74 MEETING (>F [N8PECTOR8 OF APIARIES. 



L884 30,000 pounds, and in L886, with 240 colonies, it yielded 2.",,000 

 pounds. This bee keeper also became a partner in a bank. Another 



apiary of 175 colonic- in L886 yielded 32,725 pound- of honey and in 

 L891 the bees were all dead with foul brood. Another apiary of -200 

 colonies in L900 yielded 21,000 pound- of honey, hut in 1904 all the 

 bees were dead. Another apiary of 50 colonic- in W>7 yielded 3,500 

 pounds, hut in L900 all the bees were dead. Another apiary of 26 

 colonic- in L899 yielded 2,500 pounds of honey and in 1901 all the bees 

 were dead. Thus I could enumerate a pageful of similar -ad results 

 of foul brood. 



About this time the State Bee Keepers' Association voted to delegate 

 to the president of the association the securing of proper laws for the 

 eradication of this disease. With little help from the bee keepers, he 

 had to see hi- efforts turned down. Two year- later I was delegated 

 as before, but without the personal help of our members the hill was 

 ridiculed and lost. While before the legislative committee I learned 

 better what must be done, and two year- later a committee of all the 

 officers of the State Bee Keepers* Association was delegated to act. 

 with the promise that each State member would do Iris part. The 

 committee got figures of facts about Wisconsin bee keeping and fur- 

 nished each association member with copies of the same, with the 

 request that each one see personally the member of the legislature 

 from his district. Many members did as requested and our entire 

 committee appeared before the first legislative committee and made 

 good progress. When the last State committee on State appropria- 

 tions was to consider our bill I was alone. Several other hills call- 

 ing for aid were turned down before I had a hearing. I gave the 

 committee these facts to consider: (1) There are 10,535 farms in 

 Wisconsin, having 106,090 colonies of bees, which produce in one year 

 2,677,100 pounds of honey. (2) There are more than twice as many 

 pounds of honey produced each year in Wisconsin as there are head 

 of cattle or sheep. (3) One year's honey crop in Wisconsin won 

 load 13 freight cars, or if placed all in full-weight pound section 

 boxes, touching each other, a sweet honey walk 4 J inches wide won 

 reach lsl j miles — more than the distance aero— the State. (4) Th 

 valuation of Wisconsin bee- and products amounts each year to more 

 than the appropriation made by the State for several State institu- 

 tion-. (5) The State Horticultural Society receives over ten times 

 more aid from the State than the bee- do. yet over three lime- ::- 

 many pounds of honey a- bushels of apple- are produced. (6) Over 

 10,500 Wisconsin taxpayers and voter- who send representatives to 

 i lie legislature are bee keepers and ask to he reasonably protected In- 

 law to save the her-. 



After I was excused from the committee room the committee voted 

 unanimously to recommend the bill for passage. It soon became a 



