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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
It has approximately 100 miles of sea coast and its highest altitude is 
Bear Mountain in the northwest corner, 2,355 feet. In this small area 
there are twenty cities, and twenty other towns have each a population 
of over five thousand. 
Within the state there is great diversity of soil and climate. The 
waters of Long Island Sound exert an equalizing influence upon tem¬ 
peratures, so that along the coast, there are no such extreme high and 
low temperatures as are recorded inland. Though there are seldom 
tornadoes or blizzards, such as occur in the middle western states, 
there are constant and often abrupt changes in temperature. Mark 
Twain once remarked that there is no weather in New England— 
nothing but samples. Though the average rainfall is about 47 inches, 
there has been an excess of fully six inches the past season, interfering 
considerably with honey production. 
Native vegetation and cultivated crops are as diversified as the 
climate. There are small forest areas and a large proportion of cut¬ 
over woodland, covered with brush. Farms are thickly scattered all 
over the state, and apple orchards are well distributed. In certain 
sections, peach growing, tobacco growing, truck crops, seed growing, 
floriculture, predominate—in fact, all lines of agriculture and horti¬ 
culture suitable to the climate are carried on in Connecticut. There 
is also considerable so-called waste land with growth of wild plants, 
like sumac, which furnishes pasturage for bees. 
Streams, lakes and reservoirs are sufficiently numerous and well 
distributed so that seemingly bees would never lack for water. Con¬ 
necticut is, therefore, a fairly favorable place to make honey and 
markets are right at home. 
Very little was known about the beekeeping industry in Connecticut 
prior to 1910, when the first inspections for bee diseases were made 
under the law enacted by the preceding legislature, though a state 
beekeepers’ association had then been in existence for several years. 
There are on file in my office the names of 2,571 beekeepers who own 
some 20,000 colonies of bees, but we have reason to believe that there 
are many more of which the inspectors never heard. I am sure that 
there are more than 3,000 beekeepers. One of the chief difficulties 
encountered by the inspectors is to learn who are keeping bees and 
where the apiaries are located. The Connecticut Beekeepers’ Associa¬ 
tion originated a bill which was introduced into the last session of the 
legislature providing for the registration of beekeepers with the town 
clerk in each town where the bees are kept. This measure became a 
law in the following form: 
Section 1 . Every person owning one or more hives of bees shall, annually, on or 
before the first day of October, make application to the town clerk of the town in 
