SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 11 



and is continuing to extend itself. According to information recently 

 secured from the Bureau of Entomology office at Salt Lake the 

 following counties in Idaho now have the weevil : Madison, Fremont, 

 Bonneville, Bingham, Bannock, Bear Lake, Franklin, Oneida, Power, 

 Cassia, Ada, Payette, Canyon, and Washington. One of these coun- 

 ties, Fremont, is the first county over the boundary from Montana. 

 The weevil has been spreading perhaps fifty miles a year and with- 

 out much doubt during the next year or two will be found to occur 

 in Montana. It takes several years after being introduced for this 

 insect to multiply in sufficient numbers to do real damage or to 

 become sufficiently numerous to be discovered. It may be, tlierefore, 

 that this insect already occurs undetected in Beaverhead, Madison 

 or Gallatin County. The quarantine which we now have in force 

 is effective only against the transportation of the weevil by raiV 

 Such transportation would lead to its establishment in more or less 

 remote localities, while by spreading overland it gradually spreads 

 across the country. 



With the coming of this insect into Montana we will be con- 

 fronted by an entirely new and a very serious condition. This insect 

 is primarily injurious to alfalfa and seriously reduces the tonnage, 

 making it necessary to do a large amount of work in order to pro- 

 duce a profitable crop of hay. It is also of much importance to 

 stockmen who are vitally interested in the alfalfa crop and the prices 

 which they must pay. The coming of this insect into Montana will, 

 therefore, be looked upon eventually as a serious matter. 



The state of Idaho has recently removed the quarantine between 

 the counties that are infested and those that are not in the state, 

 thereby making it possible to move hay without restriction in that 

 state. For this reason it will be necessary for Montana to establish 

 a quarantine against the whole of Idaho in order that our own inter- 

 ests may be protected. 



FOUL BROOD OF BEES 

 Our first knowledge of the presence of American foul brood of 

 bees in Montana came in the spring of 1911 when a sample of this 

 disease was sent in from Joliet. In the report of the State Ento- 

 mologist for 1911 a recommendation was made that a law be passed 

 providing for inspection and control. The nature of the legislation 

 needed was pointed out in the ninth report. In the tenth report, 



