BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 105 
izecl. Consequently their general distribution has been found to be 
even greater than was then believed. 
BEE KEEPERS' ORGANIZATIONS. 
Bee keepers' societies, fair-, institutes, conventions, and the course 
of instruction in bee keeping at the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 
lege at Amherst are strong factors in the advancement and progress 
of apiculture in Massachusetts. The societies bring together the 
practiced and proficient bee keepers in several sections of the State. 
The instruction at Amherst reaches a few, largely beginners, each 
year; convention- and institutes bring together the new and the old 
bee keepers from over a large area for consideration of present-day 
problems; the State and county fairs and agricultural shows educate 
the public and benefit the industry. 
There are at present two societies organized in the interest of pro- 
moting bee keeping. The oldest is the Worcester County Bee 
Keepers' Society, organized April 14, 1900. Meetings are held 
monthly throughout the winter months. At least once each summer 
there is a field meeting and institute. Since 1906, in the fall of each 
year, a " bee show " or fair is held at Worcester, where are held com- 
petitive exhibits of bees, products, supplies, etc. There is usually a 
series of lectures in connection with the fair. 
The other society is the Massachusetts Society of Bee Keepers, 
which was organized March 24, 1906, when the Massachusetts Api- 
cultural Society was disbanded. Meetings are held in Boston once 
each month during the winter. 
Another society, to be called the Franklin, Hampshire, and Hamp- 
den Bee Keepers' Association, was provisionally organized at an insti- 
tute meeting of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture at Lud- 
low, Mass., July 21, 1908. 
INSTRUCTION IN BEE KEEPING. 
At the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, there is given 
each year, beginning the fourth Wednesday in May and continuing 
two weeks, a course in apiculture, which is free to those who enroll. 
The course include- excursions to apiaries of peculiar interest, lec- 
tures, and practical demonstration and practice. 
CONVENTIONS'. 
The Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture is exceedingly in- 
terested in promoting bee keeping and holds several institutes each 
yeai-. usually with the bee keepers* societies. Several papers on bee 
keeping, enumerated in the appended bibliography, have been pub- 
lished by the board. 
78013°— Bull. 75 -11 -8 
