INDIAN WHEAT 
531 
times be necessary to pay as high as $8.00, 
because a competent beeman can hardly 
leave his own bees and work for three 
months for the State at $5.00 a day and 
then find his own bed and board for the 
remaining nine months of the year. But a 
good man can usually be secured for $5.00 
a day provided the State can give employ¬ 
ment the year round. If he is a good bee¬ 
keeper and a good talker he can be used to 
give lectures and demonstrations at farm¬ 
ers’ institutes during winter, and he can be 
used to assist in various ways in the gen¬ 
eral state work outside of bee culture pro¬ 
vided he is a man of some education and of 
ordinary ability. 
Students from apieultural schools that 
are scattered over various parts of the 
country can usually be secured for a very 
moderate sum. These men, after having 
taken on an apieultural and agricultural 
course, have a theoretical and practical 
knowledge of general farm problems, such 
as soils, fertilizers, fruit-growing, and the 
like. When it is not possible to use an 
inspector in the line of beework, his talent 
can be turned to very profitable account 
along other agricultural lines. It is de¬ 
sirable to have a bee inspector who not 
only understands bee culture but agricul¬ 
ture in general. 
The nursery inspectors who are sent out 
over the country are rendering excellent 
aid by telling farmers how to handle their 
fruit trees in order to keep down blight, 
San Jose scale, and, in general, how to se¬ 
cure a large amount of fruit. These men 
are rendering their respective States most 
valuable service, because there is nothing 
like a practical demonstration in the or¬ 
chard of how to treat the trees and how to 
trim them so as to secure the maximum 
results. This kind of actual field demon¬ 
stration work is invaluable, not only in 
orchard work but in actual beekeeping. If 1 
possible, a bee inspector should be one who 
understands both orchard and bee woik, as 
they naturally go hand in hand. 
Under head of laws relating to foul 
brood, it will be seen that the better plan 
is for the inspector to keep in the back¬ 
ground all show of authority and law, and 
put emphasis on general extension work. 
For other particulars see Laws Relating 
to Foul Brood. 
INDIAN WHEAT (Plcintagn ignota ). — 
This species is abundant over vast areas of 
sandy and gravelly mesas in Arizona. The 
silvery hairy leaves have a grayish appear¬ 
ance, so that it is difficult to determine at 
a glance whether the plants are alive or 
dead. The flowers are entirely nectarless 
and are visited by bees for pollen only. On 
the slopes another plantain ( P. aristata ) is 
also very common. 
The plaintains, of which there are about 
200 species in the world, are most fre¬ 
quently pollinated by the wind. None of 
the species yield nectar, altho several of 
them have sweet-scented flowers. Honey¬ 
bees often visit the bloom for the purpose 
of gathering pollen. Hovering in the air 
the bee moistens the pollen with nectar 
gathered elsewhere, and then brushes it off 
the anther with the tarsal brushes of the 
forefeet. At the same instant a little cloud 
of pollen rises from the shaken anther. 
The pollen is then packed in the pollen 
baskets in the usual way. In windy weath¬ 
er it behaves differently, according to Muel¬ 
ler, brushing its legs over the anthers, and 
thus securing a part of the loosely held 
pollen. A large amount of pollen is de¬ 
voured by flies, which are very frequent 
visitors. 
The stemless flowers of the plaintains 
are usually in long spikes and green-col- 
ored; but in some cases there is more or 
less red or purple coloring. Only one 
whorl of flowers opens at a time. Several 
species of plaintain are very abundant in 
southern Arizona, and as they are often 
visited by honeybees many beekeepers sup¬ 
pose that they contain a little nectar; but, 
as has been shown, they supply only pol¬ 
len. As sources of pollen they are no 
doubt of much importance in this arid 
country. Indian wheat seldom grows on 
the Arizona deserts more than 5 to 6 inches 
tall. It is one of the principal forms of 
vegetation, and affords a valuable pastur¬ 
age for cattle. 
INTRODUCING. —Under normal condi¬ 
tions only one queen will be tolerated in a 
colony at a time. Should there by accident 
be two, there is likely to be a royal battle, 
when they meet, until one of them is killed. 
Queens are, as a rule,jealous rivals; but 
there are exceptions. Under certain con- 
