while it might be expected 

 and has usually been given in a re- 

 port, is of no value under the circum- 

 stances. Unfortunately, compara- 

 tively few apiaries infected with 

 either disease have been found to be 

 entirely cured, yet it might safely be 

 said that the expenditure of time and 

 money from year to year has not 

 been without benefit in the same way 

 as the expenditure of life and ammu- 

 nition which has merely held en- 

 trenchments against an enemy with- 

 out making very great advances. 

 Our leading beekeepers are convinced 

 and have stated publicly that great 

 headway is really being made by the 

 education of beekeepers who are 

 learning to act as their own inspec- 

 tors and are learning to regard either 

 variety of foulbrood as no less an 

 enemy, but one which can be kept 

 very much under control. 



Seven hundred and seventy-eight 

 apiaries were inspected and 203 of 

 these were found to be diseased with 

 either American or European foul- 

 brood. Eight thousand five hundred 

 and fifty-seven colonies were exam- 

 ined and 1,132 were diseased. Two 

 hundred and seventeen colonies were 

 destroyed or treated by the inspec- 

 tor. The owners of the other dis- 

 eased colonies were instructed as to 

 methods of treating them and most of 

 them reported afterward that they 

 had followed out instructions. 



The legislation referring to the 

 disposal of bees was frequently en- 

 forced by inspectors and in several 

 instances sales were stopped. As far 

 as possible all intended sales and 

 removal of bees were discovered and 

 examination made before bees were 

 removed. 



One unfortunate feature of the sea- 

 son was the shipping of some bees 

 infected with European foulbrood 

 from Niagara district to Kenora dis- 

 trict. This district of New Ontario 

 i; becoming famous as a clover seed 

 producing area and the district rep- 

 resentative has been encouraging the 

 keeping of bees. As soon as the 

 presence of the disease was discov- 

 ered he communicated with the 

 Provincial Apiarist and our most ex- 

 perienced inspector, Mr. Armstrong, 

 was sent up to look over the case and 

 reports that he has hopes that 

 through the prompt action of the 

 District Representative and of local 

 beekeepers the infection has been 

 practically wiped out. 



In addition to the personal visits 

 of inspectors, instructions were car- 

 ried to beekeepers by means of local 

 apiary demonstrations to a greater 

 extent than ever before. Eighty- 

 eight of these meetings were held in 

 all parts of the Province. 



The total attendance at these dem- 

 onstrations was 2,686, or an aver- 

 age of 32 persons at each. Consider- 

 ing the highly specialized nature of 

 the subject and the fact that com- 

 paratively few in a community are 

 interested in bees, also that these 

 demonstrations have been held exten- 



