Historic, archived document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices 0 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY— BULLETIN No. 75. L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. I. PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. By K. P. PHILLIPS, Vw. 1)., In Charge of Apiculture. METHODS OF HONEY TESTING FOR BEE KEEPERS. By C. A. BROWNE, Ph. D., Chief, Sugar Laboratory, Bureau of Chemistry. II. WAX MOTHS AND AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. . By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. III. BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. By BURTON N. GATES, Expert in Apiculture. IV. THE RELATION OF THE ETIOLOGY (CAUSE) OF BEE DISEASES TO THE TREATMENT. By G. F. WHITE, Ph. D., Expert in Bacteriology. V. A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. VI. THE STATUS OF APICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. VII. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. By BURTON N. GATES, Expert in Apiculture. MAR 25 19' WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1911. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY— BULLETIN No. 75. L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. I. PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. METHODS OF HONEY TESTING FOR BEE KEEPERS. By C. A. BROWNE, Ph. D., Chief, Sugar Laboratory, Bureau of Chemistry. II. WAX MOTHS AND AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. III. BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. By BURTON N. GATES, Expert in Apiculture. IY. THE RELATION OF THE ETIOLOGY (CAUSE) OF BEE DISEASES TO THE TREATMENT. By G. F. WHITE, Ph. D., Expert in Bacteriology. V. A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. VI. THE STATUS OF APICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. VII. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. By BURTON N. GATES, Expert in Apiculture. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1911. BVREA U OF ENTOMOLOGY. L. 0. Howard, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. C. L. Marlatt, Entomologist and Acting Chief in Absence of Chief. R. S. Clifton, Executive Assistant. W. F. Tastet, Chief Clerk. F. H. Chittenden, in charge of truck crop and stored product insect investigations. A. D. Hopkins, in charge of forest insect investigations. W. D. Hunter, in charge of southern field crop insect investigations. F. M. Webster, in charge of cereal and forage insect investigations. A. L. Quaintance, in charge of deciduous fruit insect investigations. E. F. Phillips, in charge of bee culture. D. M. Rogers, in charge of preventing spread of moths, field work. Rolla P. Currie, in charge of editorial work. Mabel Colcord, librarian. Bee Culture Investigations. E. F. Phillips, in charge. G. F. White, expert in bacteriology. B. N. Gates, a A. H. McCray, apicultural assistants. J. A. Nelson, R. E. Snodgrass,« agents and experts. Ellen M. Dashiell, entomological preparator. T. B. Symons, College Park, Md., collaborator for Maryland. H. A. Surface, Harrisburg, Pa., collaborator for Pennsylvania. 116556 ,ETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C, December 3, 1910. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for publication as Bulletin No. 75, seven papers dealing with bee culture. These papers, which were issued separately during the years 1907, 1908, and 1909, are as follows: Production and Care of Extracted Honey, by E. F. Phillips, and Methods of Honey Testing for Bee Keepers, by C. A. Browne; Wax Moths and American Foul Brood, by E. F. Phillips; Bee Diseases in Massachusetts, by Burton N. Gates; The Relation of the Etiology (Cause) of Bee Diseases to the Treatment, by G. F. White; A Brief Survey of Hawaiian Bee Keeping, by E. F. Phillips; The Status of Apiculture in the United States, by E. F. Phillips; Bee Keeping in Massachusetts, by Burton N. Gates. Respectfully, L. O. Howard, Chief of Bureau. Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. CONTENTS • Page. Production and care of extracted honey E. F. Phillips. . 1 Introduction 1 The advantages of the production of extracted honey 2 Method of producing extracted honey 3 The ripening of honey 7 The granulation of honey 9 Heating honey for the destruction of the bacteria of disease 12 Packing of extracted honey 12 The production of ' ' candied " honey 13 Honey types 14 Methods of honey testing for bee keepers C. A. Browne. . 16 Wax moths and American foul brood E. F. Phillips. . 19 Introduction 19 Work of the large wax moth (Galleria mellonella L.) 20 Work of the lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella Fab.) 21 Conclusion 21 Bee diseases in Massachusetts Burton N. Gates. . 23 Introduction 23 The two known bee diseases 24 Damage from bee diseases 25 Present extent of bee diseases in Massachusetts 2G Evidence that bee diseases were not recently introduced into Massa- chusetts 27 The spread of bee diseases 29 Brood diseases can be controlled 30 A brief account of treatment for brood diseases 31 The relation of the etiology (cause) of bee diseases to the treatment. G. F, White. . 33 Introduction 33 Etiology (cause) of diseases 34 Predisposing causes 34 Exciting causes 35 Treatment of disease 38 American foul brood 39 European foul brood 41 80-ealled ' ' pickled brood " 41 Paralysis 41 Summary and conclusions 42 « The eight papers constituting this bulletin were issued, two on December 19, and one each on December 31, 1907, June 30 and December 26, 1908; January 19, January 25, and May 24, 1909, respectively. v VI MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Page. A brief survey of Hawaiian bee keeping E. F. Phillips. . 43 Introduction 43 Publications on Hawaiian bee keeping 43 Bee keepers' association 44 Methods of management 44 "Bee rights" 45 Extent of the industry 45 Sources of honey ^. 47 Introduction of honey plants 54 Wax production 54 Disease survey 56 The status of apiculture in the U"nited States E. E. Phillips. . 59 Introduction 59 Scope of the industry 61 Present sources of loss 71 The needs and possibilities of apiculture 76 Summary 79 Bee keeping in Massachusetts Burton N. Gates. . 81 Historical sketch 81 Experience of bee keepers in Massachusetts 84 Number of colonies per bee keeper 85 Distribution of bees in Massachusetts 86 Increase in number of colonies 87 Production of honey and wax 87 Sources of honey 89 Periods of nectar secretion in different localities 93 Races of bees 96 Hives 97 Wintering 98 Bees in greenhouses 99 The bee market 102 Enemies 103 Bee diseases 105 Bee keepers' organizations 105 Summary 106 A list of the more important articles on bee keeping in Massachusetts 107 Index Ill ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. Page. Plate I. Work of the large wax moth {Galleria mellonello) in comb infected with American foul brood 20 II. Hive infected with American foul brood, the frames removed to show work of the large wax moth {Galleria mellonello) 20 III. Work of the lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) in comb infected with American foul brood 20 IV. Map showing distribution of bee diseases in Massachusetts and pos- sible sources of infection from neighboring States 23 V. Map of the Hawaiian Islands 43 VI. Blends of algarroba honey and honeydew from the Hawaiian Agri- cultural Experiment Station C. . 44 VII. Fig. 1. — A typical Hawaiian apiary, the hives on stands to prevent ant attacks. Fig. 2. — An apiary in a coffee plantation 46 VIII. Fig. 1. — Part of an algarroba forest. Fig. 2. — A lantana jungle 48 IX. Fig. 1. — An apiary near a sugar-cane field. Fig. 2. — Molasses trough for feeding cattle 50 X. Fig. 1. — Hau hedge. Fig. 2. — A hive set up in cans to keep out ants. 54 TEXT FIGURES. Fig. 1. Proportionate loss of bees wintered in cellars and on summer stands 99 2. Approximate location of greenhouses in which bees are used for the pol- lination of cucumbers 100 VII U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 75, Part I. A., December 19, 1907. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY By E. F. Phillips, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. INTRODUCTION. Since the invention of the centrifugal honey extractor, in 1865, and its introduction into America, a constantly increasing proportion of the honey of the United States has been put on the market as ex- tracted. Formerly honey was rendered free from comb by mashing full combs of honey and straining the liquid through a cloth. This is " strained honey," but the same name still clings, in some quarters, to the article removed from the comb by centrifugal force. The pro- duction of extracted honey requires much less labor on the part of the bee keeper than does the production of comb honey, and it has several advantages over the latter. The principal reason why ex- tracted honey is more generally produced in the United States than formerly may probably be found in the increasing demand for honey for baking and confectionery purposes ; considerably more than half of the honey put on the markets is used in this way. The ease with which extracted honey may be adulterated has, how- ever, made the general public sceptical as to its use for table purposes ; glucose, cane sugar, invert sugar, and other adulterants have been very extensively used, and are still used to some extent. However, the passage of the food and drugs act of June 30, 1906, and the recent work of this Department in the inspection of the honey market have resulted in much good, and persons who have openly adulterated ex- tracted honey in the past are now generally obeying the law. While there is still some cause for complaint, the percentage of adulteration must gradually decrease. The effect of pure-food agitation can not but result in great good to the honest honey producer and bottler. The chemical detection of honey adulteration has been made more certain by the recent investigations of Dr. C. A. Browne, of the Bureau of Chemistry, and because of the improved methods advo- cated b}' him the detection of infringements of pure-food laws will 1 2 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS OK APICULTURE. be easier in the future. For a discussion of this work the reader is referred to Bulletin No. 110 of the Bureau of Chemistry, entitled " Chemical Analysis and Composition of American Honeys." Some of the common practices of bee keepers are, however, open to serious question, and it is primarily to call attention to these that the present paper is presented. It is possible to treat pure high- grade extracted honey so that on chemical examination it would be condemned or called in question. In the past there has been some trouble in cases where chemists have declared honeys, to which noth- ing has been added, to be adulterated ; part of the fault possibly lies with the use of poor methods by chemists, but not all of it. If a bee keeper treats pure honey so that its chemical composition is changed, it is no longer honey, and should not be sold for such. Several of the most widely circulated text-books on apiculture advocate very questionable practices. There are several text-books giving detailed information as to the production and care of extracted honey. It is not the purpose of this paper to replace these, but to point out the main principles to be observed, and especially to call attention to a few points which do not seem to be understood by the majority of honey producers. Many details which are apparently unnecessary in most cases are omitted, since the writer believes that each bee keeper must find out many minor details in his own experience, and less important phases of the work may better be learned from other sources. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED HONEY. It is not the purpose of this paper to advocate the production of extracted honey as preferable to that of comb honey, nor would it be at all desirable »to have the production of fancy comb honey dimin- ished. For the benefit of the honey market, however, it could not result in anything but good were the poorer grades of comb honey to be sold as extracted. The discolored (" travel-stained ") and irregularly or partially capped comb honey found on so many mar- kets is a poor advertisement for the the bee keeper who tries to produce a fancy article. The production of extracted honey means considerably less labor for the bee keeper and also less work of certain kinds for the bees, for it is not necessary for the latter to secrete so much wax. Since it takes several pounds of honey under most conditions to produce 1 pound of wax, the surplus per colony is greater with extracted honey than with comb, but this is compensated by the fact that comb honey of equal grade universally sells at a higher price. In the production of extracted honey it is much easier to control swarming, since the brood chamber is not contracted so much and the queen has an opportunity to work to her maximum capacity. On PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 3 the other hand, the colon}7 is usually stronger, with more field bees; this is probably a large factor in the increased amount of surplus obtained from a colony run for extracted honey. When the honey flow begins, the bees can at once commence to store honey in extracting combs, provided the bee keeper is careful to put them on in time, but in comb honey production it is first necessary for the bees to secrete a considerable quantity of wax before there is room for honey in the surj^lus boxes or sections and honey is con- sequently stored in the brood chamber; if much honey is stored here, the queen is cramped for room to lay. The novice at extracted honey production should be careful not to extract so much of the honey in the hive that the bees will not have enough to live on. This is a very common error until the bee keeper is taught by experience how much to extract. It is better to extract too little than too much. METHOD OF PRODUCING EXTRACTED HONEY. THE HIVE. The hive used for extracted honey production should be at least as large as 10 frames. However strongly the advocates of 8-frame hives or even smaller ones may urge the advantage of a contracted brood chamber in order to crowd the surplus honey into the upper stories, certainly these small hives have little place in the production of extracted honey. The queen should have at least 10 frames for brood rearing, if the bee keeper is to expect the maximum results. The use of large hives is upheld by the practices of the largest and best extracted-honey producers of the United States, and the smal1 hives have small sale among extensive producers. BROOD MANIPULATION. In the production of honey, either comb or extracted, it must be remembered that if the honey flow is short, only those bees which are fully developed at the beginning of the flow are of any value in honey gathering. The amount of brood reared normally increases at the beginning of a honey flow, especially with Italian bees, but this brood is rarely of much use in producing honey gatherers. In many cases it may be desirable to retard brood rearing at the beginning of the flow by caging the queen or even by removing frames of brood. On the other hand, it is advisable to see to it that brood rearing is extensive for several weeks before a honey flow is expected. This may be brought about by stimulative feeding and by the cautious spreading of brood in the colony. This procedure usually pays well. A care- ful study of locality conditions is necessary before planning opera- tions of this nature. 4 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. TIERING. Before, or just at the time of the beginning of the honey flow, a hive body exactly similar to the brood chamber should be given to the colony. Many bee keepers put only 8 or 9 frames in a 10- frame hive body used as a surplus chamber so that the bees will build thick combs. Since in uncapping the honey the comb is cut down to about normal thickness, this gives a place for the immediate storing of sur- plus honey and at the same time permits the bees to secrete some wax. The physiology of wax secretion is very imperfectly understood, but probably wax is always secreted, to a greater or less extent, during a heavy honey flow, and by spacing wide this wax is saved to the bee keeper. As the frames of the second hive body become filled, the honey may either be extracted at once and the frames returned to be refilled or an additional hive body full of frames may be put directly over the brood chamber and below the first surplus body. Bees go unwillingly through combs of sealed honey to empty combs higher up, but the new combs should be between the first two hive bodies. The reasons for tiering up hives rather than immediate extraction will be discussed under the heading of " Ripening honey." This operation may be con- tinued as long as room is required, and the bees should never be unduly cramped for room. On the other hand, it is usually not desir- able to give too much room at one time for surplus, for the honey may be spread over all the combs and, as a result, the cells capped when not drawn out well. It is sometimes desirable in the early part of the season to give only two or three frames for surplus at first, gradually increasing the number as necessity arises. This is particularly the case in uncertain weather or in a light honey flow. When the surplus combs are first put on, one or two frames con- taining brood with the adhering bees are frequently placed in the sec- ond story and empty frames put in their place in the brood chamber. By this means the bees at once get into the second story, and this manipulation is a very desirable thing where brood frames are used for extracting. When only clean combs are used, these brood frames may be returned to the brood chamber in a day or two, for by that time they are usually no longer needed. Of course care must be taken not to lift the queen to the second story above the perfo- rated zinc. Some bee keepers prefer the use of shallow extracting combs of a depth about half that of the ordinary brood frame. The advantage of such a size of frame is, briefly, the possibility of putting on a smaller amount of storing room at one time, in consequence of which the honey is capped over in a better manner. In other words, the forcing methods of comb honey production are carried over into the produc- PRODUCTION AND CAKE OF EXTRACTED EONEY. 5 tion of extracted honey. It would certainly be unwise to recommend or condemn this system in general, for its use should be governed by local conditions of the honey flow. In this case, as in many others, the maximum results may not be expected without a careful study of local conditions.' Bee keepers talk a great deal about " locality differ- ences, " and, as generally used, the term " locality " is only an excuse for a lack of information as to the true cause of various observed facts. It is nevertheless most true that there are scores of local differences which are great enough to bring success or failure, accord- ing as they are studied or neglected. PERFORATED /INC. The use of a perforated zinc queen-excluding board between the brood chamber and the surplus bodies is gaining in popularity. Without this zinc the queen is likely to go into the second story, or even higher, particularly toward the close of the season. Some bee keepers prefer to use combs for extracting which have never been used for brood, and if this plan is followed the perforated zinc is abso- lutely necessary. Honey extracted from dark combs which have been used for brood is darker in color as a rule than that produced in combs which have never contained brood. This is doubtless due to the fact that a certain amount of the larval skins and larval excreta which are packed at the bottom of brood cells becomes dissolved in the honey. These deposits in the cells are usually spoken of as " cocoons,'' but certainly only a small part is really the silk of the cocoon. If this really were merely a cocoon, no possible objection could be made to the use of brood combs for extracting. It would probably do little good to advocate the universal use of only such combs as had not been used for brood rearing in the production of extracted honey, but a strict regard for cleanliness would most assuredly demand it. REMOVING HONEY FROM THE HIVE. Honey should not be taken from the hive until fully "ripened." When the time comes to extract, the frames should be lifted from the hive and the adhering bees shaken or brushed off. They may be brushed off with a regular bee brush, many styles of which are manu- factured, or a bunch of grass or weeds will usually answer as well. The only advantage of a regular brush is that it is ahvays ready for use. If the honey flow is over or the bees are hard to manipulate on account of their stinging, a bee escape is desirable. The escape is so arranged that the bees can pass down to the story below with comparative ease but can not get back. Within a few hours the O MISCELLANEOUS PAPEKS ON APICULTURE. upper story is cleared of bees and the frames of honey may be re- moved easily. If the queen is in the upper story, however, as she may be if no perforated zinc is used, or as she occasionally is any- how, the bees will not desert the brood, and there will still be bees on the combs. Escapes may be put on by quickly lifting the upper story and inserting the board in the evening, and by the next morning the upper story will usually be entirely clear of bees. After the combs are removed from the hive, they should be kept covered so that the bees in the air will not begin to rob. The manner of carrying them to the extracting room will depend on the number of combs to be carried and the arrangement of the apiary. Tin buckets holding five combs at a time may be used ; an extra hive body is often fixed with a handle and cloth cover, or the entire hive body may be carried in on a cart or other wise if it is free from bees. THE EXTRACTING ROOM. The place where the honey is extracted should be so arranged that no bees can enter it when attracted by the odor of the honey. The windows should be so built that if some bees do enter they can easily get out through bee escapes or cones so constructed that no other bees will be able to find the opening. Bee escapes may be used, but usu- ally a better plan is to have the windows covered with wire cloth tacked on the outside, the wire cloth extending above the window about 6 inches and held away from the side of the house by quarter- inch strips. Bees almost always crawl upward and they will crawl up the netting and out through the top openings, but other bees will not try to get in that way. A screen so arranged will allow a very large number of bees to escape very quickly. That the extracting room be " bee tight " is practically the only absolute requirement. Honey should never be extracted in the open air except during a heavy honey flow, when bees are not inclined to rob. Where several apiaries are under the management of one man, it is sometimes de- sirable to make a portable extracting house on wheels so that it may be taken from place to place. UNCAPPING HONEY. The honey, before it is extracted, must be uncapped, and this should be done with a long knife which is kept sharp, clean, and warm. There are several types of uncapping knives. If a considerable amount of honey is to be extracted, it is desirable to have two or more knives for each operator so that one may be heated in hot water as the other is used. As the cappings of wax are cut off some honey flows out, and con- sequently the uncapping should be done over a regular uncapping box PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 7 or can. This may be easily made at home to suit individual require- ments, or any one of the several types offered for sale may be used. The boxes are either made of metal or lined with tin to prevent the leakage of honey, and about halfway up is a heavy wire netting to catch the wax cappings and allow the honey to drain off into the lower compartment. This honey may later be added to what comes from the extractor. THE EXTRACTOR. The extractor consists of two or more baskets into which the combs of honey are placed and which are revolved inside or with a can. The rotation drives out the honey by centrifugal force, leaving the cells empty, provided the uncapping has been thoroughly done. While the extractor is a very simple machine in principle, its con- struction has been the subject of much experimenting, and various types have been made. The best type of extractor has been found to be one in which the surrounding can is stationary and the baskets are arranged to revolve inside it. Some types are now made so that the baskets may be turned and both sides of a comb emptied without removing the frame from the basket of the extractor. The more elaborate types, holding several frames and driven by power, may be found described in catalogues of the dealers in bee keepers' supplies. The extracted honey flies to the side of the can and then runs to the bottom of the machine; it then runs off through an opening at the bottom into a vessel or tank for the purpose. As it leaves the extractor it should be run through a cheese cloth to remove any par- ticles of wax or other foreign substance which may have got into it. The care of the honey will be described later. Empty combs wet with honey should not be returned to the bees while extracting is in progress, for fear of inciting robbing. They may be piled up in the extracting room until the work is almost com- pleted and, if any additional honey flow is expected, they may then be returned. If to be kept until the next year, they should be given to the bees for a short time to be cleaned of honey, and then removed and put away so that wax moths will not destroy them. The great- est essential in the production of the maximum amount of extracted honey is an adequate number of surplus combs. THE RIPENING OF HONEY. "When nectar is gathered from flowers by the worker bees, the amount of water contained in it is very high. It is generally sup- posed that, by the time bees reach the hive to deposit the nectar in the cells, part of this water has been removed; at any rate, during the process of ripening, the amount of water is very much reduced, until, in thoroughly ripened honey, it will not exceed 25 per cent and is gen- 8 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. erally not more than 20 per cent. Some very ripe honeys will have as little as 12 per cent of water in them. If more than 25 per cent of water remains in the honey at the time of extraction, it will probably ferment. The ripening of honey consists not only of the evaporation of the surplus water of the nectar, but especially of the transforma- tion of the sugars of the nectar into the levulose and dextrose of honey. Unripe honeys contain a larger proportion of sucrose or cane sugar, and it is probable that the longer the honey remains in the hive the less of sucrose will be found in the honey. \Yhile honeys vary all the way from zero to 8 or 10 per cent in their sucrose content, the pur- est honeys are those which contain the least. The official honey standard of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists allows 8 per cent of sucrose in honey. It is the policy of most bee keepers to allow this ripening to take place in the hive by waiting until the honey is almost all or entirely capped, and this is undoubtedly the preferable method. It is a matter of common observation that honey which remains in the hive for a long time has a better " body " and has more of the characteristic honey aroma. By ripening in the hive honey gets its characteristic flavor to a greater extent than is possible in evaporation outside the hive. Several machines have been devised for the artificial ripening of honey which has been extracted " green." that is, with too great a water content. The principle on which all of these are constructed is the application of heat, not to exceed 160° F., for a sufficient time to reduce the amount of water present to about 20 per cent. Either sun heat or artificial heat may be used. In the western part of the United States honey may be, and usually is, extracted before it is all capped, because it is the general practice of bee keepers to run the honey directly from the extractor to large tanks, sometimes holding several tons, out in the open, covered with porous cloth tightly tied down to exclude bees. Many of these tanks are contracted at the top, leaving only a comparatively small opening. On account of the extreme dryness of the atmosphere and total lack of rain during the dry season, this partial evaporation outside of the hive takes place very rapidly. The advocates of ripening outside of the hive argue that, if honey is extracted before all the water is removed from it, the bees have less to do inside the hive and can devote almost all their time to gathering nectar in the field. This obviously would result in an increased amount of nectar and, consequently, provided the forage will produce it, in an increased amount of honey. They argue that it is impossible to detect any difference between honey ripened inside the hive and that ripened outside, as far as flavor is concerned, but this is a point on which many other bee keepers and experts in honey PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. U tasting do not agree with them. It must be admitted that, for gen- eral sale, the delicate aromas of well-ripened honey are not necessary, since the purchasing public is, as a rule, not educated on this point; but it certainly pays to produce the very best article possible for the further education of the trade, and, therefore, a thorough ripening inside the hive is very much preferable. To insure this, it is better to tier up the hives rather than extract as soon as a hive body is full. On all honeys, after extracting, if allowed to stand in a vessel, a scum will rise to the top. made up of impurities, such as wax, brood, dead bees, and particles of dirt which may get into it. This is particularly the case with honeys which are extracted when not thoroughly ripened. In all cases honey should be strained as it leaves the extractor and subsequently skimmed until no further impurities come to the top. It is frequently the practice to draw honey from the bottom of the tank in which the honey is stored through a " honey gate," so that the impurities do not get into the smaller receptacles in which the honey is to be packed. ' The thorough ripening of honey can not be too strongly recom- mended. Honey attracts moisture, and there is always a tendency for a very thin layer to form on the top in which the water content is very high. In such a film the amount of sugar is low, the acetic- acid-forming bacteria can grow rapidly, and the honey becomes sour. In thoroughly ripened honey it is very probable that a film of thinner honey is alwa}7s present, but in such a case the sugar con- tent is so high that the bacteria can not grow. It is desirable that honeys from different sources be kept separate as far as possible if the product is to be used for the bottling trade. This can be done only by extracting at the close of each honey flow. While it is probably impossible to get a honey from only one species of plant, except under the most unusual circumstances, at the same time honey may generally be removed at the close of each flow, so that the total quantity will have the characteristic flavor im- parted by a single kind of flower. THE GRANULATION OF HONEY. Almost all honeys granulate or " candy " after a certain time, and may become solid. This phenomenon varies greatly with different honeys. For example, alfalfa honey produced in Colorado will often granulate solid within a few weeks from the time it is extracted, while the white-sage honey of southern California will often remain liquid and entirely clear of crystal for two years and sometimes longer, if properly put up. The reason for this difference in the time of granulation will be discussed under the heading of " Types of Honey." Honey from the same species of plant varies somewhat in this respect in different localities. 78013°— Bull. 75— 11 2 10 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Formerly the general public was suspicious of granulated honey, in the belief that it contained cane sugar, but, fortunately, it is now generally understood that pure honeys will granulate in time, and this crystallization is generally considered as a test of purity. The education of the purchasing public has so far progressed that now some bee keepers prefer to sell their honey in a solid granulated con- dition, it being cut up into bricks and wrapped in oil paper. In bottling honey, or in putting honey from any large receptacle into smaller ones, it is necessary to liquefy the entire quantity com- pletely before the operation is begun. This may be done by im- mersing the receptacle in water which has been heated to 160 or 170° F., and letting it remain until the honey is all liquid and free from crystals. Honey should never be liquefied by direct applica- tion of heat, and it is extremely important that it should not reach a temperature of more than 160° F. It is well known to almost all bee keepers that honey heated to higher temperatures will become darker in color and lose flavor, and, consequently, they are generally very careful on this point. There is, however, a very much more important reason for avoiding high temepratures. When honey is heated to 180° F. and more, the higher alcohols which give honey its aroma are driven off and, more than that, a decomposition of cer- tain of the sugars takes place; this is what gives the darker color to the honey. Of all the various substances used for the adulteration of honey the one most nearly resembling pure honey is invert sugar, of which Herzfelt's artificial honey is one of the best illustrations. In the detection of adulteration, one of the tests for the addition of invert sugar is based on the presence of decomposition products due to heat. These decomposition products in invert sugar are probably identical with the decomposition products in overheated honey; at any rate, honey which has been heated to more than 180° F. for any considerable time gives the test for invert sugar and would, there- fore, be declared to be adulterated if this test were applied by a chemist. A bee keeper might argue that he was not infringing on the pure-food law in overheating his honey, since he had added nothing in the way of an adulterant. If, however, he changes the chemical composition of his honey by injudicious treatment it is no longer pure honey, and he has no right to sell it under that name. It is very much safer to liquefy honey at a temperature of about 140° F. and thus avoid any danger of decomposition. If this lower temperature is used it is of course necessary to keep the honey at this temperature for a. considerable time, but the safety of such a pro- ceeding makes the extra time well worth while. Two or three of the most widely circulated American text-books on bee keeping advocate the drawing off of the liquid portion of granulated honey, particularly in the case of honey which was not PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 11 thoroughly ripened before it was extracted. The granulated portion is then allowed to liquefy and is recommended as a very fine quality of honey. This practice is in no way permissible, as will be readily seen if the composition of honey is studied. Honey is made up of dextrose and levulose in about equal quantities, sucrose, a certain amount of ash, and water, In granulation, the dextrose crystallizes readily and the levulose probably does not granulate at all. If, then, the liquid portion, consisting largely of levulose, sucrose, and water, is removed by draining or by pressure, the remaining portion is not honey, but dextrose. However fine the flavor of such a compound may be, it is not honey and can not truthfully be sold as such. Since honey separates into its component parts in granulation, it is very necessary that all the honey in the receptacle be liquefied and thoroughly mixed before any portion is removed from it for bottling or canning. If, for example, honey is in a (>0-pound can and is to be transferred to 1-pound bottles, it is necessary that the entire 00 pounds be liquefied and mixed before any is poured out into bottles, in order that all the bottles may contain honey according to the legal standard. Unless this is done, some of the bottles will contain a high percentage of dextrose and will granulate rapidly, while others will contain a preponderance of levulose and will not granulate for a long time. Unless this mixing is done thoroughly, none of the bot- tles will contain absolutely pure honey. In order to protect himself, the bee keeper must be very careful on this point. Some bee keepers prefer to pour the honey cold into the bottles and heat it afterwards before sealing. As a matter of convenience this has many points in its favor, but in view of the separation into component parts which may take place it is a bad practice. The honey should first be heated and liquefied complete^, especially if honeys from several species of flowers are to be blended. As previously stated, there has existed and possibly still exists a popular idea that granulation indicates adulteration by the addition of cane sugar. This is of course untrue, since pure honeys do granu- late solid. Many bee keepers in combating this idea have stated that this very granulation is a test of the purity of the honey. This statement, so frequently made, is equally untrue, since invert sugar, one of the adulterants sometimes used, will also crystallize solid as rapidly as do most honeys. Age seems to affect honey greatly. Repeated granulation and lique- faction, as the temperature varies year after year, in some way affects the chemical composition of the honey, changing the product so that it may not have the composition that it had at first. Some honey thirty-five years old, submitted to this Department, was found to contain too much sucrose. A sample of the same honey had pre- viously been analyzed by two official chemists and declared to be 12 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. adulterated ; but the history of the sample precluded this possibility. The honey had apparently changed greatly with age in appearance as well as in composition. Some bee keepers make a practice of adding a Arery small amount of glycerin to the honey to prevent granulation. This should not be done, for it is adulterating the honey. Some have argued that, since glycerin costs so much more than honey, they are not adulterating in that they are not adding something cheaper to the honey to increase their profit. According to pure- food laws, however, nothing can be added to honey unless the addition is specifically stated, and the addition of even a small amount of glycerin is, in the eyes of the law, as great an offense as the addition of glucose. HEATING HONEY FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BACTERIA OF DISEASE. The only condition under which honey should be heated to a higher temperature than 160° F. is in the case of honey which has been ex- tracted from a colony containing foul brood. In order to kill the bacteria of either of the brood diseases, it is desirable to dilute the honey by adding an equal amount of water and then raise the temper- ature to the boiling point and keep it there, allowing the mixture to boil vigorously for at least thirty minutes; in order that no risk may be run, it is better to make this one hour. Honey which is so treated is changed chemically and is no longer pure honey, but it makes a good sirup for feeding to bees and is the best way of using honey from an infected source. Too much care can not be exercised in bringing this to the proper temperature, and it must be remem- bered that the resulting product is not honey, but a sirup, the chemical composition of which is quite unlike that of pure honey. PACKING OF EXTRACTED HONEY. If honey tends to granulate rapidly, it will save much trouble in liquefying to put it into the receptacle in which it is to be sold as soon after extraction as possible. There will then be no difficulty from the various ingredients becoming separated. To preserve the deli- cate aromas it is desirable that honey be sealed as soon as possible. "When honey is put up in less than 3-pound packages it is generally bottled. A bottle makes a much more attractive package than a tin can and shows off the contents. There is no doubt of the fact that honey sells largely on its appearance, and too much care can not be exercised in packing and labelling so as to make the package attract- ive to the purchaser. In cases where a bee keeper sells directly to a local trade he may educate his customers to judge his honeys by their flavor, in which event it is immaterial what kind of package is used. PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 13 and honey may even be run out from a large can into a vessel fur- nished by the customer when the honey is delivered. It is too often the case, however, that bee keepers put up their honey in such poor. unsightly packages that they can get only a low price for their goods. If honey is put up in more than 3-pound packages, tin cans are generally used and the most common receptacle is a square can hold- ing 5 gallons (GO pounds). Two of these are usually boxed together for shipment. Square and round cans of various types are often used for smaller quantities. Barrels are preferred by some for large shipments for the baking and confectionery trade, but their use can not always be advised. Before honey is put into it, a barrel must be thoroughly dry, and tight when dry, because of the fact that honey takes up a certain amount of moisture, and if, when the honey is put into it, the barrel is damp, the honey will absorb the moisture, caus- ing the barrel to leak. Barrels also absorb a certain amount of honey. In dry climates particularly barrels should be used with caution. When honey is packed in bottles, it is desirable that granulation be retarded, since a bottle of partially granulated honey is not attract- ive. To aid in the retarding of granulation, the honey should be entirely liquefied and thoroughly mixed in a large can and run into the bottle warm. The bottle should be as full as possible and sealed hermetically while still warm. Granulation usually begins on the edges of the top line of the honey and spreads rapidly from these points. This is probably because some honey gets upon the sides and partially dries. It is therefore desirable that the honey fill the bottle clear to the cover to prevent this. It must also be free of bubbles. Bottles may be hermetically sealed by using some style of clamp cover or by sealing a cork with a mixture of beeswax and resin. This mixture may be colored by the addition of a dye. Granulation may be considerably retarded by keeping the honey at a nearly uni- form temperature. This should not be less than 65° F. and is much better at 90° to 100° F. While the honey is in the hands of the pro- ducer or bottler, it may be kept liquid for a long time in this way, but of course when sold it is generally subject to changes of tempera- ture. Honey, either in the comb or extracted, should never be kept in a cool or damp place. THE PRODUCTION OF " CANDIED " HONEY. Honeys of the average type, relatively free from nonsugars, such as that made from alfalfa, soon granulate solid and are sometimes sold in bricks. Granulation may be hastened by changes of temperature and by stirring. If it is desired to have a can of honey granulate 14 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTURE. rapidly, it may be carried from a warm room out doors in winter and back again at intervals of a day or two for a couple of weeks. If this is accompanied with occasional stirring when granulation first begins, the whole can will soon be a solid cake. Honey may also be poured into smaller receptacles, such as waterproof pasteboard car- riers or oyster pails, and allowed to crystallize in the package in which it is to be sold. If allowed to granulate solid in a large tin can, the tin may be cut away and the honey cut into bricks with fine wire in the way that prints of butter are sometimes prepared. A market for " honey bricks " must generally be built up locally, for as yet the general public has not learned to look for honey in such shape. The cost of the package is less than that of bottles, and the granulated honey is by some considered superior for table use to liquid honey. Several bee keepers have used this method with suc- cess and claim that it gives great satisfaction to their customers. HONEY TYPES. It is well known that honeys from different plants vary consider- ably in taste, color, granulation, etc. The taste and color are given to honey by the plants from which the nectar is derived. Granulation may be considered as a property of all honeys, or rather of the dextrose contained in all of them, and, from a study of the chemical compo- sition of many samples, it seems probable that all honeys would crys- tallize were it not for the fact that some of them contain an excess of either noncrystallizable levulose or dextrin, gums, and other non- sugars. The following table will make this point clear : I. Normal honey (from nectaries of flowers). 1. High purity (high in sugars, relatively low in dextrin, gums, and other nonsugars). A. Levulose type, e. g., mangrove, tupelo, sage. B. Average type. a. High in sucrose, e. g., alfalfa. b. Low in sucrose, e. g., buckwheat. 2. Low purity (relatively high in dextrin, gums, and other nonsugars, e. g., basswood, sumac, poplar, oak, hickory, apple, most tree honey ) . II. Abnormal honey (not from nectaries of flowers; generally high in dextrin, gums, and other nonsugars). 1. Honeydew honey (from aphides and other insects). 2. Coniferous honey (plant exudations not from nectaries). Honeys containing approximately the same amount or levulose and dextrose and which are high in sugars (average type) granulate readily. Very few honeys have more dextrose than levulose. If, however, the levulose is considerably greater than the dextrose (levu- lose type), or if the nonsugars are relatively high (low purity and PRODUCTION AND CARE OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 15 abnormal honeys), granulation is retarded. Some honeydew granu- lates rapidly, but no abnormal honeys of that type were included in the samples examined, consequently they are not included in the table. The use of the terms " high " and " low " purity in this table must not be taken to indicate the comparative values of the various honeys. Low-purity honeys which have relatively more dextrin, gums, and other nonsugars are just as good honeys as those of the high-purity class. Abnormal honeys, however, are less desirable. The presence of the nonsugars in low-purity honeys may be due largely to a slight admixture of honeydew, since most honeys contain a trace of this. It must be remembered in considering this subject that practically no honey is from a single species of plant, and therefore they will vary considerably, according to the other nectars added to them as well as according to local soil and climatic conditions. METHODS OF HONEY TESTING FOR BEE KEEPERS." By C. A. Browne, Ph. D., Chief, Sugar Laboratory, Bureau of Chemistry. The most common forms of adulteration which are practiced at present in the sophistication of honey are the addition of commercial glucose, cane sugar, and invert sugar. The adulteration of honey- by dilution with water is less commonly practiced; such addition is easily recognized by the increased fluidity of the honey, and there is, besides, the increased danger that the product will spoil through fermentation. It is often desirable, however, for the bee keeper to know the approximate percentage of moisture in his products in order to avoid the marketing of unripe honey Avhich might exceed the limit for water allowed by the standards (25 per cent). The average water content of American honey, according to the average for 99 pure samples analyzed in the Bureau of Chemistry, is 17.59 per cent, so that there is above this a margin of more than 7 per cent in which the moisture of honeys may be allowed to fluctuate. The accurate determination of moisture in honey in the chemical laboratory is a somewhat complicated {process. A carefully weighed amount of the honey is evaporated at a temperature of about 160° F. in a vacuum chamber until no more moisture is given off, and the loss in weight during the interval is calculated as water. For the bee keeper such a method of determination is too involved and compli- cated ; there is, however, a much simpler method by means of which the moisture content of a honey can be determined with ease and rapidity and with a fair degree of accuracy. This is by means of a specific gravity float or spindle. The liquefied honey is poured into a tall cylinder and immersed in hot water of 170° F. temperature. The honey is stirred with a thermometer and as soon as the tempera- ture has reached 160° F. the spindle is lowered into the honey and allowed to come to rest. The point at which the surface of the hone}7 a This paper was prepared, by Doctor Browne of the Bureau of Chemistry after the completion of his work on honey analysis. For greater detail the reader is referred to Bulletin 110 of the Bureau of Chemistry, entitled "Chemical Analysis and Composition of American Honeys." This bulletin may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washing- ton, D. C. It can not be obtained from the Bureau of Entomology. — E. F. P. 16 methods of honey testing fob bee keepers. 17 cwis the graduation mark upon the spindle indicates the percentage of water in the honey. For the accurate determination of glucose, cane sugar, and other adulterants, the bee keeper will usually be obliged to resort to the services of a chemist. This is especially true as regards cane sugar, as there is no simple test for this substance which can be applied by the ordinary layman. As regards glucose and added invert sugar, however, there are certain simple colorimetric tests which can be easily and quickly carried out. A good colorimetric test for the presence of commercial glucose or starch sirup in honey is that of Beckmann, by means of a dilute solu- tion of iodine in potassium iodide. One part of the honey to be ex- amined is dissolved in one part by volume of water in a test tube and shaken up with a few drops of the iodine solution. If the honey solution remains a pale yellow, commercial glucose is probably absent; if the solution is colored a red or purple, however, the presence of glu- cose sirup is clearly indicated. In making this test it is always best to carry out a comparative test under similar conditions, using a honey of known purity and adding the same number of drops of iodine solution. In this manner a reliable comparison of colors can be secured. The adulteration of honey with invert sugar sirup is being prac- ticed to some extent in this country, though not as widely at present as in certain European countries. This sirup has in many respects the same composition as pure honey; it is deficient, hoAvever, in ash, albuminoids, and other constituents which occur in honey in small amounts. Through the action of the high temperature of boiling a small quantity of decomposition products of sugar is produced in this artificial honey which serves to distinguish it from pure honey unless the latter has been boiled for some time, in which case it also will con- tain decomposition products similar to those contained in the invert sugar sirup. An easy test for artificial invert sugar in honey is by means of a concentrated solution of aniline acetate. This reagent should be prepared freshly each time before using. Five cubic centi- meters of chemically pure aniline are shaken up with 5 cubic centi- meters of water and 2 cubic centimeters of glacial acetic acid added. The milky emulsion of aniline and water should clear up perfectly on addition of the acid. About 5 cubic centimeters of the honey to lie tested are diluted in a test tube with an equal volume of water and a little of the aniline solution poured clown the walls of the tube so as to form a thin layer upon the surface of the liquid. If artificial invert sugar is present, a red ring will form beneath this layer, and on gently agitating the tube the whole quantity of aniline acetate will be tinged this color, the depth of coloration depending upon the 18 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. quantity of artificial invert sugar present in the mixture. Pure honeys which have not been spoiled by overheating do not give this reaction. In carrying out the tests previously described only a ver}^ small outlay in apparatus will be required. The special spindles for de- termining the water content of honey and the other apparatus can be obtained from any manufacturer of chemical goods. Glass or metal cylinders for containing the honey while spindling will be needed, as also a collection of test tubes and racks. A small 50 cubic centimeter graduated cylinder will also be found useful for measur- ing out the volume of honey solutions and of reagents. All appa- ratus should be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed after using, as any contamination with impurities may affect the accuracy of the tests. The drugs specified may be purchased of any druggist. U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 75, Part II. A., December 31. 190 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. WAX MOTHS AND AMERICAN FOUL BROOD By E. F. Phillips, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. INTRODUCTION. It has generally been held by bee keepers that, while the wax moths often cause considerable damage by destroying surplus combs and in other ways, they were not an unmixed evil, for by destroying combs infected with brood disease they were supposed to remove the infection. Text-books on apiculture and articles in various bee journals have repeatedly reiterated this statement. Evidently no person has seen fit to look into the question thoroughly, and it is the object of the present paper to record some observations which have been made. When a bee larva dies from infection of American foul brood, it decays rapidly, and the mass becomes ropy, so that if a small stick or pin is inserted in the deca}^ed mass and removed, the larval mate- rial adheres to it and will string out for an inch or more. This ropiness of the dead larva is very characteristic of this brood dis- ease. Seemingly this ropiness makes it impossible for the bees to remove the infected material, and when the decayed mass dries down it forms a scale which adheres so tightly to the lower side wall of the cell that it can not be removed without tearing the wax wall. As the disease progresses in the colony the various cells of the brood chamber come to contain diseased larvae and, later, scales formed of dried larvae. It is probable that after a cell once comes to contain a diseased larva, it is almost impossible for another larva to reach maturity in a healthy condition, consequently the number of bees which reach the adult condition is constantly reduced and, as the old field bees die and are not fully replaced, the colony becomes weak- ened and finally dies out completely. 19 20 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTURE. As long as the colony is strong the wax moths can do no damage, but as the bees decrease in number the combs offer a foothold to one or other of the moths and within a very short time the whole hive is one mass of wax moth tunnels, larval excreta, and cocoons. The combs are completely destroyed and nothing remains but the web and a mass of debris on the hive bottoms. If the moth larvae actually ate the infected material, they would serve to remove the infection where the bee keeper is too careless to do so — as is too frequently the case. The two wax moths differ greatly in their habits in some respects, but it is not the purpose of this paper to discuss these points. The large wax moth (Galleria mellonella L.) is the most widely dis- tributed and is found in practically every part of the United States, and probably wherever the honey bee is now kept. The lesser wax moth (Ackroia grisella Fab.), on the other hand, is not so widely dis- tributed, but it is known to exist in various localities in this country. WORK OF THE LARGE WAX MOTH. {Galleria mellonella L.) Plate I is from a photograph of a comb, infected with American foul brood, on which larva? of the large wax moth were placed. The comb was placed in a box to exclude light and was laid flat on a piece of paper. The larva? at first worked on the under side of the comb, but gradually they got to the upper surface. It will be noticed that in one part of the comb the lower side walls of the cells remain intact; here the dried-down scales of American foul brood were thickest, and evidently this was the center of the brood during the time of infection. The remainder of the area formerly occupied by comb is nothing but debris, with a few scales scattered here and there. Evidently only where scales are thick do they hold together enough to stand upright. To show how the scales stand up, the web was removed from the surface. The background of the photograph is merely a piece of paper. Plate II is a photograph of a rough box used for a hive during some experiments in producing American foul brood by the feeding of pure cultures of Bacillus larvce.a The five frames of this small hive contained thousands of the dried-down scales so characteristic of this disease. The box was put away in a closet and the large wax moth got into it, with the result that all the combs were completely destroyed. The webs and empty frames were removed for this photo- graph. The black mass in the bottom of the box is composed of a Circular No. 94. Bureau of Entomology, entitled. "The Cause of American Foul Brood," by Dr. G. F. White. Issued July 29. 1907. Bui. 75 Pt. II, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agricultur Plate I. Bui. 75, Pt. II. Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate II. Hive Infected with American Foul Brood, the Frames Removed to Show Work of the Large Wax Moth 4, pp. 30-40. Boston. 1904, 23 Bui. 75, Pi. Ill, Bureau of EnLmology. o Washington r' -H \ / r /SULLIVAI* M£R Rl M Ack/ ^ J | I / M ( .STRAf-A-o\^°,g^l P— | * Trensselaer R M O N T /N f^ W/ H A" M A ^ K" „ I r R „ *j r •* ^ \ / <, |HILLSBORo\ j] y EXPLANATION: BOm/IM£/i/GW* - fi/ffOflf/l/V /N S/lM£L0CM/7y IVUp Showing Distr 24 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS OX APICULTURE. that their introduction is not recent. This evidence is not merely the result of bee keepers' reports or of more or less semiauthoritative and indefinite rumors, but it is based upon results of bacteriological find- ings in numerous samples of brood comb sent to this Bureau by the bee keepers in the State during the past year and a half. Under these conditions bee keeping can not be brought to the high degree of perfection which is possible. Xo factor in bee keeping tends to limit the industry as do epidemics of such diseases ; they cause bee keepers to become discouraged by "bad luck" and to lose interest in their bees. The " luck " must change ; the bee keepers must learn the nature of the diseases, where they exist, and how to combat them; otherwise the industry will decrease even more. THE TWO KNOWN BEE DISEASES. Two contagious brood diseases of bees are now known. These attack the developing brood and so reduce it that the colony soon dwindles from lack of young bees to replace the old. They are known, respectively, as American foul brood and European foul brood. AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. The cause of this disease is definitely known to be an organism, Bacillus larval White. It is what has been heretofore frequently designated simply as ;> foul brood." The nature of the disease is described by Dr. E. F. Phillips, in charge of apicultural investiga- tions in this Bureau,0 as follows : When the larvae are first affected they turn to a light chocolate color, and in the advanced stages of decay become darker, resembling roasted coffee in color. Usually the larva? are attacked at about the time of capping, and most of the cells containing infected larvae are capped. As decay proceeds these cappings become sunken and perforated, and, as the healthy brood emerges, the comb shows the scattered cells containing larvae which have died of disease, still capped. The most noticeable characteristic of this infection is the fact that when a small stick is inserted in a larva which has died of the disease, and slowly removed, the broken-down tissues adhere to it and will often stretch out for several inches before breaking. When the larva dries it forms a tightly adhering scale [of characteristic and diagnostic shape and] of very dark brown color, which can best be observed when the comb is held so that a bright light strikes the lower side wall [of the cell]. Decaying larvae which have died of this disease have a very characteristic odor which resembles a poor quality of glue. This disease seldom attacks drone or queen larva3. EUROPEAN FOUL BEOOD. This is the disease which appears to be most prevalent in Massa- chusetts, probably having swept in from Xew York State, where it a The brood diseases of bees. By E. F. Phillips. Ph. D. Circular 79, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 1-2, 1906. BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 25 was formerly known as "black brood." Its presence is less easily diagnosed by superficial examination than is American foul brood. It is described by Doctor Phillips a as follows : This disease attacks larvae earlier than does American foul brood, and a comparatively small percentage of the diseased brood is ever capped. The dis- eased larvae which are capped over have sunken and perforated cappings. The larva? when first attacked show a small yellow spot on the body near the head and move uneasily in the cell. When death occurs they turn yellow, Then brown, and finally almost black. Decaying larva? which have died of this disease do not usually stretch out in a long thread when a small stick is inserted and slowly removed. Occasionally there is a very slight " ropiness," but this is never very marked. The thoroughly dried larvae form irregular scales which are not strongly adherent to the lower side wall of the cell. There is very little odor from decaying larvae which have died from this dis- ease, and when an odor is noticeable it is not the " glue-pot " odor of the Ameri- can foul brood, but more nearly resembles that of soured dead brood. This dis- ease attacks drone and queen larvae very soon after the colony is infected. It is as a rule much more infectious than American foul brood and spreads more rapidly. On the other hand, it sometimes happens that the disease will dis- appear of its own accord, a thing which the author never knew to occur in a genuine case of American foul brood. European foul brood is most de- structive during the spring and early summer, often almost disappearing in late summer and autumn. DAMAGE FROM BEE DISEASES. The damage from an epidemic of bee disease is as difficult to esti- mate as is the damage from an epidemic of smallpox, of typhoid fever, or of malaria in a human community. The loss of colonies is but one small item ; there is the resulting loss of crop, the result- ing lack of increase in the number of colonies of bees, and that demor- alizing effect on the industry which tends to cause bee keepers to go out of business. Besides this there is a crippling of commercial queen rearing, a check on the trade in bees, and a decisive effect on the manufacture and sale of bee keepers' supplies. All these factors must be considered in an estimate ; and, what is more, the damage is accumulative. It can not be calculated by the year and then totaled ; the progressive loss must be figured. In Xew York State, where European foul brood has been com- bated for nearly a decade, and where it is now well suppressed, it has been estimated that the damage from loss of bees alone, in a very limited area, in 1899 and 1900, was at least $45,000. In Ventura County, Cal., where American foul brood flourishes, a thriftless bee keeper had 151 colonies which, from neglect, were re- duced to 14 colonies in a little over twelve months' time. One hun- dred and thirty-seven colonies had died or were nearly dead. But there are many more and even sadder cases, were there space to relate them. a The brood diseases of bees. By E. F. Phillips, Ph. D. Circular 79, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, p. 2. 7S0130— Bull. 75—11 3 26 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. PRESENT EXTENT OF BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. The extent of bee diseases in Massachusetts may be readily seen on the map. The towns in which they are positively known to occur are listed below in black- faced type. Towns in which they probably exist are listed in lighter-faced type. Table showing the towns in which the bee diseases respectively occur. [Black-faced type indicates where disease is positively known to exist. Light-faced type indicates that disease is probably present.] American foul brood. Bristol County: Acushnet. Freetown. New Bedford. Westport. Essex County: Amesbury. Salisbury. Hampden County: Brimfield. Ludlow. Monson. Springfield. Wilbraham. Hampshire County: Belchertown. Middlesex County: Marlboro. Worcester County. Brookfield. Charlton. Leominster. Sturbridge. Southbridge. Warren. Worcester. European foul brood. Berkshire County. Great Harris ton. Lee. Sandisfield. Sheffield. Franklin County: Deerfield. Greenfield. Montague. Northfield. Hampden County: Blandford. Brimfield. Ludlow. Monson. Springfield. Wilbraham. Hampshire County: Belchertown. Greenwich. Worcester County: Auburn. Bar re. Brookfield. Charlton. Hardwick. New Braintree. Southbridge. Sturbridge. Warren. Worcester. The distribution of these diseases is based, as is explained, on bac- teriological findings in numerous samples of suspected brood, sub- mitted by the bee keepers during the past year and a half. The examinations were made by Dr. G. Franklin White, expert in bacte- riology, of this Bureau. In plotting the regions where disease is thus definitely known to exist a solid red color has been used. Index letters, A for American foiil brood and E for European foul brood, show which disease is joresent in each locality. Besides these definite data there are in the Bureau of Entomology a great number of reports from bee keepers throughout Massachu- setts, which, without the definite knowledge from the bacteriological examinations, would be of slight significance and importance, but which, in conjunction with these findings, are of the greatest value. They indicate regions of probable infection, which are shown on the map in lighter tone. As an illustration, a bee keeper who lives in Acushnet reports, " I lost all my bees, thirty swarms, at once." This bare statement is of slight import; but taken together with the fact that American foul brood occurs in Freetown, it would indicate that American foul brood is distributed throughout southern Bristol County. Another illus- tration is found in Worcester County. Bacteriological examination shows that in Auburn and Worcester both European foul brood and American foul brood exist. A bee keeper from Barre reports that in BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 27 the year 1902 or 1903 he lost forty-five colonies of bees. From East Brookfield and Charlton, from New Braintree, Sturbridge, and War- ren, all located around and adjoining Worcester and Auburn, reports of heavy loss of bees, not alone by one bee keeper in a town but by several, are at hand. A bee keeper in Warren says, " Bees all died about five years ago; I had nine colonies which I lost; Mr. -lost ji bout five colonies also, as did others, so that at the present day only three to four colonies remain in town." Similar reports come from across the county and Connecticut State lines adjoining this section of Worcester County. It is highly probable, then, considering the positive knowledge of foul brood in Worcester and Auburn and con- sidering collectively the widespread and yet individual reports from the country about these two towns, that these diseases are present throughout this section of Massachusetts and Connecticut. In other parts of the State similar conclusions are obvious. Considering the distribution as a whole, it is apparent that Euro- pean foul brood has swept in from New York State, where the disease has existed for years. Moreover, were the bees in western Massachusetts systematically examined, this portion of the State would doubtless be found thickly infected with European foul brood. American foul brood in Connecticut has apparently invaded Litch- field County in the western half of the State. In Massachusetts, on the other hand, and in one small area in New Hampshire, where there is less thorough information, American foul brood is largely confined to the eastern half of the State. Ultimately, when more information is at hand, if decisive and immediate steps to suppress these diseases are not taken, Massachusetts, as well as the rest of New England, will undoubtedly reveal a mass of infection. EVIDENCE THAT BEE DISEASES WERE NOT RECENTLY INTRO- DUCED INTO MASSACHUSETTS. In 1828 Dr. James Thatcher wrote (p. 4) :a The destructive ravages of the hee-moth have in many places almost anni- hilated our bee establishments and discouraged all attempts to renewed trials. No less than a hundred hives have, the past season, been entirely destroyed by that enemy within the towns of the county of Plymouth, and in places where a single hive has yielded one hundred pounds of honey. At first reading this might appear, so far as bee diseases are con- cerned, of slight import. General experience sIioavs, however, that strong, healthy colonies of bees are seldom if ever destroyed by wax moths, the presence of the latter being secondary as a result of a weakened condition of the colony from loss of its queen, disease, or the like. Consequently, wherever there is extensive complaint of damage from moths, there the presence of disease is to be suspected. "A Practical Treatise <>n the Management of Bees. * * * By James Thacher, M. l>., Boston, 1829. 28 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. In 1831, again, Dr. Jerome V. C. Smith a says (p. 41) : Great lamentations are heard about the bee-moth, * * * whose devasta- tions in the New England States have been described as something frightful. More specifically he says (p. 43) : In the interior of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut the farmers have become heartily discouraged in their attempts at cultivation, and lamentably appear to have abandoned them entirely. Such reports strongly suggest that some unknown agent, as dis- ease, depleted the bees and made them subjects for the devastations of bee moths. Even at that early date Doctor Smith intimates (p. 41) that all the damage " attributed to it [the bee moth] . . . admits of some doubt." Without being conclusive, such evidence must be accepted as strongly indicative of the existence of disease, probably of American foul brood, in Massachusetts. About 1896 the writer saw in Worcester a hive in which the bees had died from some affection of the brood. It was diagnosed then as a disease which is now designated as American foul brood. Only one hive out of several was affected. European foul brood, on the other hand, is of more recent intro- duction in the State. It was first recognized in New York State in 1895, where it is thought to have been introduced in importations of bees from the south. As the map shows, this disease has probably spread into Massachusetts from New York. The late Mr. James F. Wood, of North Dana, noticed in the Con- necticut and Swift River valleys of Massachusetts a brood disease of bees which made its appearance in that region about 1901. It did much damage, destroying all the bees in the yards where it appeared; but, as it was apparently not American foul brood, Mr. Wood regarded it as a new disease. From a description made in an address before the Worcester County Bee Keepers' Association by Dr. James B. Paige,5 of Massachusetts Agricultural College, who was closely associated with Mr. Wood and who made a study of the disease, it would appear to have been European foul brood. Being first observed in Massachusetts in 1901, it would have had ample time to have spread from New York State. With so little recorded data, it is difficult to draw positive con- clusions regarding the distribution of these diseases in years gone by. It is far more important, however, to realize that they have existed in the State for a considerable time, that they have been and are a decided check on the progress of bee keeping, but that they can now be counteracted. a An Essay on the Practicability of Cultivation of the Honey bee * * *. By Jerome V. C. Smith, M. D., Boston, 1831. 6 Wood's Bee Disease. American Bee Keeper, Vol. 16, pp. 69-70, 1906, BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 29 THE SPREAD OF BEE DISEASES. Both types of foul brood are highly infectious; the way in which they are spread might be compared to the spread of typhoid fever in human communities. Honey is the common carrier of this infection, just as milk and water are the agents which frequently spread typhoid fever. In diseased colonies of bees, practically every part of the hive becomes contaminated with the germs of the disease. Consequently, when disease is found in the bee yard, every precaution must be taken that bees from healthy colonies do not come in contact with any part of the diseased colonies or hives. Honey, being so irre- sistible to the bees, is of course the main thing to be guarded. Since diseased colonies soon become weakened, from the lack of young bees to replace those dying from old age, they are less likely to maintain guard against robbers, which are a great source of danger in the spread of infection. Immediately on discovery, diseased colonies should be treated. FEEDING HONEY. In these days of widespread bee disease it is dangerous to feed any honey to bees; it is far preferable and less dangerous to supply them, if they need stores, with a sirup of sugar and water, half and half. It is safe to feed honey to bees only when it has been vigorously boiled for at least a half hour, and, as Doctor Phillips has recently stated,0 in order to avoid risk, " it is better to make this an hour " (p. 12). In boiling, the honey should always be diluted with equal parts of water in order to prevent scorching. DISINFECTION OF TOOLS AND HANDS. All tools used in manipulating diseased bees, as well as the oper- ator's hands, should be thoroughly disinfected before opening a healthy colony. DEPLETED HIVES FROM GREENHOUSES A SOURCE OF DANGER. In Massachusetts particularly there is another source of infection which is difficult of control. Each year several hundred colonies of bees are placed in greenhouses by those who grow cucumbers under glass. In the adverse conditions of the cucumber house the hive soon becomes depleted and is promptly thrown on the rubbish pile. If the hive originally came from a foul-brood region — which is not 0 The production and care of extracted honey. By E. F. Phillips, Ph. D. Bui. 7.", Pt. I, Pur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agric, 1907. Price 5c, from Superin- tendent of Documents, Washington, I). C. 30 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. improbable, inasmuch as the greenhouse men buy their bees wherever they can get them — all the bees within a radius of several miles of the rubbish pile are exposed. More than once the writer has seen from two to a half dozen such hives cast out on the rubbish heap. While there is no intention of endangering neighbors' bees, it is as criminal to throw out of doors any hive in which bees have died as it is to shake the bedding or throw the waste of the sick room from the window. Discarded hives and their contents, if the cucumber grower does not wish to render the wax, should be thrown under the boiler. PURCHASING BEES AND QUEEXS. In purchasing bees the buyer should be as certain that he is getting stock free from disease as is the farmer, who purchases cows, that these have no tuberculosis. A region where the disease is not found or where it has been successfully suppressed can be reinfected by one careless purchase. For instance, speaking of Xew York State, Mr. Charles Stewart says : a Just as we [the inspectors] were feeling that we had nearly stamped it [the disease] out and were masters of the situation we discovered that at least one if not two fresh importations had been made in a section of the State where no trouble of this kind [European foul brood] formerly existed (p. 55). To some degree this applies to purchasing queen bees. It is usually safe, however, to introduce a queen if she is removed from the cage in which she is mailed and is introduced unaccompanied by her escort of workers. The candy which is shipped with queens should never be put into a hive. STRAY BEES. There is one agent over which the bee keeper has no control and which should cause him no anxiety if a considerable territory is freed of the diseases. It is a well-known fact that under certain con- ditions, as, for instance, in storms and heavy winds, bees enter hives other than their own. Obviously, then, such bees in their interchange of hives may spread the infection. This only emphasizes the urgency of cleaning the disease out of a whole State, or, better, out of a block of States, as New England. Cooperation is the key to the situation. BROOD DISEASES CAN BE CONTROLLED. Enumeration of the methods by which disease is spread should not convey the idea that these diseases can not be combated, for it has been thoroughly demonstrated that by judicious and persistent manipulation both of them can be successfully controlled and sup- a Report of tbe Meeting of the Inspectors of Apiaries, San Antonio, Tex., November 12, 1906. Bui. 70, Bur. Ent, U. S. Dept. Agric, 1907. BEE DISEASES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 31 pressed. The rapidity with which they spread, however, makes co- operation of bee keepers throughout the State or States essential. Sixteen States and Territories0 now have legislation and inspectors designed to protect the bee keepers from the spread of these infectious diseases. The State nearest to Massachusetts is New York, where the annual loss of bees alone is shown in the following figures:6 Previous to 1899, in a limited area, the loss of bees alone is estimated at $39,383 In 1899, when concentrated effort to suppress bee disease was begun, it amounted to 25,420 Id 1900 20, 289 In 1902 10, 853 In 1903 the loss of the previous year was halved, making it 5, 860 In 1903 it was 4,741 In 1904 it was again divided by two, being 2,220 In 1905 there was again a reduction of nearly 50 per cent 1, 725 Total loss of bees, covering about ten years 110, 491 In other States the encouraging results of inspection and per- sistent effort to suppress the inroads of disease are similar. INSPECTION. Inspectors are not alone police officers. They are educators, up-to- date bee keepers giving instructions in modern methods of bee keep- ing, thoroughly experienced in treating foul brood, and a great stim- ulus to progress. They are necessarily exacting and thorough; but the}- are not out to seize and condemn ; their aim is to help the bee keepers, to assist them in a cooperative effort to eradicate disease, and to promote bee keeping. Of course the individual can do much for himself by keeping his own yard clean and free from infection; but he is in constant danger of reinfection from his neighbors, if they fail to cooperate with him. A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF TREATMENT FOR BROOD DISEASES. Those who are most experienced in the suppression of brood dis- eases are agreed that " shaking,''6 which is practically " shook swarm- ing," and modifications of this process are the only successful methods. a The legislation empowering this inspection in twelve of these States and Ter- ritories is reprinted from Bui. 01, Bur. Ent., issued November 5, 1906, and en- titled "The Laws in Force Against Injurious Insects and Foul Brood in the United States," compiled by L. O. Howard and A. F. Burgess. ''These figures are afforded by a compilation made in 1905 by Mr. Charles Stewart from the records of the commissioner of agriculture of New York Stair. "The various treatments are described by Dr. E. F. Phillips in Circular 79, of this Bureau, mentioned above. 32 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. SHAKING. Shaking is briefly this: As soon as a colony i's discovered dis- eased, and at a time when there would be no robbing, it is shaken on the old stand into a hive containing new frames with narrow strips of foundation. In this way none of the contaminated honey is de- posited in the new cells. Should the disease reappear, which is some- times Ihe case, the operation must be repeated. In order to prevent the bees from swarming out, the queen may be caged in the hive for a few days or the entrance closed with a piece of queen-excluding zinc. Care should be taken not to scatter parts of the contaminated hive, particularly the honey, where bees can get at them. DISINFECTION OF HIVE MATERIALS. Honey, unless it has been boiled as above described, should never be fed back to bees. Wax, however, after being rendered and manu- factured into foundation, is commonly used without apparent dan- ger. It is customary in the East to put bees back into hives which have formerly contained diseased colonies, after they have been thoroughly cleaned of all bits of wax and honey. In the West, how- ever, the hives are either burned out with oil, with a blue-flamed torch, or are disinfected with strong chemical disinfectants. All frames should be burned, since it does not pay to clean them. U. S. D. A., B. E. Rul. 75, Part IV. A., December 26, 1908. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. THE RELATION OF THE ETIOLOGY (CAUSE) OF BEE DISEASES TO THE TREATMENT/' By G. F. White, Ph. D., Expert in Bacteriology. INTRODUCTION. Bee keying is not an industry which brings a fortune to a few, but is one the profits of which add comfort to 700,000 homes in Amer- ica. This industry, which is a pleasure and a profit to so many, is beset with difficulties. One of the greatest obstacles encountered in the successful pursuit of bee keeping is disease. There are a num- ber of diseases which attack the honey bee. Those which cause the greatest loss attack the brood. These diseases are known to the bee keeper as American foul brood, European foul brood, and pickled brood. Considerable loss is sustained also from paralysis and dys- entery. Other disorders of less importance are sometimes encoun- tered. If the apiarist is to treat these diseases effectively, he should become as familiar as possible with their etiology. Therefore this opportunity has been chosen to discuss the causes of bee diseases, as far as they are known, and to emphasize the importance of such knowledge in the treatment. The word " disease " is made up of two parts, " dis," referring to a negative. condition, and "ease," meaning a state of rest. By com- bining the parts we have the very appropriate word meaning a nega- tive state of rest. We are all familiar with health, which is the state of rest. It is the condition which we experience when all the organs of the body are, so to speak, in a state of equilibrium. An}' departure from this state of health is disease. You should remember that disease is alike in nature in all the animal kingdom and differs only in kind. To understand best the nature of disease we must study the causes of disease. A number of factors may combine and be responsible for a diseased condition. This group of factors is known as the ••etiology." Etiology, then, means the causation of disease. Let us further consider the etiology of disease and use bee diseases largety as illustrations. "Read at the meeting of the National Bee-Keepers' Association, Detroit, Midi.. October 14, 1908. 33 84 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. ETIOLOGY (CAUSE) OF DISEASES. Every abnormal condition in the body of an animal which we know as disease has a cause which has brought about such a condi- tion. In most of the diseases of man and the higher animals compar- atively little is known of the cause. Likewise, and unfortunately, the same is true of bee diseases. Gradually but slowly new facts about all diseases are added to our knowledge, the unfortunate thing being that so many statements are reported as facts which have never been demonstrated to be true. In the study of the etiology of a disease and in the discussion of it, it is convenient to divide the causal factors into predisposing and exciting. Under the predisposing causes which may be considered as factors in bee diseases we have age, sex, race, heredity, climate, and preexisting disease. Under the exciting causes we may consider food and micro-organisms. To illustrate, let us consider the different factors just mentioned. predisposing causes. Age. In our experience with human diseases we have learned to expect scarlet fever, measles, mumps, and whooping cough more often in children than in adults; typhoid fever and appendicitis in young adults; and cancer in those more advanced in life. In bee diseases we expect European foul brood to attack larvae that are younger than those which suffer from American foul brood. We expect the so-called " pickled brood " to die just before or after capping, while paralysis is, as far as we know, a disease of adult life. Sex. Of some importance in the etiology of human diseases is the factor sex. Inflammatory rheumatism, gout, and diabetes, for example, occur more frequently in men, while goiter and hysteria are more frequent in women. In bee diseases we expect in American foul brood to find the worker larva? more often attacked than the drone, while in European foul brood this difference, if it exists, does so only to a slight degree. Heredity. You are all familiar with the fact that heredity is considered as an important predisposing factor in tuberculosis, cancer, gout, in- sanity, etc. It is interesting that in the so-called u pickled brood " there is some evidence which indicates that heredhw plays an im- portant role. KELATION OF ETIOLOGY OP BEE DISEASES TO TREATMENT. 35 Race. Racial immunity is a rather interesting factor in the study of human and animal diseases. The negro, for example, seems to pos- sess considerable immunity in gout and diabetes compared with the white race. Sheep ordinarily are very susceptible to anthrax, but there is an Algerian race of sheep which is immune to this disease. Some bee keepers believe that race is an important factor in bee diseases, but comparatively little is definitely known on this phase of the etiology. Climate. That human diseases are more frequent in some climates than in others is a fact familiar to us all; that climatic conditions play a part in bee diseases seems to be quite probable. Preexisting Disease. Preexisting disease has very little, if anything, to do with bee dis- eases. By preexisting disease we mean that when an individual passes through an attack of a disease the disease predisposes that indi- vidual to other diseases. This is illustrated in various human and animal diseases. In bee diseases we do not know whether any larva or pupa ever recovers sufficiently from an attack of disease to con- tinue its development and emerge as an adult bee. Many bee keepers think that adult bees in American foul-brood colonies are less active than in normal colonies. Whether or not they suffer from disease we do not know. It is possible, but not so probable, that they have suf- fered a light attack of disease while in the developmental stage and emerged as adult bees with weakened organs which do not perform a normal function. If this were true, it would illustrate the impor- tance of preexisting disease as a predisposing factor in etiology. Having thus briefly considered some of the more important pre- disposing causes which enter into the etiology of bee diseases, let us consider two of the more important exciting causes — food and micro- organisms. EXCITING CAUSES. Food. The character of food is believed by many bee keepers to be an ex- citing factor in dysentery. Should the food contain poisons, grave results might follow. Some attribute paralysis to the character of the food, but this is far from a demonstrated fact. M K'KO-ORGANISMS. By micro-organisms we mean those living plants and animals which are very small and must be magnified greatly before they can be seen. Those which are to receive our attention are bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. 36 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Bacteria. — We have now come to the consideration of that factor in the etiology of bee diseases which is most important and with which we would have the bee keepers become familiar. The annual loss sustained by the bee keepers of this country due to the one cause, bacteria, is to be reckoned in millions. It is unfortunate that it is necessary to use the word bacteria, because too many at once think that they are not able to understand anything about bacteria. This is a mistaken idea. It is not difficult to understand the facts about them which are most important in the treatment of disease. It might be well to review here some of the things known concerning their life history. Nearly two years ago the writer had the honor of reading a paper at a meeting of bee inspectors held at San Antonio, Tex., upon the subject of the bacteriology of bee diseases. This paper appears in Bulletin No. 70 of the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture, page 10. In it are discussed briefly the nature of bacteria, their distribution, the methods of studying them, and the results of their activity. It is stated that bacteria — often called germs, microbes, and parasites — are very small plants; so small, indeed, that 12,000 placed end to end measure but 1 inch. They increase in number with marvelous rapidity. Under favorable condi- tions each bacterium in twenty minutes becomes two. At this rate countless millions are formed in twenty- four hours. As the soil be- comes exhausted in which they are growing many species form spores which are in a way comparable to the seeds of higher plants. These spores are very difficult to destroy by heat and other disinfectants. It is well to remember, concerning the distribution of bacteria, that they are found in very large numbers everywhere about us, but that most of them are as harmless as the vegetables we eat. But should there be introduced into an apiary, for example, the species of bacteria which causes American foul brood, then the brood becomes exposed to the disease and will probably contract it. The study of bacteria must be carried on for the most part in the laboratory. By the use of the microscope we are able to tell the genus (e. g., Bacillus) to which an organism belongs, and by specially prepared media, or soils, we are able to determine the species to which it belongs (e. g., alvei). Having determined these things about bacteria, we are interested in finding out what they are capable of doing. We learn that some do good, as, for example, in bringing to decay the remains of dead ani- mals and plants, while other species do harm by their ability to pro- duce disease or death in the animals in which they are able to gain entrance. The disease American foul brood, which causes the great- est loss to the bee-keeping industry, has been demonstrated to be RELATION OF ETIOLOGY OF BEE DISEASES TO TREATMENT. 37 caused b}T bacteria. Above all, you should understand that the death of the brood is due to one species of bacteria growing in the larva?. Protozoa. — In contrast to bacteria, the protozoa belong to the ani- mal kingdom. They are very small unicellular animals. Many species are harmless, as are many species of bacteria, while some species have the power to produce disease. They produce disease and death in a manner very similar to bacteria; that is, by growing in the body of a living animal. As far as we know, none of the bee diseases is due to protozoa. One investigator described what he thought was a protozoon and named it Spirochceta apis. It was shown that he made an error in his observations. Therefore there is no Spirochceta apis and no protozoon, as far as we know, which is pathogenic to bees. Fungi, — The term " fungi " is a rather broad one, but in the dis- eases of animals we usually refer, in speaking of fungi, to those forms of plant life which are higher than bacteria. They are usually made up of branching mycelial threads, and have a variety of meth- ods for producing spores. One writer described one species, Aspergil- lus pollini, which he was supposed to have proved to be the cause of pickled brood, but he had not done so. To the above groups belong the known exciting causes. There are also unknown exciting causes. When the unknown causes become known they may be found to belong to the groups mentioned above. There is a very important classification of diseases into those which are infectious and those which are noninfectious. From what has been said, this classification becomes clear to us. An infectious bee disease is one which may be transmitted from one colony to another through the natural processes in the apiary. American foul brood and European foul brood are examples of this class of disease. What is transmitted in an infectious disease % It is the exciting cause of that disease. In American foul brood it is one species of bacteria, Bacillus larvce. In European foul brood we do not know what is transmitted. Since we do not know the exciting cause it must be classed under the unknown exciting causes. When the cause is determined it will prob- ably be found to belong to one of the three groups of micro-organisms mentioned under the known causes. A noninfectious disease is one which is not transmitted from one colony to another. The so-called " pickled brood " and paralysis, as far as we know, illustrate this class of diseases. This brief discussion of the etiology of disease is given in order that you may get a clearer idea of the nature of disease and what is meant by etiology. We shall now consider the treatment of disease and illustrate with bee diseases. 38 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. TREATMENT OF DISEASE. The ultimate object in the investigation of diseases is the successful treatment of them. Before a disease can be treated rationally the diagnosis must be made ; in other words, it must be determined what disease is present. If, for example, the so-called " pickled brood " is present in an apiary, the treatment will be quite different from what it would be if American foul brood or European foul brood were present; and if no disease is present, as sometimes happens, and the bee keeper suspects a disease, it is important that a positive diagnosis be made of this condition. There is no method by which bee disease can be so positively diag- nosed as by the finding of the exciting cause in the affected and dead bees. This fact is made use of in diagnosing samples of brood sent to the laboratory and illustrates one important advantage in knowing the etiology of disease. If we are to devise methods for treatment it is important that we should know where the exciting cause exists, under what conditions it grows, how it is carried from one place to another, and how it may be destroyed. These facts are determined by a study of the etiology of the disease, and it is upon such facts that we should base the treatment. Those who are familiar with bee diseases are also familiar with the different methods of treatment. It is not the purpose of the writer to discuss any of the classical methods, but to suggest a few of the principles upon which such methods must be based if they are to be most effective. Treatment is both preventive and curative. PREVENTIVE TREATMENT. Too many believe that the treatment of bee diseases consists in the control or eradication of a disease after it is found in the apiary. This is only the minor part of treatment — the curative. The treat- ment which is of major importance is the preventive treatment. Pre- vention is much easier than cure. To prevent disease in the apiary is to keep it out. To keep it out is to keep out the exciting cause. In order to keep out the exciting cause, it is desirable to know its dis- tribution or where it is found. In American foul brood the exciting cause, Bacillus larvae^ is found in immense numbers in the bodies of diseased and dead larva?. These dead larva?, for the most part, are allowed by the bees to remain in the brood cell as a scale. The honey also has been demonstrated to contain the bacteria which produce this disease. The pollen may be contaminated with the spores of this disease-producing organism. The combs from an apiary affected with American foul brood are a fruitful source of infection. The inside of the hives which have contained colonies suffering with American foul brood may be contaminated with the germs which RELATION OF ETIOLOGY OF BEE DISEASES TO TREATMENT. 39 cause the disease. Honey extractors, honey tanks, and wax ex- tractors which have been used in infected apiaries are also a fruitful source of infection. Therefore if you are to keep the disease-pro- ducing bacteria out of your apiary, and thereby keep out disease, you must not feed honey unless you are positive that it did not come from an infected apiary or that it has been thoroughly boiled. Neither must you use old combs unless you are positive that they have not been in an infected apiary. Use no bee supplies from an in- fected apiary unless they are thoroughly disinfected. These things being true of the infectious disease American foul brood, of which we know the cause, until the cause of any other in- fectious disease can be determined we can do no better than to suggest the use of the same principles in the treatment of such a disease as must be used in the successful treatment of American foul brood. CURATIVE TREATMENT. In the curative treatment, considering the colony as a unit, use is made of two widely different principles — the removal of the disease- producing material, thereby removing the germs, and the use of drugs. In separating the disease-producing germs from the colony, all the combs are removed. This removes the principal sources from which the brood is infected — foul-brood larvae and honey. It is always safer to allow the bees to go into a new hive or a hive which has been thoroughly disinfected. The greatest care should be exercised in protecting all infectious material which has been removed, that it may not be robbed by the bees. The principle involved in the treatment by drugs is that of an anti- septic. The theory is that a small amount of some drug — like beta naphthol, salicylic acid, carbolic acid, eucalyptus, formic acid, etc. — is sufficient, when taken with the larval food, to inhibit the growth of the pathogenic bacteria. Having thus in a general way considered the subject of the etiology of disease and the treatment in accordance with such knowledge, let us consider the different diseases separately. AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. That Bacillus laroce is the cause of American foul brood has been demonstrated conclusively. It is a species of bacteria which when it is introduced into the healthy larvae multiplies rapidly and causes the death of a large amount of the brood. When the larva dies the body decomposes and the remains dry down to a tongue-like scale on the lower side wall of the cell. In this scale are millions of spores which are able to produce disease in other larvae should they be fed to them. 40 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Just how the bacteria are carried from a dead larva to a healthy one we do not know. It is not uncommon, in examining the brood, to find only a portion of a larva in a cell, the bees having removed a part of it. When the body wall of a larva is broken in examining for foul brood, bees readily suck up the contents which flow out. This is true when the larva which is punctured is healthy, or when it is sick with disease, or after it has been dead a few days. The larvae at these stages of the disease contain a very large number of the disease-producing bacteria. These observations would indicate that in this way, in part at least, the infectious material might be carried to healthy larvae. Actual contact of the appendages of the bee with the foul-brood material, and the subsequent contact of the same appendages with the food of the larva?, may be a method by which the disease-producing bacteria are spread. We do know that in foul brood it is possible to obtain Bacillus larva? from the honey, and we do know that when bees are fed the spores of Bacillus larvm in honey American foul brood will appear in the apiary. The spores of this bacillus are very resistant to heat and other disinfectants. They resist the boiling temperature of water for fifteen minutes. In 5 per cent carbolic acid they were not killed in two months' time. This was demonstrated by obtaining growth in cultures after the spores had remained in this disinfectant for that length of time. Likewise it has been demonstrated that the spores of Bacillus larvm, when taken from the scales of American foul brood, resist the action of mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate), 1:1,000 aqueous solution, for two months. Having such facts before us, we can better judge the methods for treatment. In treating this disease we must bear in mind the preventive and curative measures. In the preventive treatment many of the condi- tions you can control; others may be difficult. You can at least be sure that you import no bees or used supplies which might have been in an infected apiary. Use no old combs and feed no honey of which you do not know the history. In this way the bacillus which causes the disease in a large measure can be kept out of the apiary. There are conditions which are difficult to control. Should a near-by apiary be diseased and some of the colonies become weak or die out, it might be difficult for you, in a dearth of nectar, to keep your bees from robbing the diseased apiary and in this way bringing these disease-producing germs to your healthy colonies. Some preliminary experiments have been made, but the results do not indicate that drugs, in the treatment of this disease, have the value advocated by some English writers. RELATION OF ETIOLOGY OF BEE DISEASES TO TREATMENT. 41 EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD. European foul brood is another infectious bee disease. It attacks the brood at an earlier period in the growth of the larvae, as a rule, than American foul brood. The cause of this disease is not definitely known. From brood dead of this disease Cheshire and Cheyne iso- lated Bacillus alvei. From their work it was long supposed that Bacillus alvei was the cause of the disease, but later investigations make the value of their work doubtful. A number of organisms have been found in the larva? dead from this disease and some of them have been described. One species has been encountered in our investigations of the disease which is of special interest. The individuals of this species are quite small, apparently non-spore-producing, and have so far failed to grow when sown on our artificial media. Until we know more about this species it will be referred to as Bacillus " Y.n Since the cause is not posi- tively known, the amount of heat and chemical disinfectants to de- stroy the virus has not been demonstrated. If, later, Bacillus " Y " is demonstrated to be the cause, we shall expect that very much less heat will be sufficient to kill it than is necessary to kill Bacillus larvce, the cause of American foul brood. Likewise we shall expect that chemical disinfectants will be much more readily effective. Until we know more about the etiology of European foul brood we can do no better than to suggest the application of the same principles which are found advisable in American foul brood. SO-CALLED " PICKLED BROOD." We refer to this disorder of the brood as the " so-called pickled brood " and not pickled brood, because the condition which William R. Howard, of Fort Worth, Tex., described is not what the bee keepers know as pickled brood. The exciting cause of this disease is not known. The larva? die at that age just preceding or just after capping. Some bee keepers haA^e a theory that heredity plays a very important part as a predisposing cause. As far as is known the disease does not seem to be infectious. This disease is treated by some bee keepers by requeening, on the assumption that heredity is the important factor in the production of the disease. If more were known concerning the etiology, the treatment might be materially changed. PARALYSIS. Paralysis is a disease of the adult bee. The cause of this malady is not known. It does not seem to be infectious, although in some apiaries a large number of colonies may be affected at the same time. Some have advanced the theory that the character of the food is the exciting cause. 78013°— Bull. 75— 11 4 42 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTUKE. Since we know nothing positively about the cause, we can suggest very little in the way of treatment. The removal of the stores from the hive would tend to remedy the defect if the character of the food be an important factor in the etiology. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. We have now briefly considered the nature and the etiology of bee diseases and have suggested some of the principles upon which the methods of treatment must depend if such treatment is to be most efficient. If we review what we have just said concerning the etiology and treatment of the different diseases, we observe the follow- ing facts: There is but one disease, American foul brood, of which we know absolutely the exciting cause. The cause is a species of bacteria, but there are many things concerning the nature, the distribution, and the activity of which we do not know. The facts which have been deter- mined enable us to suggest some of the principles upon which the treatment must be based. Just so rapidly as our knowledge of the etiology of this disease increases, so rapidly will we be able to suggest principles for the improvement of the methods of treatment. In European foul brood we only know positively that the disease is infectious, and we can do no better than to use the principles gained by the study of American foul brood. As our knowledge of the etiology of this disease increases, the methods of treatment will be altered. In the so-called " pickled brood '' we do not seem to have an in- fectious disease. Nothing is positively known of the etiology except that the larvas die at approximately the same age in all cases, which is about the time of capping. The treatment that is used by some is based upon the principle that heredity is an important factor, and therefore requeening is resorted to. In the disease of adult bees known as " paralysis," practically noth- ing is known and practically no treatment is known to be effective. It will be noted that in every case the treatment of bee diseases is based upon the knowledge of the etiology. There are many things of very great importance in the etiology which are yet to be deter- mined, but there are many things which are known that, if applied by the bee keeper, will prove to be of great value to him financially. It is to be hoped, then, that the bee keeper will make himself as fa- miliar as possible with the nature of the etiology of bee diseases, since it is clear that the better the cause is known the better will be the treatment. From this discussion one conclusion can be drawn — that in the knowledge of the etiologyT of bee diseases lies the hope of their control. Bui. 75, Pt. V, Bureau of Entomology, U, S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate V. U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 75, Tart V. A., January 19, 1909. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. By E. F. Phillips, Ph. D., In charge of Apiculture. INTRODUCTION. Bee keeping on the Hawaiian Islands is one of the minor industries which is being conducted with profit. As in all other places, this business can never, from its very nature, become a leading industry, but there is reason to believe that there is yet room for considerable expansion. The modified methods made necessary by a tropical climate and other conditions of a local character present some new phases of the keeping of bees, and in view of the fact that these modi- fications will be of interest to bee keepers on the mainland, as well as to those in Hawaii, it seems desirable to put on record a brief account of what the author was able to observe personally and to learn from others in the four weeks spent on the islands in making an apicul- tural survey. The author would express his thanks to the bee keepers of the islands for the cordial way in which they anticipated his every desire in planning the trips of investigation. He would also mention the particular assistance of Mr. D. L. Van Dine, entomologist of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, who accompanied him on all his trips, and from whom much of the information in this paper was gathered. PUBLICATIONS ON HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. Different phases of Hawaiian bee keeping are discussed in other publications, a list of which is appended.** The bee keepers of the "Reports of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society (1851-1856). A Brief History of the Hawaiian People, by W. D. Alexander, 1S99, p. 286. Report of the Entomologist, by D. L. Van Dine, in Report on Agricultural Investigations in Hawaii, 1905, by Jared G. Smith. Bulletin 170, Office of Experiment Stations, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1906. Report of the Entomologist, by D. L. Van Dine, in the Annual Report of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station for 1907, 1908. Introduction of Honey-Producing Plants, by D. L. Van Dine; Hawaiian Forester and Agriculturist, Vol. V, pp. 9-13. Hawaiian Honeys, by D. L. Van Dine and Alice R. Thompson. Bulletin 17, Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, 1908. Chemical Analysis and Composition of American Honeys, by C. A. Browne, including a Microscopical Study of Honey Pollen, by W. J. Young. Bulletin No. no, Bureau of Chemistry, V . S, Dept. of Agriculture. 190S. 43 44 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTUEE. islands have been extremely fortunate in enlisting the interest of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station. Mr. D. L. Van Dine, the entomologist of the station, has been very active in rendering valuable assistance to the bee-keeping industry by his investigations, and Miss Alice R. Thompson, the acting chemist, has done good work in chem- ical analysis of honeys. BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. The bee keepers of Hawaii are organized into an active and efficient association, which has been in existence about two years. By united effort this organization has accomplished much that is of great value to the industry. When the question of marketing their honey under the regulations of the food and drugs act of 1906 arose they sent a representative to Washington to present their case. In this and many other ways the bee men have shown themselves to be alert and progressive in looking after their best interests. METHODS OF MANAGEMENT. At the present time bee keeping is largely in the hands of four corporations, they owning and operating at least four-fifths of all the bees on the islands. These companies are all managed by Ameri- can citizens, but there are a number of smaller apiaries, some of which are owned by Japanese. The last-named apiaries are usually not so well kept nor are they so productive. The total number of colonies at present is probably about 20,000, and the annual output of honey, which is mostly shipped to the mainland or to Europe, is probably about 600 tons.a The keeping of bees by corporations, as opposed to individual ownership, is something which is rarely observed else- where. As they are located a considerable distance from the market and as the expense of supplies and shipping is high, it has seemed desirable to the bee keepers to organize companies so that they may make large shipments. There is also on the Hawaiian Islands a tendency, to a marked degree, to incorporate all industries, and doubt- less the prevalence of this method of conducting business has induced the bee keepers to adopt it also. With this system it is possible for one skilled manager to oversee the manipulation of several thousand colonies, the actual manipulation being done in most cases by the Japanese helpers ; in this way the cost of maintenance of the apiaries is reduced very considerably. Since the price obtained for Hawaiian honey is still rather low, it is of course necessary to reduce expense in every way possible. a The crop for 1908 will probably amount to nearly 1,000 tons, according to a recent report from the entomologist, 75. Pi. IV, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate vi S I O c Hi I A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. 45 " BEE RIGHTS." The buying of " bee rights," as it is practiced in Hawaii, is some- thing practically unheard of elsewhere, and would certainly appear to a mainland bee keeper as a new and strange procedure. The near- est approach to it is the renting of locations for outyards, which can not usually insure no competition. This practice would not be pos- sible were it not for the fact that most of the available agricultural laud on the islands is held in large tracts, mostly as sugar-cane planta- tions and ranches. Arrangements are made with the manager of a plantation for locations for apiaries, and the bee keeper agrees to pay a certain amount for the use of the land and for the honey removed from these apiaries. Frequently this is in the form of an agreement to pay a certain sum for each ton of honey removed from the plantation, but at times it is a fixed sum for the year, the bee keeper assuming what small risk there is of not getting a crop. The planta- tion management in turn agrees to allow no other bee keepers to keep bees in its territory. There are frequently small holdings within the boundaries of the plantation over which the plantation company has no control, and some other bee keeper may lease these with the idea of allowing his bees to range over the entire plantation. If, for example, he puts 200 colonies on such a holding, the immediate placing of say 500 colonies just across the line has a discouraging effect on this poaching and it can end in only one way, since the bee keeper who has a right there has the advantage. The same thing happens when an outside bee keeper gets too close to the boundary line. Naturally, wdien land is divided into smaller holdings, as is the case almost everywhere on the mainland, such an arrangement is not possible and a bee keeper must run the risk of competition. There is no way of telling what amount of honey is taken from any given area when the tracts are small. The moral right of priority claim, which so many bee keepers advocate, has small place in the manipula- tions of territory in Hawaii, where the bee-keeping companies pay for what they get and insist on getting it. One of the large com- panies gains its exclusive right by reason of the fact that it owns and Leases a tract of over 100,000 acres for ranch purposes. EXTENT OF THE INDUSTRY. At the present time there are on the islands probably about 20,000 colonics of bees, most of which are, as above stated, owned by four companies. From the custom-house statistics it is shown that the annual shipments of honey amount to about 1,000 tons. The island of Kauai now supports about 3,000 colonies, and, after traveling over almost the entire cultivated portion of the island, the author 46 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEBS OK APICULTUKE. is of the opinion that the island is jnst about half stocked. The island of Oahu seems to be well covered from an apicultural stand- point. Molokai is not a cane-producing island, but the algarroba forest is nearly stocked, and the only place for heavy expansion seems to be in the mountains, where several forest trees are nectar bearing. The island of Maui could not be examined as carefully as the others on account of inclement weather, but from reports received it is ob- viously not stocked to the extent that it should be. The island of Hawaii, the largest of the group, is relatively the least developed of any of the islands. There are only a few apiaries on this area, which is almost equal in extent to Connecticut, and there are great possibili- ties. On the south coast there are vast areas of cane, and the same is true of the Hamakua coast on the north. The Kona coast would probably support some bees in the coffee plantations. One such apiary was seen by the author (PI. VII, fig. 2). On the interior of the island there are vast areas which are entirely undeveloped from an apicultural standpoint, and the island can doubtless support thousands of colonies of bees at a profit. The total area now actually stocked with apiaries would not nearly equal in size one-half the State of Rhode Island, while the honey crop is probably 20 times as great as in that State. According to the Census Report for Rhode Island it would be 40 times as great, but we can not use this figure on account of its obvious unreliability. This comparison will show the honey-producing capabilities of the islands as compared with our more northern countries, and will also show how thoroughly the areas are stocked where the industry has been taken up. A small part of Oahu is doubtless overstocked, due to crowding into a given area by competitive companies. There was no evidence of such overstocking elsewhere. Overstocking an area with bees is a subject much discussed among bee men, and the situation in Hawaii illustrates very beautifully the fact that a theoretical discussion of how many colonies may be kept in one place is of no value whatever. Each location must be judged on its own merits, and a given area which will support only 20 colonies in one region may support 1,000 elsewhere. It is also obvious that seasons vary to a marked degree. In many parts of the mainland it is deemed advisable to keep not more than 100. colonies in one apiary and to allow each apiary a radius of 1J to 3 miles. On the basis of these figures, from 50 to 200 acres are necessary to support a single colony of bees. Without discussing the merits of these figures, it is enough to say that this is the common mainland practice, particularly in the more densely populated areas. In contrast to this, an examina- tion of the methods in Hawaii is extremely significant. One area of cane on the island of Oahu contains a little over 20,000 acres. As will Bui. 75, Pt. V, Bureau of Entomology. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate VII. Fig. 1.— A Typical Hawaiian Apiary, the Hives on Stands to Prevent Ant Attacks. (Original.) Fig. 2.— An Apiary in a Coffee Plantation. (Original.) A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. 47 be discussed later, this is not all equally productive from a bee-keeping standpoint. Near this is some algarroba forest, but not enough to in- fluence the crop very much. This area supports nearly 5,000 colonies, some of which yield exceptionally large crops. In certain parts of this area competition is too strong to yield proper results, but some apiaries yield over 200 pounds to the colony. In some other cane areas this record can be almost equaled. Algarroba will not produce so much per acre, but this is partly due to the fact that it blooms for less than six months, while cane fields furnish honeydew every day in the year. One strip of algarroba forest on Molokai supports nearly 2,000 colonies. It will not average more than one-half mile in width, and about 30 miles of it is used for bees. SOURCES OF HONEY. FLORAL HONEY. The amount of floral honey produced on the islands annually is about 200 tons. Formerly the only source of honey on the islands which was widely enough distributed to make bee keeping commer- cially important was algarroba, native " keawe." (PI. VIII, fig. 1.) This tree was introduced into the islands by Father Bachelot, founder of the Roman Catholic mission, in 1837, and the original tree still stands on Fort street, in Honolulu. It has been carried to all the islands and is one of the most valuable plants ever brought into the group. It furnishes not only an excellent honey, but the pods afford excellent fodder and the wood is the main source of fuel. The honey from algarroba is " water white " in color and granulates very soon after it is stored by the bees in spite of the warm climate of the islands. This characteristic makes frequent extractions necessary to prevent the combs from being clogged. In regions where algarroba is practically the only source of honey, at the close of the flow an amount of honey sufficient to keep up the colony until the next flow is left in the hive. This, of course, soon granulates. When the honey flow diminishes, the brood chamber is reduced and considerable honey is stored in the space formerly occupied by brood. When the next flow comes on, a good deal of this granulated honey remains in the combs, and since this can not be extracted, these combs are re- moved and replaced either by empty combs or by foundation, to give the queen more room. These combs containing granulated honey are then placed in huge solar extractors, the largest that the author had ever seen. With 200 or more colonies in an apiary, there is often need for a solar extractor which will hold several hundred combs at a time, and practically every apiary visited by the author had such a piece of apparatus as part of the equipment. The sun's heat liquefies the 48 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS OH APICULTURE. honey and melts most of the wax, and the wax from the " slumgum " is then extracted by the usual methods. The honey from these solar extractors is not darkened, as one would expect. The algarroba tree (Prosopis juliflora) is either the same species as or very closely related to the mesquite of the southwest. On the islands it grows to the size of a tree, as is also the case in Mexico. In Texas it is generally very much smaller. In 1908 the tree came into bloom about the 1st of March, the time varying considerably in dif- ferent localities on the islands. It usually blooms until August, and this very long blooming period adds greatty to its value to the bee keepers. The following list of honey plants, other than algarroba, is fur- nished by Mr. D. L. Van Dine, entomologist of the Hawaii Agri- cultural Experiment Station. Mr. Van Dine has studied the honey sources of the islands very thoroughly. Many of these plants were pointed out to the writer while he was on the islands. FOREST TREES. Texas mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa). Growing in dooryard of Mr. C. C. Conradt, Pukoo, island of Molokai. Seeds under propagation at Hawaii Agri- cultural Experiment Station. Introduced by Mr. Conradt from Texas several years ago. Ohia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) . Produces a particularly high grade of honey. Locations for apiaries as a rule somewhat inaccessible. One location on the island of Molokai is within the ohia lehua belt. Various species of Acacia (black wattle, koa, etc.). Mountainous districts. Various species of Eucalyptus. Mountainous districts. Wiliwili (Erythrina monosperma). In gulches on Molokai and Oahu. Rose-apple (Eugenia jambos). Mamani (Sophora chrysophylla) . Found in higher forest belts. Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa and C. bignonioides) . Introduced by Mr. Jared G. Smith, April, 1902, from the Missouri Botanical Gardens. The seeds were distributed to L. von Tempsky, Makawao, and H. P. Baldwin, Puunene, on Maui ; to S. M. Damon, Moanalua Gardens, on Oahu ; to Francis Gay, Makaweli, on Kauai ; and to Louisson Brothers and Albert Horner, Hamakua, and B. B. Bond, Kohala, on Hawaii. The seeds were sent to the above-named parties under date of April 10, 1902. No reports are on file at this station as to the results of this introduction. Logwood (Hamiatoxylon campechianum) . Found in dooryards. Two trees are growing in the grounds of Oahu College and one in the grounds of Lunalilo Home, Honolulu. Seeds under propagation at Hawaii Agricultural Experi- ment Station. The honey produced by bees from this tree is reported to be the finest table honey in the world. The propagation and distribution of the logwood throughout the Territory would be of great value to bee keepers. The wood furnishes the logwood dye of commerce. The black mangrove of Florida. Introduced by Mr. Jared G. Smith from southern Florida, for the purpose of preventing the mud flats from washing, along the coast of Molokai near Kaunakakai. The introduction was made several years ago and the trees are now well established at the above-mentioned place. The tree is a valuable honey plant. The station is now trying to secure the Philippine mangrove, a tree suitable for similar locations but possessing greater value as a timber tree. Bui. 75, Pt. V, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Plate VIII. Fig. 1.— Part of an Algarroba Forest. (Original.) Fig. 2.— A Lantana Jungle. (Original.) A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. 49 FRUIT TREKS. Various species of Citrus (orange, lemon, lime, etc.). Avocado (Persea gr^atissima). Banana I Musa spp.). Guava I Psidivrn spp. i. Loquat (EriobQtrya japonica). Tamarind I Tamarindus indica). PASTURE PLANTS. California burr-clover (Medicago denticulata) . Introduced on Maui in 1882 by Mr. C. It. Blacow. Now found generally on the ranches of the islands. Carpet grass (Lippia repens). Growing on grounds of Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station. Alfilaria or filaree (Erodium cicutarium and E. moschatum). Seeds intro- duced in California hay. Established on upland pastures on Hawaii and Molokai. White clover (Trifolium repens). Found on Haleakala and Makawao pastures. Maui. CHOP PLANTS. sis;il (Agave sisalana). Various species of cucurbits (melons, squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, etc.). FORAGE PLANTS. Alfalfa, several varieties. Lupine, blue and yellow. Occasionally used as green manure plant on sugar plantations. Tangier pea (Lathyrus tingitanus) . Growing at Haiku, Maui. Sanfoin (Onobrychis sativa). A forage plant introduced by Mr. Jared G. Smith in 1904. Seed distributed to ranches. ORNAMENTAL PLANTS. Palms, particularly the royal and cocoanut. Poppy, a horticultural form of Romneya coulteri, found in gardens in Honolulu. Chinese ink-berry (Cestrum diurnum). Thevetia neriifolia. Vines (Ipomoca spp.). WEEDS. Lantana, two species. (Plate VIII, fig. 2.) California sages (Artemisia). Introduced by Hawaiian Bee Keepers' Asso- ciation in 1907. Not as yet established. Suitable for waste, arid lands. The most importanl honey plant in California. Valuable as a forage plant. Ilima < Sida spp. ). ( >i i l '( i in mi bonariensis > . Pili grass {Heteropogon contortus). Spanish needle (lauki) {Bidens pilosa). Puakala (Argemone mcxicana). Alii i noduiKi a viscosa var. spathulata) . Ilila hila (undetermined). other weeds are Wa l / heria americana, 1 pomcca pes-caprce (vine along sea coast), and tfalvastrum tricuspidatvm. OTHER SOURCES OF HONEY. Insect honeydew. — Hawaii is peculiar in that most of the honey produced is prom some source other than flowers. Two-thirds of the 50 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEKS ON APICULTURE. honey shipped annually from the islands is largely or entirely honey- dew honey. By far the greater part of this comes from the exuda- tions of the sugar-cane leaf hopper (Perkinsiella saccharicida Kirk.) and possibly some of it from the sugar-cane aphis {Aphis sacchari Zehnt.), although while on the islands the author observed none of the latter species. (See PL IX, fig. 1, showing an apiary near a field of sugar cane.) Of course, in a tropical country there are many other insects producing more or less honeydew. The young " plant cane " is most abundantly covered with leaf hoppers. Honeydew from the sugar-cane leaf hopper is very dark amber in color and slightly ropy. In flavor it very strongly resembles molasses from the cane juice. Since the color and flavor are so marked, a small amount of this when mixed with the mild, light-colored algarroba honey imparts the color and flavor of honeydew to the entire amount. Most honeydew honeys on the mainland granulate very rapidly, but this type does not granulate at all. Samples several years old are as clear as when first extracted. The chemical composition a of Hawaiian honeydew honey is quite unlike that of floral honey, and this fact has led to the charge of adulteration by buyers on the mainland and in foreign markets. Since nowhere else, as far as the author is aware, is honeydew honey produced in such large quantities, it is not strange that cursory ex- aminations were misleading. The author saw enough while on the islands to convince him that, however unlike floral honey this product may be, it is a natural sweet product collected and stored by the bee and is then extracted and shipped with no additions of other sugars. When the food and drugs act of 1906 went into , effect the Ha- waiian Bee Keepers' Association sent a representative to Washington to find out under what name they could market their crop, since it- does not conform to the standard of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. They were informed that it could be sold on the mainland market provided it were labeled just what it is. This a Chemical composition of Hawaiian honeydew honey made from sugar-cane honey detu. [From Bulletin No. 110, Bureau of Chemistry, p. 37.] Polarization. Free acid as for- mic. Re- duc- ing su- gars dex- trose. Direct. Invert. Im- medi- ate, 20° C Con- stant, 20° C Bi- rota- tion. 20° C. 87° C Dif- fer- ence. Wa- ter. In- vert su- gar. Suc- rose. Ash. Dex- trin. Un- de- ter- min- ed. Remarks. +24.9 +17.75 7.15 +13. 53 +34. 76 21.23 15.46 64.84 5.27 1.29 10.01 3.13 0.15 62.1 High in chlorid. Jul. 75, Pt. V, Bureau of Entomology, U. S Dept of Agricultur Plate IX. p ^JPBH^BWJ Bl^IZZl-— wJfLJijWtfli9i'il*TJ'~'~ Fig. 1.— An Apiary Near a Sugar-cane Field. (Original.) Fig. 2.— Molasses Trough for Feeding Cattle, i Original. A BRIEF SURVEY OF HAWAIIAN BEE KEEPING. 51 the Hawaiian bee keepers have done and it is now sold as " honey dew honey." The bee keepers of Hawaii fully realize the peculiar honey with which they have to deal and are not attempting to market honey- dew honey in competition with floral honey for table use. It goes to the baking trade and for such use is reported to be satisfactory; at any rate, the price received is equal to that received for algarroba honey. As stated elsewhere, bees prefer floral nectar to honeydew. How- ever, when the suppl}T of floral nectar is not great, the bees work on both, and as a result there are mixtures of the two, stored in the hives, varying all the way from the pure honeydew honey to pure floral honey. It is these mixtures that cause the trouble in labeling. One of the requisites of a pure honey as defined by the standards0 is that it shall be lsevorotatory to polarized light ; hence, since honey- dew honey is dextrorotatory and there are blends made by the bees of this and algarroba hone}7, it is necessary to have a chemical analysis made to be absolutely certain whether a given quantity of the product of the islands may be sold as honey or as honeydew honey. The various mixtures which occur are well illustrated in Plate I of Bul- letin 110, Bureau of Chemistry, here reproduced as Plate VI. This plate illustrates very well the influence of honeydew on the physical properties of honey. At one end of the series is the pure algarroba, which is represented as granulated, while at the other end is a sam- ple of honeydew honey which is as pure as it is usually found. Be- tween the two in perfect gradation are shown various mixtures just as they came from the hive in various extractings. The chemical analyses of these particular samples, made by Miss Alice R. Thomp- son^ show that the chemical composition varies in exactly the same way. Of these samples, Doctor Browne ° says : From the polarizations and analyses of these samples (as given in the table) it will he seen that there is a range in direct polarization from — 22.0 to a TJ. S. Dept. Agr., Office of the Secretary, Cir. 19, p. 11. /; Polarization ) does not apply to the Hawaiian Islands. It is doubtless true also that ( a ) does not apply. I can not say positively that neither disease is present in the Territory, but it is almost certain that they are not. Means of preventing the introduction of disease to the Hawaiian Islands. — As an immediate action, it is desirable that all queens which are shipped to the Territory be removed from the cages in which they arrive and be introduced to colonies from a clean cage containing candy made from honey free from disease organisms. This precaution, which is a very simple operation, will be a very good assurance that disease will not be brought to your islands with imported queens. It is desirable that as soon as possible a quarantine apiary be established, to which all imported queens shall be introduced. After two months' time, if the colonies to which the queens are introduced are free from disease, the queens may be sent to the owner with perfect safety. It is above all desirable that no honey of any kind shall be shipped to your islands unless it comes from healthy colonies and is accompanied by a certifi- cate of a qualified inspector of apiaries that such is the case. This precaution is of much more importance than those against infection through importation of queens. The bee keeper who imports queens would probably soon recognize disease if it appeared in a colony containing a choice imported queen, but if disease is brought in with honey it might gain a strong foothold before its dis- covery. This provision will not constitute a prohibition of the importation of honey, since on the mainland there are now about 55 qualified apiarian inspectors. On September 2, 1908, the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry of the Territory of Hawaii passed regulations pertain- ing to the importation and inspection of honey bees and honey, which placed restrictions on such importations for the purpose of prevent- ing the introduction of contagious diseases. U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 75, Part VI. A., January 25, 1909. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. THE STATUS OF APICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. By E. F. Phillips, Ph. D., In Charge of Apiculture. INTRODUCTION. Few persons realize the magnitude, importance, and possibilities of the present bee-keeping industry in the United States. Those who are conversant with the pursuit, and even those who are exten- sively engaged in it, generally fail to comprehend what an important factor in the agriculture of the country apiculture is as a whole, or how much the honey bee, by collecting nectar and storing it to ]> rod lice a commercial product, is instrumental in saving our resources. Although the total value of bee products is small as compared with the value of the products of many other branches of agriculture, it nevertheless has an importance which should not be overlooked. The object of this paper is to review the present status of the industry with a view 1<> pointing out where we may look for advancement. Few rural pursuits have made greater progress during the past half century than has this one. Before that time the bees of this country were kept in box hives, and as a result the annual average crop of honey per colony was small. In addition to this handicap in no! being able to manipulate the bees as was needed, bee keepers generally Kicked ;i knowledge of the methods of caring for them. With the invention of movable-frame hives by Langstroth in 1851 it became possible to care for bees properly and to manipulate in such a way as to gel the best crop. As the use of this type of hive and of the honey extractor became general, bee keepers have become better educated in modern methods of manipulation, and the industry has advanced from a negligible quantity to its present important place in agriculture. Tn the vast majority of cases bee keeping is not the principal occu- pation, but is carried on in conjunction with some other business. 59 60 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. According to the census of 1900 the average number of colonies on farms reporting them was 5.8106, valued at $14.40 — a very small investment. In some recent work of this Bureau a it has been found that in the State of Massachusetts the average number of colonies reported was 5.5 per bee keeper. This last figure should not be taken as an index to the condition in the whole country, for as one goes farther west the holdings are found to be larger. In Cali- fornia, for example, while there are some small apiaries, the majority are quite large, and the average is several times that of Massachusetts. The number taken from the census can scarcely be accepted as correct. The number of men who rely solely on the production of honey and wax for a livelihood is rather small, and most of the extensive producers of the West carry on some other business, at least for the part of the year when the bees are less active. The reason for this is found in the nature of the industr}r. Any location is limited as to the number of colonies of bees which it will support, and in con- sequence a bee keeper must either carry on some other business or establish numerous outapiaries to enable him to keep bees enough to make it an occupation which will support him. Since the estab- lishment of outapiaries is attended with certain disadvantages, it usually follows that bee keeping becomes a minor part of a man's occupation or even a side line. Then, too, bee keeping .is taken up by man}^ as a recreation or a subject of nature study. Such persons do not wash to make it their sole or main occupation. Many farmers also keep a few colonies of bees and add to their income to some extent in that way. It is obvious that bee keeping must continue to be an avocation in the majority of cases. This brings up for consideration a question which has been much discussed by those interested in bringing about an advance in the industry: Shall an attempt be made to increase the number of bee keepers, or to make better ones of a smaller number? Bee keepers who follow the pursuit on a commercial scale are usually anxious that there be no increase in the number engaged in the business, but rather a decrease, with an accompanying advance in the pro- ficiency of those so engaged. This desire is not wholly selfish, for unless the increase is directly in the territory of the individual his crop is not affected. It frequently happens that a local market is ruined, temporarily at least, by some uninformed bee keeper who keeps a few colonies and sells a poor grade of honey for a ridiculously low price, thus « Gates, Burton N. — Bee Keeping in Massachusetts. Bulletin No. 75, Part VII, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. (In preparation. ) STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 61 making it almost impossible for the up-to-date bee keeper to sell his honey for what it is worth in the same community. This con- dition of affairs would not occur were it not for the fact that, for table use at least, honey does not rank as a necessity, and the usual causes for changes in market price do not operate so completely as is the case with other commodities. The main objection to numerous small bee keepers, rather than fewer and more expert ones deeply engaged in the industry, is, that when the larger number is interested it can not be hoped that all will become proficient. Under normal circumstances this matters little, since anyone has a right to neglect his bees if he so desires, but when some contagious disease is present in a region this becomes a serious matter. The expert bee keeper can not hope to rid his bees of dis- ease if there are a great many unqualified bee keepers in his neighbor- hood. Under such a circumstance — which unfortunately is becom- ing quite general in tins country — the negligent bee keeper keeps property which, if diseased, constitutes a nuisance, and is a constant menace to the progressive man, for it is impossible to tell when neglected colonies may become infected. If progress is to be made toward getting the largest possible honey crop from the United States, it will hardly be done by making bee keepers wTho own an average of 5 colonies. It must be done by pro- gressive bee keepers financially interested to an extent sufficient to compel them to combat disease and to do their utmost to get the entire crop. We may not hope to attain this ultimate condition, but an effort might be made to discourage negligent and indifferent bee keeping. In spite of the fact that bee keeping is the sole occupation of but few, it nevertheless commands attention in that it adds considerably to the resources of the country and increases the income of thousands of people. The possibilities for its increase are great, and the ad- vancement of this vocation is a worthy object as aiming to save for human use a resource which is now so generally wasted. SCOPE OF THE INDUSTRY. It is very difficult to estimate accurately the annual value of the products of the apiary, but from various sources of information it is reasonable to suppose that the value of the honey produced annually in t lie United States is on the average about $20,000,000 and of wax about $2,000,000. Since the honey harvest depends so completely on various climatic conditions affecting the secretion of nectar, it is obvious that there is an enormous variation in the annual yield. As nearly as can be learned, the number of sections for comb honey manufactured annually by supply dealers is between 60,000,000 and 62 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. 75,000,000, and that may be considered as a fair estimate of the aver- age number of pounds of comb honey produced in the United States, since relatively few sections are exported. Extracted honey is pro- duced more extensively, and it is safe to say that the annual crop is three or four times that of comb honey. Taking into consideration also the chunk honey sold and the honey not marketed but used in home consumption, the estimate of $20,000,000 is none too high. It may be of interest to compare the data of various years given by the census. Table I gives the amount of honey and wax, with the ratio between them. It is very interesting to note a reported in- crease in the ratio of honey to wax produced as the use of the honey extractor has become more general. Table I. — Production of honey and wax in the United States, 1840-1900. Census of— Honey. Wax. Ratio of honey to wax. 1840 Pounds. Pounds. 628, 303 1850 a 14, 853, 790 23,366,357 14, 702, 815 25, 743, 308 63, 897, 327 61,196,160 I860.. 1, 322, 787 631, 129 1,105,689 1, 166, 588 1,765,315 17.7:1 23. 3:1 23. 3:1 54. 8:1 34. 7:1 1870 1880... 1890 1900. a Beeswax and honey. The last census, that of 1900, recording crop data for 1899, gives the following : Total number of farms reported in census 5, Number of farms reporting bees Percentage of total Number- of colonies, June 1, 1900 4, Average number per farm reporting bees Value of bees $10, Pounds of honey in 1899 61, Pounds of wax in 1899 1, Value of honey and wax in 1899 $6, Number of farms of white farmers reporting bees Percentage of all farms of white farmers Number of farms of colored farmers reporting bees Percentage of all farms of colored farmers Average crop per farm reporting bees : Honey pounds. . Wax do Average value of honey and wax per farm reporting bees Average value of bees per farm reporting Average value of bees per colony Average pounds of honey per colony Average pounds of wax per colony Average value of honey and wax per colony 739, 657 707 261 12.3 109 626 5. 8106 186 513 196 160 765 315 664 904 677, 985 13.6 29, 276 3.8 86.5 2.5 $9.42 $14. 40 $2.48 14.9 .43 $1.62 STATUS OF APICULTUKE IN UNITED STATES. 63 Tables II and IIIa give additional data on distribution. Table II. — Number and value of swarms1 of bees, June 1, 1900, on farms and ranges, by geographic divisions. Geographic division. Number of farms. Farms RMIOl 1- ing bees. Ter cent Of farms report- ing bees. Swarms of bees. Value of bees. The United State - 5,739,657 707,261 12.3 4, 109, 626 $10,186,513 North A (Ian lie 677,506 962. 212.-) 2,196,567 1,658,166 242, 908 2,285 64, 110 151,863 233, 721 225, 100 32. 421 46 9.5 15.8 10. 6 13.6 13.3 2.0 413. 709 854. 909 1,187,856 1, 289, 384 362, 381 1,387 1,370,732 1,664,636 North Central 3,505,675 South Centra] 2,513,397 1, 123, 647 8,426 i The word "swarms" used in census reports evidently should be "colonies." Table III.— Pounds and value of honey and wax produced on farms and ranges in 1899, with averages per farm reporting, by geographic divisions. Geographic: division. Honey. Wax. Value of honey and wax. Total. Average per farm. Total. Average per farm. Total. Average per farm. The United States. . Pounds. 61,196,160 Pounds. 86.5 Pounds. 1,765,315 Pounds. 2.5 $6, 664, 904 $9.42 North Atlantic 6, 855, 027 " 9, 468, 843 20,055,502 14,849,824 9, 870, 094 96, 870 106.9 62.4 85:8 66.0 304.4 2, 105. 9 182,819 379, 192 396,604 588, 960 216,020 1,720 2.9 2.5 1.7 2.6 6.7 •37.4 801,147 1,029,233 2,353,001 1,553,141 920,089 8,293 12.50 6.78 10.07 South Central 6.90 28.38 Alaska and Hawaii 180. 28 4 Taking the number of farms keeping bees as the basis, the five most important bee-keeping States, June 1, 1900, were Texas, with 60,043 farms reporting; Kentucky, with 44,974; Missouri, with 41,145; North Carolina, with 41,051; aad Tennessee, with 38,225. Taking the number of swarms, or colonies, of bees as the basis, the five leading States were Texas, with 392,644; North Carolina, 244,539; Tennessee, 225,788; Alabama, 205,369; and Missouri, 205,110. Of the States included in the series given first, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina are found in the second. Taking the value of the bees as the basis of classification, the five leading States were Texas, with $749,483; New York, $593,784; Pennsylvania, $531,578; Kentucky, $527,098; and Missouri, $508,217. The five greatest producers of honey in 1899 were Texas, with 4,780,204 pounds; California, 3,667,738; New York, 3,422,497; Missouri, 3,018,929; and Illinois, 2,961,080. California, which has not been included in any of the preceding classifications, here stands second. Of the States producing wax, Alabama led with 162,020 pounds; Texas was second, with L59,690; North Carolina third, with 135,920; California fourth, with 115,330; and New York fifth, with 84,075.'; ^Twelfth ( Casus of the United States, 1900, Vol. V, Agriculture, Part I, p. cexxxiii. 6 Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, Vol. V, Agriculture, Part I, pp. ccxxxiii-ccxxxiv. 64 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. It will be noticed that the data on honey and wax crops do not at all agree with the author's estimate given above. In the light of the evidence previously given, it is obvious that the census figures are entirely too small and are far from doing justice to the industry. The other data are probably much more reliable. It is hardly a fair test to compare 1900 data as to the number of bee keepers with those of 1906; but it should be noted that in the recent work of the Bureau in Massachusetts a there were reported 2,127 bee keepers as compared with 1,799, the number given in the census. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. Tables IV to VII show the imports and exports of honey and wax through the ports of entry of the United States. The data for these tables were obtained through the courtesy of the Bureau of Statistics of this Department.6 « Gates, Burton N. — Bee Keeping in Massachusetts. Bulletin No. 75, Part VII, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. (In preparation.) & Tariff schedules on honey and wax under the different acts of Congress subsequent' to 1841 are as follows: Acts of— Tariff on honey. Tariff on wax. August 30, 1842 Not specifically mentioned . . 30 per cent ad valorem 24 per cent ad valorem Not specifically mentioned.. 15 cents per gallon 15 per cent ad valorem. July 30, 1846 20 per cent ad valorem. March 3, 1857 15 per cent ad valorem. March 2, 1801... 10 per cent ad valorem. 20 per cent ad valorem. Not specificallv mentioned. 20 per cent ad valorem. Free. July 14, 1862.... June 30, 1864 March 3, 1883 October 1, 1890 20 cents per gallon 10 cents per gallon. August 27, 1894 Free. July 24, 1897 Free. STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 65 Table IV. — Imports of honey into the United States, 1901-1908, by countries from which consigned. Cuba. Mexico. Year ending June 30— Pounds.a Value. & Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all count ri.su7 64,867 42,597 57,918 26,239 33,380 46,726 3.9 4.4 4.1 3.3 3.7 3.5 3.6 4.0 37.0 6.6 45.3 52.4 66.1 45.6 43.4 45.7 727,728 L,361,052 1,166,796 652,404 516,804 724,488 884,340 1,045,944 $25,659 33,269 31,697 12,345 10,477 18,107 27,534 37,926 3.5 2.4 2.7 1.9 2.0 2.5 3.1 3.6 33.3 1902 . 67.8 1903... 33.8 1904 1905 26.3 21.7 1906. . 43.7 1907 42.0 1908 .. 41.1 Santo Domingo. Haiti. Year ending June 30— Pounds." Value, b Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. Pounds.a Value. & Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. 1901 327,876 160,440 198.204 373,212 162.792 27,840 31,272 49,068 $13,091 4,853 4,897 8,982 4,063 820 746 1,376 4.0 3.0 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.9 2.4 2.8 15.0 8.0 5.8 15.1 6.8 1.7 1.5 1.9 146,256 35,184 255,588 58,476 44,052 81,444 188,640 106,116 $5,086 1,173 5,013 1,273 779 1,703 4,849 2,870 3.5 3.3 2.0 2.2 1.8 2.1 2.6 2.7 6.7 1902 1.7 1903 1904 7.4 2.4 1905 1.9 1906 4.9 1907... 8.9 1908 4.2 All other countries. Total. Year ending June 30— Pounds.a Value. t> Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. Pounds.a Value, b Average price per pound in cents. 1901 174,708 319,200 266,676 94,500 83,988 $8, 172 11,281 8,926 3,856 3.482 4.7 3.5 3.3 4.1 4.1 5.5 4.9 5.3 8.0 15.9 7.7 3.8 3.5 4.1 4.2 7.1 2,186,352 2,007,612 3,452,352 2,475,504 2,383,404 1,658,652 2,108,064 2,543,904 883,599 56,383 115,400 69,053 76,719 50,651 70,854 98,425 3.8 1902 2.8 1903.. 3.3 1904 2.8 1905 3.2 l'.ii", 68,568 3,782 88,068 ! 4,345 179,904 9-527 3.1 1907... 3.4 1908 3.9 a Custom-house returns of honey are given in gallons, assumed here to weigh 12 pounds. b Imports of honey into the United States are subject to a specific duty. Values. The values of all imported articles, whether subject to ad valorem or specific duties or free of duty, are regulated by the act of Congress of June 10, 1890. Tin* actual market value or wholesale price of such merchandise as bought and sold in usual wholesale quantities at the time of exportation to the United States in the principal markets of the country from whence Imported, and in the condition in which such merchandise is there bought for exportation to the United States or consigned to the United States for sale, including the value of all cartons, cases, crates, boxes, sacks, and coverings of any kind, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition ready for shipment to the United States. Valuation iect ptions. The value of Imported articles subject to ad valorem duties is believed to be determined with more accuracy, according to the legal method of valuation, than other imports, with specific 'luiies or free, and exported articles; the valuation of dutiable imports and of exports dutiable in foreign countries tend to understatement, and the valuations of imports that are free of duty are often inflated for the purpose of trade deception. 66 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS -ON APICULTURE. Table V .—Imports of beeswax into the United States, 1901-1908, by countries from which consigned. Cuba. Mexico. Year ending June 30— Pounds. Value, a Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. Pounds. Value.o Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. 1901 110,778 828,539 157,839 44,364 147,917 ! 42,357 98,455 28.682 79,926 ' 24,006 158,523 i 48,120 331,942 93,702 264,984 76,431 25.8 28.1 28.6 29.1 30.0 -30.4 28.2 28.8 51.8 38.6 30.3 23.1 21.4 27.0 36.2 39.5 13,446 ! $3,080 23,366 1 5,070 162,332 1 36,476 167,843 ! 45,673 87,943 I 23,265 46,421 ; 13,485 47,262 i 15,417 41,489 13,290 22.9 21.7 22.5 27.2 26.5 29.0 32.6 32.0 6.3 5.7 33.2 39.5 23.5 7.9 5.2 6.2 1902.. 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 Santo Domingo. Haiti. Year ending June 30— Pounds. Value, a Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. Pounds. Value, a Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. 1901 41,225 810,241 24.8 28.8 25.8 26.1 23.9 25.2 25.2 23.7 19.3 17.9 16.9 19.0 12.5 5.8 7.3 8.2 11,286 6,373 25,276 38,106 62,547 27,311 48,831 58,147 $4,292 3,013 7,692 10,359 16,047 7,326 13,555 15,379 38.0 47.3 30.4 27.2 25.7 26.8 27.8 26.4 5.3 1902 73,364 21.118 1.6 1903 82,829 21,364 80,783 21,061 46,816 1 11,193 34,052 8.596 5.2 1904 1905 . 9.0 16.8 1906 .. 4 6 1907... 67,264 55,311 16,941 13,085 5 3 1908 8.6 All other countries. Total. Year ending June 30— Pounds. Value.a Average price per pound in cents. Percentage of total imports from all countries. Pounds. Value.o Average price per pound in cents. 1901 37,038 147,764 70,222 39,981 96,337 321,310 421,789 251,595 $9,732 42,372 19,331 11,103 26,610 90,487 125,022 76,584 26.3 28.7 27.5 27.8 27.6 28.2 29.6 30.4 17.3 36.2 14.4 9.4 25.8 54.7 46.0 37.5 213,773 408,706 488,576 425,168 373,569 587,617 917,088 671.526 $55,884 115,937 127,220 116,878 101 ! 121 168,014 264.637 194,769 26.1 1902 28.4 1903 . . . 26.0 1904... 27.5 1905 27.1 1906 28.6 1907 28.9 1908 29.0 1 a Imports of beeswax into the United States are free of duty. Values. — The values of all imported articles, whether subject to ad valorem or specific duties or free of duty, are defined by the act of Congress of June 10, 1890, as— The actual market value or wholesale price of such merchandise as bought and sold in usual wholesale quantities at the time of exportation to the United States in the principal markets of the country from whence imported, and in the condition in which such merchandise is there bought for exportation to the United States or consigned to the United States for sale, including the value of all cartons, cases, crates, boxes, sacks, and coverings of any kind, and all other costs, charges, and expenses incident to placing the merchandise in condition ready for shipment to the United States. Valuation deceptions.— The value of imported articles subject to ad valorem duties is believed to be determined with more accuracy, according to the legal method of valuation, than the value of imports with specific duties or free of duty, or the value of exported articles: the valuations of dutiable imports and of exports dutiable in foreign countries tend to understatement, and the valuations of imports that are free of duty are liable to inflation for the purpose of trade deception. STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 67 Table VI. — Imports and exports of honey of the United States, 1855-1908. [The terms Tomb" and "Extracted" honey used in these headings arc used in place of ;' Unstrained" and "Strained" honey in the reports of the Department of Commerce and Labor.] Imports. Exports, a Year ending June 30— Pounds. Value. Average price, in cents. Comb. Extracted. Both comb and ex- tracted. 1855 5, 245, 908 5, 142,432 1,975,908 4, 790, 38S .->. 1 is, 372 4, 626, 420 $138, 189 169, 643 202, 436 1 19,915 196,751 163, 027 2.03 3.30 4.08 3.13 3.61 3.52 1856 1857 1 S,"iS LS.")') 1860 30, 229, 328 1,019,961 3.37 1861 3, 970, 320 4,311,960 3, 394, 890 3, 461, 832 1,899,072 3,332.724 2, 614, 824 2, 546, 112 146, 464 195,485 15s s;,2 162, 071 87, 954 135,253 128, 537 117, 172 77, 405 76, 459 3.69 4.53 4.68 4.68 4.63 4.06 4.91 4.60 1862 1863 IStil L865 1866 1Si,7 1868 1869. $1, 152 8, 520 1870... 1, 285, 652 1871 56, 891 80, 014 128, 925 88, 379 109, 368 72, 935 61,205 67, 111 48, 169 59, 806 2,479 2,677 1872 $28, 168 $30, 845 1873 1874. . 714 3,586 2,534 36, 302 6,212 134, 728 26, 820 57, 895 29, 563 26, 079 54, 663 24, 638 27, 958 28, 439 58, 609 1875 33, 149 1876 28, 613 1877. 90, 965 1878 1,403,724 1,005,984 1, 293, 360 4.78 4.79 4.63 30, 850 1879. 162, 686 1880. . 55, 259 772, 803 1881. 2,364,528 1,831,164 1,939,500 1, 530, 432 1, 821, 432 1,520,688 1,766,592 1, 893, 816 968, 976 757, 428 110,059 78, 976 78, 911 57, 443 67, 572 45, 551 47, 679 46,210 26, 624 27, 191 4.65 4.31 4.07 3.75 3.71 2.99 2.69 2.44 2.74 3.59 109, 007 19, 082 27, 826 89, 761 30, 592 4,907 198, 768 1SS2 49, 674 1 ss:J, 32, 733 68, 764 L884 224, 212 1886 44, 735 1887 67, 154 1888. . 7,579 93, 888 1889. 1890 113, 101 16, 394, 556 586, 216 3.58 900, 608 1891 :.... 572, 880 841,236 2,113,764 1,831,716 809, 328 959, 820 797, 184 1,159,248 1,514,604 1, 762, 320 20, 808 31, 418 79, 396 56, 156 22, 993 30, 609 27, 599 38, 158 51,599 70, 857 3.63 3.73 3.76 3.07 2.84 3.19 3.46 3.29 3.41 4.02 83, 325 1S92. 78, 048 15, 115 1894 127, 282 1895. .. 118, 873 1896.... 90, 969 L897 22, 368 1898. 98, 504 55, 900 1899 1900 30, 191 12, 362, 100 379, 593 3.07 720, 575 1901 2, isi;,.r>2 2, 007, 612 3, 152. 352 2,475,504 2,383, Hil 1,658,652 2,108,064 2, 543, 904 83, 599 56 383 li:, Kill 69,053 76,719 50,651 70,854 98, 425 3.82 2.81 3. 34 2.79 3.22 3. 05 3. 36 3.9 55 574 1902 106 112 L903 64, 220 69 317 1904 1905 63, 367 111 945 1906 1907 93, 690 78, 102 1908 1 a Only values are given in reports. 68 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTURE. Table VII. — Imports and exports of beeswax into the United States, 1851-1908. Imports. Exports. Year ending June 30— Pounds. Value. Average price, in cents. Pounds. Value. Average price, in cents. 1851 b 415, 923 b 326, 368 b 376, 693 b 327, 554 b 257, 415 b 270, 320 b 315, 378 b 366, 246 b 290, 374 b 362, 474 b $122, 835 b 91, 499 b 113, 602 b 87, 140 b 69, 905 b 74, 005 b 91, 983 b 85, 926 b 94, 850 b 131, 803 6 29.5 1852. . 6 28.0 1853 &30.2 1854 6 26.6 1855. 6 27.2 1856 6 27.4 1857 6 29.2 1858 6 23.5 1859 6 32.7 1860 6 36.4 b 3, 308, 745 b 963, 548 29.1 1861 b 270, 425 b 142, 312 b 258, 901 & 341, 458 b 338, 776 b 272, 987 b 253, 065 b 826, 887 & 94, 495 b 47, 383 b 80, 899 b 170, 418 b 261, 381 b 130, 650 6 96, 282 b 255, 365 189, 396 b 137, 443 6 34.9 1862. 6 33.3 1863. .. 6 31.2 1864 a 54, 087 20, 899 a 23, 900 25,617 a $13, 667 6,414 a 10, 420 5,450 5,609 a 25. 3 30.7 a 43. 6 21.3 6 49.9 1865 6 77.2 1866 6 47.9 1867. . 6 38.0 1868 6 30.9 1869 1870 a 19, 897 b 346, 668 639.6 b 1, 463, 712 1871 a 16, 817 a 20, 196 14, 661 7,918 15, 400 14, 668 a 16, 844 13, 302 a 15, 861 a 2, 766 b 365, 195 b 446, 474 b 374, 486 b 342, 068 b 353, 425 6 218,610 b 276, 891 b 326, 613 168, 745 193,217 b 113, 070 b 126, 130 b 118, 053 b 113, 800 b 96, 578 b 69, 127 b 84, 461 b 95, 074 45, 823 48,880 6 31.0 1872 6 28.3 1873 1 6 31.5 1874. 6 33.3 1875. 6 27.3 1876. 6 31.6 1877. .. 6 30.5 1878 6 29.1 1879. 27.2 1880. 25.3 a 138, 433 3, 065, 724 910, 996 29.7 1881 a 6, 733 a 5, 312 41, 681 9,323 21,211 5,718 2,371 9,411 11, 773 20, 282 164,090 124, 227 59, 455 51,748 30, 877 136, 179 90, 350 78, 070 99, 917 171,391 40, 203 32, 325 17, 604 16, 042 9,758 36, 626 24, 997 20, 554 23, 918 19,727 24.5 1882 26.0 1883 168, 879 48, 123 91, 754 26, 546 10, 843 51, 702 75, 951 126, 319 24.7 19.4 23.1 21.5 21.9 18.2 15.5 16.1 29.6 1884. 31.0 1885. ...... 31.6 1886.... 26.9 1887 27.7 1888 26.3 1889. . 23.9 1890 11.5 133, 815 1, 006, 304 241, 754 24.0 1891. . 379, 135 271,068 248. 000 318, 660 288. 001 273, 464 174,017 272, 097 452, 016 213,813 80, 485 65, 487 62, 024 80, 024 78, 776 75, 970 43, 339 72, 473 109, 957 51, 526 21.2 24.2 25.0 25.1 27.4 27.8 24.9 26.6 24.3 24.1 120, 548 127, 470 77, 434 469, 763 309, 212 222, 612 195,048 151, 094 152, 494 319,379 30, 027 31, 898 22, 048 118, 093 90, 875 65, 844 56, 462 41, 827 41,916 91, 913 24.9 1892. . 25.0 1893... 28.5 1894 25.1 1895. 29.4 1896 29.6 1897 28.9 1898 27.7 1899. 27.5 1900... 28.8 2, 890, 271 720,061 24.9 2, 145, 054 590, 903 27.5 1901 213, 773 408, 706 488,576 425, 168 373, 569 587, 617 917, 088 671, 526 55, 884 115,937 127, 220 116, 878 101, 121 168, 014 264, 637 194, 769 26.1 28.4 26.0 27.5 27.1 28.6 28.9 29.0 140, 276 125, 283 70, 811 55, 631 85, 406 101,726 117, 169 39, 464 36, 541 21,337 16,545 24, 966 29, 894 36, 392 28.1 1902... 29.2 1903 30.0 1904 30.0 1905. . 29.2 1906 29.4 1907 31.0 1908 a Including manufactured wax. 6 Stated simply as "wax," and including wax of all kinds, as well as beeswax. STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 69 The following figures give additional evidence of the magnitude of the industry: Bee keepers' associations (estimated) 100 Number listed in office of Bureau " 86 Journals devoted to bee keeping h 3 Breeders of queens actually recorded (not including duplicates) c 164 Breeders of Italians 146 Breeders of Carniolans 37 Breeders of Caucasians 35 Breeders of Cyprians 6 Breeders of " 1 1 ol viands" 5 Breeders of Banats 6 In addition there are several large factories devoted either entirely or in large part to the manufacture of supplies for use in the apiary. VALUE OF THE HONEY BEE AS A POLLENIZING AGENT. The honey bee is of great value as a pollenizing agent, and in estimating the value of the industry in adding to the resources of the country this phase of the subject must be included. Other insects, of course, aid in this way, but the honey bee occupies a peculiar position in a consideration of this subject. Waite d mentions a large number of species of insects which visit pear blossoms, but says: "The common honey bee is the most regular and important abundant visitor, and probably does more good than any other species." Muller,e in his very comprehensive study of the fertilization of flowers, summarizes his results as shown in Table VIII. Table VIII. — Fertilization of plants by insects./ Coleoptera. . . . Diptera II ymenoptera. (Apidae) Lopidoptera.. Other insects. Total. In Low Germany. 129 253 368 (•_>(>.-„ 79 14 843 1,598 2, 750 (2,191) 365 6,231 8.96 30.55 52.57 41.31 6.98 .94 On the Alps generally. 83 348 183 (120) 220 7 841 >« 337 1,856 1,382 (1,141) 2,122 15 5, 712 5.90 32.49 24.20 20.00 37. 15 .26 Above the limit of trees. 33 210 88 (49) 148 3 134 930 519 (402) 1,190 6 2,779 o Ph ° 4.82 33.46 18.68 14.46 42.83 .21 a Several of the State and i ounty organizations are affiliated with the National Bee Keeper's Asso- ciation. fc Gleanings in Bee Culture, Medina. Ohio, founded 1873. Bee-Keeper's Review, Flint, Mich., founded 1888. American Bee Journal, Chicago, 111., founded 1861. fThe total number is probably twice this. <'\Yaitc, M 1'... 1895.— The Pollination of Pear Flowers. Bulletin No. 5, Division of Vegetable Pathology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 'Midler, II., 188:?.— The Fertilization of Flowers. Trans, by Thompson, London / From Midler, pp. 596-597. 70 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. In Table VIII the entire family of the Apidae is credited with 41.31 per cent of the visits, but in the text Miiller frequently refers to the fact that on some plants the honey bee far outnumbers all other insects. He speaks of the honey bees and the bumblebees of the genus Bombus as playing "by far the most important part in fertilizing our [German] indigenous flowers." On the other hand, Britton and Viereck a attempt to show that the honey bee is not so important as has generally been claimed by horticulturists and entomologists. They find that " honey bees were exceedingly scarce in comparison with other species of Hymenoptera — or in fact with other insects." From collections made from flowers in 1904 at the experiment station at New Haven and in 1905 at Branford, Conn., the following records were made: O £ o a> PI . fts ® b 02° ft ft a Pk a3 3 5^ *b m a> 5^ Hymenoptera Apis mellifera 46 28 15 5 23 29 1 - 4 4 8 1 32 1 16 3 1 17 ....... 3 22 1 7 1 8 1 13 4 19 4 3 27 2 2 7 1 8 2 16 5 Coleoptera 2 Hemiptera Total number of specimens 72 59 23 15 44 37 8 52 29 30 8 13 6 It seems fair to assume that on account of their great numbers the small bees belong- ing to the Halictidse and the Andrenidse are more important agents in carrying pollen than has been supposed, and in the vicinity of New Haven during the seasons of 1904 and 1905 were of far greater benefit in pollinating the flowers of the plants from which they were collected than were the honey bees. Earlier in the paper they say: "It is not known to the writers that bees are kept in the immediate vicinity of the experiment sta- tion; there are several hives less than 2 miles away. Wild honey bees are probably not very abundant so near the city." There are several facts which should be taken into consideration in connection with this paper — facts not mentioned by the authors. In the first place, comparatively few honey bees are kept in the part of Connecticut around New Haven. Furthermore, a scourge of bee disease is said to have decimated the bees of Connecticut some years ago, and doubtless this decreased the number of bees in a wild state as much as it is known to have done in the case of bees in hives. No disease is now recorded from the vicinity of New Haven, but it may still be there unreported, it being found in many parts of the State- Further, in the vicinity of cities, bees are generally less prevalent « Britton and Viereck, 1906. — Insects Collected from the Flowers of Fruit Trees and Plants. Fifth Report of the Connecticut State Entomologist for the Year 1905, New Haven, Conn. STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 71 than in the country. The principal point which should be consid- ered, however, is that the winter of 1903-4, just before these counts were made, was exceedingly severe, and 75 per cent of the colonies of honey bees in New England are reported to have died. Honey bees do not hibernate, and long-protracted cold weather is detrimental to them. Taking these facts into consideration, it is not so strange that the honey bee played a minor part in pollinating the flowers in the cases investigated. While in the particular cases observed by these authors the honey bee was of little value as a pollenizer, the ease with which an enormous number of honey bees could be brought to the aid of the orchardist places this species in a class by itself. Estimating the population of a colony of bees as low as 10,000 in early spring, it may easily be seen how readily the orchardist may insure pollination by carrying a few colonies of bees to the orchard, provided of course that the weather is such that bees can fly while the trees are in bloom. Under adverse conditions in winter the other insects may be so decimated that they are few in number, but while honey bees may also be killed off in winter, there are means of protecting them, which is not the case with the purely wild species. Fruit growers as a rule recognize the value of the honey bee to their industry. Taking into consideration the insurance of pollina- tion by transporting colonies of bees to the places where their services are needed, it is safe to say that the indirect benefit of the bee- keeping industry annually adds to the resources of the country considerably more than the amount received from the sale of honey and wax. PRESENT SOURCES OF LOSS. There are several sources of great loss to bee keepers which might be eliminated to a large extent by careful manipulation, but there is much work which must be done before bee keepers are able to over- come all these difficulties. Certain losses are expected regularly, and, while some do their utmost to overcome them, an annual loss must figure in their calculations. Swarming. — The average bee keeper loses many of the swarms which issue from his hives, and these escaping swarms may well be valued at a high figure. By careful manipulation and the use of large hives swarming may be largely controlled, but among the majority of bee keepers too little attention is given to this phase of the work and nothing is done until the swarm actually issues. In the produc- tion of comb honey smaller hives are generally used, and the control of swarming becomes more difficult. It is doubtless true that swarms aggregating in value $1,000,000 are lost every year. This loss may I"1 considerably reduced. 72 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES OX API CULTURE. The greatest obstacle in the control of swarming is the fact that the activities bringing on swarming are so little understood. This phenomenon represents the bee's natural method of increasing the number of colonies, and it' may be attributed to instinct. This, however, does not explain what factors induce the bees to swarm or what their activities are previous to swarming. When the behavior of the bees before and during swarming is better understood, we may have greater hope of a method of control. Winter losses. — The losses in winter are considerable, due largely to starvation, dampness, too long a time without a cleansing flight, or extreme cold weather. By wintering bees in cellars in the North this loss may be considerably reduced, but while much has been written on this subject the general loss to northern bee keepers is probably at least 10 per cent every winter. An even temperature of about 45° F. and a dry atmosphere are considered best, and the best method of obtaining these conditions is an individual problem. Where bee keepers do not pay any attention to the selection of their best stock for breeding purposes, the loss of 10 per cent or more of their colonies in winter must not be looked on as a total loss, for generally the poorest colonies succumb. In the southwestern part of the United States the winter problem can be said not to exist in the way it does in the North, and, as a result, a large part of the bees kept there are of poor stock, vastly inferior in many cases to equally neglected stock in portions of the country where winters are severe. On the other hand, in these warmer portions of the country it is necessary to leave much heavier stores of honey in the hives to carry the colonies over from one season of activity to the next, so that " wintering" is very expensive. It has been suggested seriously that colonies be placed in cold storage for several months to save this heavy consumption. " Winter loss" is in many cases caused by disease, which so weakens the colony during the summer that it is not able to survive the winter. In such cases the bee keeper is usually ignorant of disease. Waste of wax. — Xo other manipulation of the apiary is so primitive as wax extraction and nowhere is there more room for improvement. As every bee keeper knows, it is difficult to remove wax from the comb, particularly in the case of old combs which have been used for brood rearing for years. The amount of wax wasted every year by inadequate methods of extraction amounts to thousands of dollars annually. In most cases over 10 per cent of the wax remains in the " slumgum, " and even by careful work 5 per cent is left. By repeated rendering, the amount may be reduced, but the time necessary for this usually makes it unprofitable. STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 73 With the advent of the movable-frame hive and honey extractor it became orthodox to continue the use of combs }^ear after year. The invention of methods making tins possible was of such great benefit to the apicultural industry that it may almost be said that without it there would be no industry. At the same time it may be that bee keepers have formed the habit of using their combs in this way, and in consequence are losing wax. It must not be overlooked that it is part of the life activity of bees to build wax, and in working bees to get the maximum financial return from them it may be desirable to allow them to spend some energy on wax production. For example, immediately after swarming, under natural conditions, bees secrete a large amount of wax; they also, of course, build wax at other times, but there is much more of a tendency then than at any other period of their activity. There is good reason to believe, also, that at the time specified the amount of honey consumed in building a pound of wax is less than at any other time. With wax worth so much more per pound than honey, it would seem to be desirable in some cases to take advantage of the wax-building ability of bees. In rendering wax from comb the usual procedure is to squeeze the combs in a press while hot. With but few exceptions, this is the only method used. Since this takes too long, and especially since all the wax can not possibly be removed, it would be wise to look for some other method. A better method would not only mean greater profits, but would be a gigantic step in advance in bee-disease eradication. The loss due to inadequate extraction does not, of course, include the enormous loss from wax which is thrown away or which is allowed to be destroyed by wax moths for lack of fumigation. Enemies. — When it is considered that bees live in a large com- munity and seemingly present an excellent opportunity for the intrusion of parasitic forms and predaceous animals, it is a matter of surprise that they are so free from this source of loss. The wax moths (Galleria mellonella L. and Achroia grisella Fab.) rarely trouble thrifty colonies, and therefore are not dreaded by progressive bee keepers in the colonies; they do, however, often destroy stored combs. Diseases. — From the standpoint of present need there is no question in apiculture which at all compares in importance with the control of bee diseases. There are now recognized two distinct brood diseases which are contagious and which annually cause enormous losses to those engaged in the industry. There is reason, too, to believe that these diseases are spreading to new localities at a rapid rate, and unless vigorous steps are taken there can be no doubt that in a few years they will be distributed to every part of the United States, 78013°— Bull. 75— 11 6 74 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS OX APICULTURE. ing 1903 $4, 741 1904 . . .- 2, 220 1905 1, 725 Total 110.491 The apathy of bee keepers, as a class, to these scourges is re- markable, in view of the fact that information is available which should point out the dangers now incurred by inadequate efforts toward the control of these pests, or in most cases by no effort at all. As an example of the annual loss from this source, the following figures, furnished the author by Mr. Charles Stewart, one of the State inspectors, from the statistics of the New York department of agriculture, are of value. These figures are based on the actual number of colonies suffering from European foul brood which were destroyed or ordered destroyed by the inspectors of apiaries and do not represent the decreased returns from colonies not treated or from those affected with disease and treated. This epidemic started about 1897. The decrease in annual loss will be discussed later. Previous to 1899 S39, 383 During 1899 25, 420 1900...... '.. 20,289 1901 10,853 1902 5,860 In the majority of cases it is absolutely impossible to estimate the losses, because so little is known of the actual territory covered; but if a loss of .825,000 is possible in a few counties in one State and there are many areas much larger where disease is equally epidemic, the loss may well be estimated at $2,000,000 annually. The figures of the epidemic in Xew York offer an excellent example of what may be done in eradicating a contagious disease. Unfor- tunately that State had no means for taking up an extermination of European foul brood as soon as it appeared, but steps were taken to begin inspection as soon as such an innovation could be introduced. By hard work on the part of four competent inspectors the annual loss was rapidly reduced. The same results may be obtained any- where by the employment of competent men to do the work, so that from a rapidly spreading epidemic, threatening the bee industry, the situation is changed until the disease becomes not so much a scourge as an inconvenience. In the case in question there can be no doubt that the annual loss would soon have reached 850,000 or that the industry would have been practically destroyed had no State aid been given just when it was. Not only is inspection of value in a case of this kind, but it is of inestimable value in making possible the stopping of an epidemic in its early stages. To continue with Xew Y^ork as an example, the same disease, European foid brood, has since broken out in three other localities, but the force of inspectors went to work at once and there is little danger of serious trouble. It is safe to say that the value of inspection in this State is nearly equal to the annual value STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 75 of the industry in the State. The value of the honey and wax produced in New York in 1899 — the year State inspection was instituted — is given as $352,795 in the census for 1900. This is obviously too low. Several States have passed laws for the control of these diseases and, in the majority of cases, the results are as good as can be ex- pected. The laws are not always all that could be desired. Table IX shows the States having inspection and the force at work. Table IX. — Status of bee-disease inspection in the United States. State. Method of inspec- tion. Number of in- spectors. Principal disease. Authority. 15 12 American foul brood ....do... do Do. Idaho.. Divisions of State. State 2 1 ....do Do. American foul brood and European foul brood. American foul brood American foul brood and European foul brood. American foul brood .do... State bee keepers' as- sociation. (No police power.) Count}7 (?) 1 2(?) 1 2 Michigan State Do. ...do Do. .do Do. .do... Do. do (?) Law against keeping diseased colonies. ....do 1 4 2 American foul brood European foul brood and American foul brood. do : Divisions of State. Ohio Do. .do .. (?) Texas Divisions of State. 4 4 1 1 American foul brood do Utah Do. ..do... ..do... Do. State ....do Do. Other States are at work on this same question and it may be expected that within a few years the diseases will be controlled as much as is possible by inspection. Badly proportioned distribution of apiaries. — A present source of loss to the industry as a whole is the fact that the available area for nectar gathering is not properly covered with apiaries ; in some cases it is overstocked, but far more generally there is room for several times as many colonies. In pointing out the loss on this account it need scarcely be expected that a method for remedying the present conditions will immediately follow. As apiculture advances, more and more of the available bee terri- torv will be covered and, naturally, overstocking will be brought on in many cases. By natural growth of bee keeping the present lost nectar will probably be brought to the hives. Viewing the ques- tion, however, from the standpoint of the industry as a whole, it is desirable that this nectar be collected by bees under the manage- ment of intensive bee keepers — by men who can get the maximum crop from the bees. This can be brought about only by education 76 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. of the men engaged in the work to the greatest possible proficiency. It can not be hoped that men owning but a few colonies will be suffi- ciently interested to carry on intensive apiculture. If, therefore, efforts are put forth to bring the industry to its highest point, they should be directed toward the making of specialists in larger num- bers. Above all, there should be no "booming" of the industry, no effort to "popularize" it, for it is not desirable that everybody keep bees. Bee keeping requires careful work, and to get a financial profit is not possible in the majority of cases. To advocate bee keeping as a general avocation not only hurts reputable bee keepers but gen- erally leads to grave disappointment on the part of those who are led into it by glowing accounts. THE NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES OF APICULTURE. That there is room for growth in the bee-keeping industry admits of no doubt. The fact that honey for table use is a luxury rather than a necessity makes possible a great increase in marketing by the creation of a desire for it. This is recognized by those who are engaged in the building up of a local market for their product, for it is foimd that the amount of honey consumed in a community increases rapidly when honey is brought to its attention. A large part of the honey put on the general market does not go into retail trade, but is used in manufacturing. This phase of the market is of relatively recent growth and, in spite of the fact that most bakers and confectioners pay a small price for honey, there is in this case also room for more. Several confectioners have stated to the author that they find it difficult to get enough honey in the general market for their own use. In discussing the needs of the bee-keeping industry these may per- haps be best divided under three headings — scientific, economic, and educational. In naming them it does not follow that all are absolute necessities before the industry can reach its highest perfection, but there are many lines which should be taken up which, while not neces- sary, are very desirable in order that the men engaged in the industry may be well informed concerning the various phases of the science. SCIENTIFIC NEEDS. Statistical. — In order that honey and wax may come to hold a stable place in the market there should be available more detailed statistics as to the scope of the industry and, following that, properly timed crop reports, so that the products may sell for what they are worth. Zoological. — In spite of all that has been written on races of bees, the subject is far from being completely exhausted. More reliable work should also be done on the anatomy and embryology of the bee. STATUS OF APICULTUKE IN UNITED STATES. 77 Numerous papers and books have been written on these subjects, especially on anatomy, but they generally prove incorrect and unscien- tific when carefully studied. It is regrettable that too often pseudo- scientists have been allowed to impose on the bee-keeping public by sending out publications purporting to be the results of research which are in reality compilations in large part, and the actual observations of the author are not based on a proper preparation for such work. The amount of work done on the physiology of the bee is indeed meager; the problem is a difficult one, but as technique is perfected such work should be taken up. The whole basis of practical api- culture is a knowledge of the behavior of the bee; without such knowledge there could be no good practical work. Probably no insect has been studied from this standpoint more than has the honey- bee, but every new piece of work done simply points out new lines of work that are desirable. Botanical. — Our knowledge of nectar-secreting plants now consists largely of random observations, usually for a limited locality, recorded in bee journals and books. Systematic work along this line, if done by competent observers, would give to the bee keeper the means of studying the possibilities of any locality as it can not now be done. More work is needed to give accurate information as to the part played by the honey bee in plant pollination, as well as data showing the present value of, and future possibilities in, that work. Bacteriological. — The cause of one brood disease is now known, a but there is still a great deal of work to be done in the study of the bacteria of disease. This work is of the highest practical importance, for without a thorough knowledge of the organisms it is impossible to diagnose the more obscure samples, and only by a detailed study can information be gathered as to the amount of heat or disinfectant which must be used in combating disease. Chemical. — Considerable work has been done on honey analysis, and a recent publication ^ of the Bureau of Chemistry of this Depart- ment is an excellent piece of work which lays the foundation of a good market for pure honey in making it possible to detect adulteration. Tu addition to what is already done, there should be a more detailed study of honeys from individual honey-plant sources. ECONOMIC NEEDS. There is or should be no sharp distinction between scientific and practical bee keeping. Practical bee keeping is but the application a White, Dr. G. F. — The Cause of American Foul Brood. Circular No. 94, Bureau of Entomology, I". S. Depl of Agriculture, 4 pp., 1907. i' Browne, I . A., and Young, W. J. — Chemical Analysis and Composition of Ameri- can Honeys, including a Microscopical Study of Honey Pollen. Bulletin No. 110, Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 93 pp., VI plates, 1908. 78 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. of discoveries made by scientific work. It is not always recognized? but it is nevertheless true, that careful systematic work on methods of wintering, production of the maximum crop of comb or extracted honey, or the like, is really scientific work on the behavior of the bee, and, if done properly, is just as truly scientific work as any that has been mentioned previously. Breeding of better bees and inspection for disease or for honey adulteration are but practical applications of scientific investigations. The question of breeding is economic and very important. It is doubtless a fact that at least three-fourths of the colonies of bees now found in the United States are not what they should be or what they would be if proper attention were paid to breeding. By requeening such colonies from good stock the annual output of honey would be enormously increased, provided, of course, that the improved stock were properly manipulated. At present the tendency among bee keepers is to accomplish by manipulation the things which would be attempted in breeding. Thus, instead of breeding for non- swarming bees, we have attempts at the construction of hives which provide environ- ments conducive to nonswarming. Instead of breeding for prolificness we have trials at using two queens in one hive to get the same result. Good wintering qualities are replaced by extra care in wintering, and tongue length becomes less important by the use of alsike clover for pasturage in place of red clover, the nectar of which is largely lost to the honeybee. Activity in honey gathering is replaced by the keeping of a large number of colonies. As long as the bee-keeping field is not more completely filled, these methods of avoid- ing the breeding problem will be more or less successful. The time should come, however, and probably will, when bee keepers can no longer neglect this line of work.« EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. While the problems above enumerated represent a vast amount of work which must be done, the problem which entails the greatest amount of labor is the spread of information to the individual bee keepers who want it. Several agencies are now at work doing valu- able service, among which may be mentioned the journals devoted to bee keeping, associations of bee keepers, the teaching of apiculture in some agricultural colleges, and the work of some experiment stations. The Bureau of Entomology aims to aid in the work. Most of the text-books on bee keeping are educational rather than records of personal investigation, for in large part they very prop- erly draw from many sources and prepare the data for the use of the bee keepers. First of all there must be an improvement in the methods of com- piling the work done by others. The literature on bee keeping is so enormous that the average individual can not attempt to cover a 1908. American Breeders' Association, Vol. IV, pp. 200-201. STATUS OF APICULTURE IN UNITED STATES. 79 it, and to aid in this phase of the work this Bureau is arranging a bibliography of apicultural papers and books. This has been begun only recently, but it now contains about 8,000 titles and is growing rapidly. This bibliography is in conjunction with the files contain- ing the results of investigations carried on in the Bureau, as well as synopses, translations, and notes on the work of others in various branches of the subject. The greatest difficulty encountered is the finding of the way to get in touch with the bee keepers to present to them the results of work. Naturally the bee journals are anxious to do the same thing to increase their subscription lists, and the associations to increase their membership. The Bureau of -Entomology has recently tried, as an experiment, direct communication with all the bee keepers in Massachusetts and the results are highly satisfactory; so much so, in fact, that the same work is being carried on in two other States. The amoimt of time and work that is necessary, however, makes it impossible to carry out this work generally. Under this heading comes also the education of the public to the use of honey. In most cases this must be done by the bee keeper in his own locality. The average amount of honey consumed per individual is now too small, and can be increased by some proper means of bringing it to the attention of the public. When the situation is carefully studied, it becomes evident that the possible annual crop of honey and wax is several times greater than the present crop. If bee diseases can be properly controlled and good information be properly disseminated, there is good reason for considering the future of commercial apiculture as very hopeful. The industry of apiculture depends on commercial bee keepers and not on the bee keeper with small interests. SUMMARY. The growth of apiculture during the past half century has been remarkable and its present extent is little understood. Bee keeping is usually not the sole occupation, but is a side line. There are in the United States over 700,000 bee keepers producing annually $20,000,000 worth of honey and $2,000,000 worth of beeswax. The average number of colonies per bee keeper is less than 6. The annual importation of honey amounts to about 2,500,000 pounds, and that of wax to about 700,000 pounds. The honey bee probably does more good to American agriculture as a pollenizing agent than as a honey producer. The present sources of loss are due to swarming, winter losses, waste of wax, enemies, disease, and wasted nectar. Of these sources of loss, contagious diseases are the greatest and demand attention. 80 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. There is much need of further investigations in apiculture, and a few of the desirable lines of work are pointed out. The work to be done is grouped in three classes — scientific, economic, and educational. Bee keeping as an industry is benefited only by the making of expert bee keepers financially interested in the business. The per- sons interested but little are a serious detriment to the industry, especially in regions where bee diseases exist. U. S. D. A., P.. E. Bill. TH, Part VII. Issi M*y -'• i:m,;i MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. By Burton N. Gates, Expert in Apiculture. HISTORICAL SKETCH. When, in 1620, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, this country knew no bees; the Indians in their languages had no equivalents for bee, honey, or wax. In Elliot's remarkable translation of the Bible he was obliged to use the English word for honey, with sometimes an Indian termination. Scarcely, however, had churches been erected, scarcely were clearings made in the wilderness for growing agricul- tural necessities, when the settlers turned their attention to securing honey bees from England. That such remarkably early trans-At- lantic shipments of bees were successful there can be no doubt. Josselyn, who visited New England twice, once in 1638 and again in 1663, speaks of " the honey-bee, which are carried over by the English and thrive there exceedingly," a but he does not tell when the first attempts to secure bees were made. Belknap,1' however, Avrote " that the first person who brought a hive of bees to this country [New England] was rewarded with a grant of land ; but the person's name, or the place where the land lay, to whom the grant was made, I have not been able to learn." Unfortunately the records of the Colonies were not available to Belknap. Newbury, a coast town north of Boston, was established in 1635. There the first effort to promote bee keeping in the New World was made. Furthermore, the importance of the industry was of munic- ipal moment to the extent of holding out to one John Eales, who was "Josselyn, John. 107.". An Account of Two Voyages to New England, p. 120. Second edition. London. "The second edition is the first, with ;i now title page merely." — Sabin. Reprinted in Massachusetts Historical Society Collec- tions. Vol. Ill, third series, p. 292, and by William Veazie, Boston, 1865. 6 Belknap, Jeremy. 1792. A Discourse Intended to Commemorate the Discov- ery of America * * * to which .ire added, four dissertations * * * 3. On the Question, Whether the Honey-bee is a Native of America V * * * Boston, Belknap & Hall. 132 pages. 81 82 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. then living in what is now Hingham, Mass., an inducement to come to Newbury for the purpose of teaching the settlers how to make hives and to care for bees. In August, 1644, Eales came " to one John Davis a Renter of a farm with ye expectation of his doing service which the Towne was not acquainted with." a Apparently, however, John Eales was not, financially or otherwise, a success. He was later arrested and put in jail in Ipswich, according to the record, and, on May 14, 1645, " It is conceived John Eales should be placed in some convenient place where he may be implied in his trade of bee-hive making, etc. ; & ye town of Newbury to make up what his work wanteth of defraying ye charge of his livelyhoode." & There can be little doubt that John Eales is the man to whom Belknap refers and to whom credit is due as the earliest bee keeper in the colonies.0 Further convincing evidence of the very early introduction of bees into New England is the date of their importation which Haydn d gives. According to this author, " bees were introduced into Boston, New England, in 1670, and have since spread over the continent." The source of his information is not given, but it is probably in some of the port records and can not refer to the first importation. From these early times until more than a century later little or nothing is known of bee keeping in the State. In fact, during this epoch apiculture in the Old World was not well developed. It was not until the middle of the eighteenth century that writings on bees began to appear in Europe in any considerable number. Bees were receiving some attention in Massachusetts at this time, as is a Massachusetts Archives, Vol. L, pp. 4-5. [Manuscripts in the State House, Boston.] 6 1853. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New Euglaud. Boston. Vol. 2, p. 101. [Period covered, 1642-1649.] John Eales was " Freeman made att the Generall Court, May 14, 1634." Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 369. c See also : Adams, George W, 1906. Massachusetts Bee Keeping in 1644. American Bee Keeper, Vol. XVI, pp. 280-281. Gerstiicker, A. 1862. liber die geographische Verbreitung und die Abander- ungen der Honigbiene nebst Bemerkungen liber die Auslandiscken Honigbienen der alten Welt. (Zur XI. Wanderversammlung Deutsche Bienenwirthe zu Potsdam am IT, IS, und 19 September, 1862.) Potsdam. According to Von Buttel-Reepen this paper was given as " a card of admission " to those attend- ing the Potsdam meeting. It has apparently become lost, excepting one copy from which Von Buttel-Reepen reprinted it as a part of his paper, "Apistica." Von Buttel-Reepen, Dr. H. 1906. Apistica. Beitrage zur Systematik, Biologie, sowie zur geschichtlichen und geographischen Verbreitung der Honig- biene (Apis mellifica L.), ihrer Varietaten und der iibrigen Apis-arten. Mittheilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum zu Berlin, III, Heft 2, 8 fig., pp. IV+121-201. Issued also as a separate. d Haydn, Joseph. 1904. Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Informa- tion. 23d edition. New York. Also other editions. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 83 shown by a letter of a father to his son. dated, " Sutton [Massa- chusetts] June the 2d, 1788." a Besides speaking of sending to his son some homespun clothes the father adds. " as for news we have no grate to rite to you our bees have swormed yesterday and they flew of today." NeAv England is reputed to have suffered severely from attacks of bee moths in the early part of the nineteenth century. There appears to have been a period of general devastation by this enemy from about 1800 to 1850. It handicapped the industry considerably, and, according to some, completely wiped it out in certain localities. Writ- ing from Greenfield in 1853, L. L. Langstroth says:6 "The present condition of practical bee keeping in this country [meaning the whole of New England and New York] is known to be deplorably low. From the great mass of agriculturalists * * * it receives not the slightest attention." There is room for considerable doubt, how- ever, whether the moth was the primary cause of this devastation, as is explained below under the headings, " Enemies " and " Disease." At the middle of the nineteenth century Langstroth, who had been experimenting for several years, brought out his invention, the movable- frame hive. As is explained under the head of " Hives," this revolutionized the industry; at that time modern bee keeping began. Considering the very early date of the first introduction of bees to what is now Massachusetts, and that from this locality as a center much of the present-day bee keeping c spread westward with the home seekers, it is not a little surprising to discover so few extensive bee keepers in Massachusetts, while there are many in New York and Vermont. Compensating, however, for the lack of extensive bee keepers, there is a vast number of small apiaries; their number in proportion to the territory is probably greater than in any other State in the Union. There are at least 2,100 d who derive some profit from their bees. Were these 2,100 to keep twenty-five colonies each "A photograph of this letter is in the possession of the writer. '; Langstroth, L. L. 1853. Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, a Bee-Keeper's Manual. Northampton. First edition. cThe details of the present stains of bee keeping in this paper are based upon the returns from a series of questions sent to every known bee keeper in Massachusetts. The method of securing the statistics was described in the author's paper read before the Association of Economic Entomologists, Balti- more, Md., December 21), 1908. This paper is published in the Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. II, No. 2, pp. 117-120, April, 1909. '' Uy actual count, the recorded bee keepers for .Massachusetts number 2,127. This exceeds (he nuinher recorded in the 1900 census by 328, which, consider- ing thai the author's work was accomplished through mail while the federal '•eiisus is the result of a house-to-house canvass, suggests a deficiency in the figures of the federal census reports. Of the 2,127, 1,050 reported. 84 MISCELLANEOUS PAYEES 0?sT APICULTUEE. and were their apiaries properly distributed oyer the State, there might not be forage enough to support them; but such is far from reality. The ayerage is only fiye and a half colonies per bee keeper, which is evidently too small. In this is a key to the bee-keeping situation of the State ; if the resources are to be fully utilized, more bees must be kept, not by more bee keepers, for there are too many small ones at present, but by several hundred proficient and energetic bee men properly distributed. EXPERIENCE OE BEE KEEPERS IN MASSACHUSETTS. Although there are too few bees kept, it is interesting to ascertain how experienced the Massachusetts bee keepers now are. In order to gain this information, a question, " How long have you kept bees? " was included in the list of questions circulated throughout the State. By thus knowing the length of time these men have been keeping bees, some idea of their proficiency may be reached. Of those who reported to the author, 38 per cent have had less than five years' experience and must consequently be classed as amateurs. TVnile this array of amateurs, at first glance, appears high, it becomes more significant upon considering that 32 per cent, having successfully passed their apprenticeship, report from five to fifteen years' experi- ence, or, in other words, have persisted and succeeded in bee keeping. On the other hand, roughly estimating, 50 per cent of the bee keepers who undertake this branch of agriculture discontinue it within their first five years' trial. This is not due to lack of possibilities in the bee-keeping industry, but must be attributed in a large measure to sensational presentation, in the popular press and elsewhere, of the ease of managing and the huge profits to be derived from bees. This overstimulation of the bee industry is a positive detriment to the bee-keeping interests. The number of persons who have taken and will take time for a proper study of bee culture is exceedingly limited in proportion to the number who undertake the work uninstructed. Consequently a 50 per cent weeding-out process during the first five years of attempted bee culture is a stroke of fortune for the industry. After fifteen years' experience, and before the twenty-five-year mark of service is passed, there is another falling off. The figures of this census show that 16 per cent of those reporting have kept bees from fifteen to twenty-five years, which, when it is considered that a bee keeper is well along in life by that time and often must necessarily relieve himself of care and work, is exactly what might be expected. Xo less interesting is the fact that 16 per cent continue after twenty- five years of service. These are the truly old bee keepers, many of whom remember Langstroth and his experimenting. "While they may not be exactly up-to-date, they are to be respected for their persistency. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 85 For purposes of comparison divide the State into two sections, the eastern section to include Worcester County and all other eastern counties save Barnstable County, which is not at all comparable either in population or from an agricultural point of view. If these two sections be contrasted, there will be found an obvious difference in their population. In the eastern section the cities and towns are large and the population concentrated, while in the western part the population is less dense and is thus far less influenced, on the whole, by large communities than the eastern section. It is in the large communities that bee keeping is usually promoted by supply houses and conventions, and it is there also that the majority who seek rural recreation along lines promoted by popular agricultural papers reside. Consequently, it is to be expected that the progress and stimulation of bee keeping, either as a recreation or an industry, should first be felt in and adjacent to these communities. This is precisely what is noticeable in Massachusetts. Back in the country of the more strictly rural section of the State, where population acquires but slowly the progressive impulses which are first launched in the larger communities, there are fewer new or amateur bee keepers than in the more thickly populated eastern section. In this western section the ratio of beginners to advanced bee keepers is as 30 to 70 ; while in the eastern section, where are found two bee-keepers' societies, the proportion of beginners is larger, with a possible ratio of 41 to 59. Aside from the influence of societies in the eastern section, supply houses have had a noticeable effect in stimulating popular in- terest and in promoting new and improved methods. As is pointed out above, sensational stimulation is unfavorable to the industry. Table I. — Proportion of amateurs to practiced bee keepers in the eastern and western sections of Massachusetts. Practiced bee keepers. Total number Section of State. ers (5 years and less). 5 to 15 years. 15 to 25 years. 25 years and over. Percent. of bee keepers report- ing. Wesl of Worcester County Worcester County and east, exclusive of Barnstable X ii in h< r. 95 302 3 Per cent. 30 41 Number. 105 209 8 Xiiiiibt r. 56 104 6 Number. 67 94 1 70 59 323 709 Barnstable County 18 Total for the State 400 38 322 166 162 62 1,050 86 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTUKE. NUMBER OF COLONIES PER BEE KEEPER. There are but two bee keepers in the State who report more than 100 colonies, but several have nearly this number. Table II. — Location of Massachusetts' largest apiaries, as reported for 1906. County. 50 to 75 colonies. 75 to 100 colonies. 100 colo- nies and over. County. 50 to 75 colonies. 75 to 100 colonies. 100 colo- nies and over. 1 4 1 i 1 a2 1 Total 2 1 9 3 2 Hampshire " One of these bee keepers writes that he increased from 55 to 133 colonies in 1906. It is a peculiar fact that in Worcester County, where more bees are to be found than in any other county and where bee keeping is progressive, none reports 50 colonies and few have even 25. The two largest bee keepers in the State are located in Plymouth County. That there are so few large bee keepers in Massachusetts is due, in the writer's estimation, to the heretofore unrecognized ravages of disease. This is discussed elsewhere in this paper and in another publication of this Bureau.0 In Middlesex County, for instance, where, so far as at present known, disease is not prevalent, the greatest number of large bee keepers is found and also the second greatest number of colonies. DISTRIBUTION OF BEES IN MASSACHUSETTS. In the eastern section, exclusive of Barnstable County, with its high ratio of novices, there are practically as many colonies of bees per bee keeper as in the western section. According to the figures for 1906, the following table presents the conditions : Table III. — Distribution of bees in Massachusetts. Spring. Fall- Section of State. Number of col- onies. Colonies per bee keeper. Number of col- onies. 1,760 3,897 182 5.4 5.5 10.0 2,530 5,595 227 Total for the State 5,839 5.5 8,352 From the foregoing table it will be seen that the minimum number of colonies is in direct disproportion to the large number of bee a Gates, Burton N. 1908. Bee Diseases in Massachusetts. Bulletin No. 75, Part III, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Wash- ington. Bui. 124, Mass. Agr. Exp. Station. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 87 keepers. The large population might account for this in the east, but this does not explain why the western bee keepers have not enlarged their apiaries, which without question should ultimately result. Again, disease is beginning to exert its influence, and a more general understanding of its nature and remedies should benefit the industry. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF COLONIES. The figures on increase which the writer obtained show an increase from 5,839 colonic- in the spring to 8,350 colonies in the fall of 1006, a gain of 2,413 colonies, or 42 per cent. This is below normal and suggests the prevalence of bee diseases. PRODUCTION OF HONEY AND WAX. The subject of first importance to every bee keeper is the crop — How much honey and wax do the bees produce? Unfortunately, however, the majority do not go beyond this and ask how much ought the yield to be? HONEY CROP. The honey production of the State is little more than one-tenth what it might be. The markets demand much more honey than is produced in the State. As nearly as can be ascertained, some 80 tons of honey are annually harvested. Most of this is not shipped, but is consumed by the producer or his neighbors. There is no evidence that any honey is shipped out of the State; on the contrary, much comb and extracted honey is annually imported from Vermont, New York, and sometimes from the far West and Souths Approximately 100 tons represents the total consumption during 1000. This consumption varies greatly from year to year, depending on the crop, as, for instance, in 1907, when scarcely any honey was obtainable in the market. The man who shipped 5 J tons from Ver- mont the previous year sent less than 1,000 pounds in 1907. None was received from New York, as in the previous year. But the estimate for 1906 of 100 tons is only one-half the amount estimated a- consumed in 1904.'' That year 200 tons, divided among the " In 1906, 53 n>iis came to Worcester from Vermont; from New York State 1\ tons, in Boston the imports, according to this authority, were approximately the same. II may be roughly estimated, therefore, that for 190G at least 16 or at most 20 tuns were received from points outside of the State. This informa- tion was kindly furnished the writer by Hon. W. H. Blodget, in a letter dated Worcester, Mass.. April II. L908. h dates. Burton X.. and Dr. C. V. Hodge. V.>04. Ree Keeping; How to meet its dangers and difficulties. Mass. Crop Kept., vol. IT. No. <;, pp. riO-10, Boston. October. Also Fifty-second Ann. Kept, of the Secretary of the Mass. St. Bd. of Agric, pp. 411-426, Boston, 1905. 88 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. inhabitants of the State, would have allowed less than two table- spoonfuls per capita as a year's ration. Since then, however, the population has increased to more than 3,000,000,a and with the esti- mated crop of 100 tons in 1906 would have afforded each person less than one tablespoonful. Too little honey is available in Massa- chusetts. This is borne out by the common experience of those who try to buy extracted honey in convenient amounts or even in bulk for table use. The writer's experience is that it is almost impossible to purchase at retail a 60-pound can of good honey or even of a poorer grade at any price. As for being able to buy a gallon or a quart, it is impossible unless the purchaser is willing to pay a high price for a lot of small, fancy bottles, which ma}7 or may not contain good-grade honey. With these facts in mind, it is evident that much may be done to improve the retail trade in extracted honey. Comb honey, on the other hand, is usually available either from a producer or a retail store. The crop in Massachusetts for 1906, as reported by something less than half the number of bee keepers recorded, was 145,257 pounds, approximately 73 tons; but since only a little over half the re- corded bee keepers were heard from, 80 tons would be a conservative estimate, as is shown below. It is somewhat surprising that this study should show the largest recorded crop, and especially so in view of the fact that the investigation was carried on through the mails, while census data are obtained by personal canvass. This at least suggests that the census figures probably do not justly represent the industry. Although 145,257 pounds of honey, of which 108,660 pounds was comb and 36,597 was extracted, is the heaviest crop recorded for the State, the product looks pitifully small when it is remembered that single apiarists in the West frequently produce in a season a fourth to a third more honey than Massachusetts' annual crop. If the actually recorded crop is divided by the number of colonies reported in the spring of 1906, this is an average of but 24 pounds per colony. Conservatively estimating from experience and reports of large prac- tical apiarists in New York State and the West, the average yield, considering all classes of bee keepers, should be about 35 pounds. This would have made Massachusetts' crop, merely from the recorded number of colonies, spring count, 204,330 pounds, or 102 tons. Con- sequently the estimate of 80 tons, assumed for convenience, is safe. The question is, however, a larger one. The possibilities of the for- age and the number of colonies which it would support is more vital than criticism of the present discrepancy. The writer has already "Mass. Census, 1905, population 3,003,680. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 89 stated a that Massachusetts can support approximately 40,000 colonies of bees. This number, producing an average of 35 pounds of honey to the colony, Avould supply 1,400,000 pounds, or 700 tons, of honey a year, contrasted with 73 tons. This crop would not be especially burdensome, and, divided among the people, each would have less than a half pound a year. Furthermore, there is no immediate danger of the production of any such amount. Table IV. — Honey and wax production reported in Massachusetts. Date. Honey. Wax. Sources of data. 1839 Pounds. Pounds. 1,196 a 59, 508 2, 324. 5 3,289 2,454 1, 195 2,463 1,690 6, 250 1,289 U. S. Census Rept. for 1840. U. S. Census Rept. for 1850. 3d Ann. Rept. Sec. Mass. Bd. Agric. for 1856. U. S. Census Rept, for 1860. 13th Ann. Rept. Sec. Mass. Bd. Agric. for 1866. U. S. Census Rept. for 1870. U. S. Census Rept. for 1880. U. S. Census Rept. for 1890. U. S. Census Rept. for 1900. 1849 1855 73. 677 59,125 80, 356 25, 299 49, 397 90, 929 109,050 6145,257 1859 1865 . . 1869 1879 1889 1899 1906 The author's census. a Includes both honey and wax product. 6 Extracted, 36,597 pounds ; comb, 108,660 pounds. WAX CROP. It is customary for bee keepers to save their old combs from year to year before rendering them, which produces an annual variation in the product. Futhermore, outbreaks of bee diseases cause much more comb to be rendered. Severe winters, which frequently result in a loss of bees, usually produce a relative increase in the wax output the following year. It is therefore difficult to calculate a representative annual product of wax. The commercial importance of the wax crop, and the relative returns from it as compared with honey, are gradually becoming more and more realized; therefore, as the honey product increases it is to be expected that the wax out- put will proportionally increase. Table IV presents all the recorded information on wax production in Massachusetts. SOURCES OF HONEY. Too little attention is given the nectar-yielding flora, even among those who seek a livelihood in the production of honey. Although it is sometimes difficult to learn the sources from which bees get °U. S. I). A., Bur. Kut. Bui. 75, Pt. TTT, p. 23. Allowing an average of 100 to 125 acres to support a colony of bees, based on experience of large bee keepers wbo maintain a series of outyards, and eliminating 500 square miles as probably unavailable for bee pasturage, tbere remain 7,814 square miles, or 5,000,0(50 acres, for forage in Massachusetts, which would support approximately 40,000 to 50,000 colonies of bees. 78013°— Bull. 75—11 7 90 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. their stores, a bee keeper should have some knowledge of the honey plants of his locality and their honey value. White clover. — Among the several clovers, white clover ranks first. It is found in nearly all quarters of the State, but flourishes best on limed or limestone soils, and is particularly abundant in the northern and western parts of the State. Just over the line in the Champlain Valley of Vermont the chief source of honey is white clover, which grows there in tangles and mats. White clover honey ranks high in the market ; its color and flavor make it one of the finest of Ameri- can honeys. Alsike clover. — .This is frequently sown for forage, and is becoming more and more renowned as a honey source. Under favorable con- ditions it yields not only a good quality of nectar, but large quanti- ties of it. It rivals the red clover, on which bees work to a limited extent, but in which the vast stores of nectar are too deep in the flower tubes to be within reach of the bee's tongue. Alsike blooms with white clover and will bloom a second time when white clover has ceased, thus prolonging the honey flow from clover. Red clover. — This is also a more or less continuous bloomer, which, inasmuch as the second flowering brings smaller, shorter-tubed heads, is somewhat accessible to bees. Sweet clover. — There are two species, white and yellow, but neither is abundant in Massachusetts. It is a bountiful source of honey else- where, and may become so in this State. Crimson clover. — As a honey plant this is of slight importance as far north as Massachusetts. Golden-rod and asters. — These plants, as reported in this State, rank close to the clovers in nectar secretions. Both begin to flower in July and continue until frost. The early bloom, however, is not visited by bees to any extent, and it is not until September that the flow begins, when the hive takes on a characteristic strong and pleas- ant odor. The honey, though rather dark and thick, has a rich, aromatic flavor, which many people consider superior. In Massachu- setts a marketable surplus is frequently taken in September. Fruit bloom. — Apple, pear, cherry, plum, peach, etc., which are found in abundance throughout the State, are next in importance. Fruit bloom is the source of early stores upon which the colonies build up for the clover harvest. Insufficient numbers of bees at this season and unfavorable weather make it difficult to secure a surplus from this source, but the fortunate bee keeper who does secure a crop should realize that he has a superior product. The body is heavy, the color is clear and light (usually an amber), and the flow comes with a rush which insures handsome sections; but best of all is the exquisite aroma of the apple blossom, which places fruit-bloom honey in a class by itself. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 91 Linden or basswood. — Cutting for lumber has tremendously re- duced the number of basswood trees in the State. It was once gen- erally distributed in the forests, but at present occurs largely only in the northern and western woods. This is doubtless the most val- unable tree honey plant in Massachusetts and, together with its value for timber, merits cultivation. It makes a fine shade tree. The honey has quite a characteristic flavor and aroma, but requires to be well ripened before its delicious qualities are appreciable. Buckwheat. — This is a famous honey plant in New York State and is reported from all counties of Massachusetts. Here, however, it is far less extensively grown than across the line. Some bee keepers say they plant small fields for the sake of their bees, but there is great doubt if the bees benefit materially by it except in cases of extreme scarcity of nectar. The honey is dark, with a brownish or purplish cast, a heavy body, and a strong, rank flavor to those who are accus- tomed to more delicate honeys, such as clover or fruit bloom. Many in Xew York State, however, often prefer buckwheat to clover honey. Especially if extracted, it usually commands a good price. Wild raspberry and blackberry, — In the highland pastures wild raspberry and blackberry abound. The nectar flow is of long dura- tion, beginning soon after fruit bloom has ceased, and thus is an important stimulant for the clover harvest to follow. Cultivated varieties are quite as valuable for forage as the wild species. Sumac. — There are several species of sumac which are important honey sources, but which are greatly underestimated by the majority of bee keepers. They are free bloomers and flourish in nearly all parts of the State. Apparently, however, the nectar yield is some- what erratic. The writer recalls seasons in Worcester County when bees paid no attention to the great heads of greenish floAvers. Sumac honey, although not light, has a clear and firm body with a pleasant flavor. Locust. — Like the basswoods, locusts have been largely cut from the woodlands. There are several species now found to a limited extent by roadsides and in pasture walls, where they are valuable forage for bees. In Colrain, Franklin County, one bee keeper at- tempted to cultivate locust for his bees, but met with no great returns for his efforts. Another bee keeper reports that, locust is sporadic, yielding nectar only once in three years. Maple. — A considerable number of bee keepers report that maple is a honey plant. It is, to be sure, one of the best sources of pollen in early spring, which doubtless has confused the bee keepers and caused them to report it as a honey plant. Swamp maple is especially val- uable in early brood rearing. Maple is probably of less importance as a honey source than, for instance, the mints, strawberry, and milk- weed, which were reported but a few times. 92 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON" APICULTURE. Clethra. — This is also known as black alder and sweet pepper bush, and is a valuable honey-secreting plant, largely confined to a belt paralleling the eastern coast, where it thrives in profusion. The aroma, a sweet smell, powerful and penetrating, may be perceived a long distance from the bush. Bees work upon it freely, and unques- tionably produce considerable surplus honey, which is of good body and light color. These, so far as bee keepers' observations afford, are the most prominent honey plants. Of the remaining list — each reported from one to fifteen times — milkweed, wild cherry, knotweed, dandelion, strawberry, chestnut, mints, gill-over-the-ground, and mustard are of most importance. No one of these taken alone is a source of surplus honey in Massachusetts, but all are important in the total yield. The writer has observed, in the spring when fruit trees are in bloom, a perceptible effect of dandelion nectar upon the delicate flavor of fruit-bloom honey, producing the characteristic bitterish taste. Milkweed. — Where milkweed occurs in large quantities it is a val- uable honey plant. In Berkshire County, Mr. Dewey, of Great Bar- rington, reports that milkweed is an important source of nectar. One bee keeper in Hampshire County reports the Tartarian honey- suckle as important and very productive. Sunflowers are valuable but must occur in considerable numbers to make a perceptible differ- ence in the crop. Most of these plants are quite as important, so far as the economy of the bee is concerned, for their pollen as for their nectar. For instance, the willow and skunk cabbage, while they are reported as honey plants, are far more important as pollen yielders, because at their season of bloom pollen is scarce. The chestnut and, to a certain extent, the dandelion are more valuable for the pollen which they yield than for the honey. THE MORE IMPORTANT HONEY PLANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS. Table V. — List of the more important honey plants in Massachusetts. [Arranged according to frequency of report.] Name. Clovers: White ( Trifolium repens) Alsike ( T. hybridum) Red ( T. pratense) Crimson ( T. incarnatum) Sweet (Melilotus alba and 31. officinalis). Yellow ( T. agrariu m) Golden-rods (Solidago spp. Asters (Aster spp. ) Times reported. 626 677 330 99 429 BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 93 Table V. — List of the more important honey plants in Massachusetts — Cont'd. Name. Times reported. Fruit bloom (includes pear (Pyrus spp.), apple, cherry, peach, plum (Prunus spp.), etc.. Linden or basswood ( Til/a spp.) Buckwheal i Fagopyrum spp.) ■ Raspberry i Rvbus spp. ) Blackberry I Rubua spp. i Sumac ( Rhus pp.) Locust « (Robinia spp.) Maple {Acer spp.) Clethra (Clethra alnifolia) " Does not yield every year ; " Once in three years," one bee keeper says 337 160 144 103 23 LIST OF PLANTS REPORTED RELATIVELY FEW TIMES. (Reported from one Alder (Alnus spp.). Arnica, white flowering (Arnica mon- tana). Barberry (Berberis spp.). Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.). Burdock (Arctium lappa). Buttercups (Ranunculus spp.). Button bush (Ccphalanthus occiden- tal is-). Cherry, wild [Prunus spp.). Chestnut (Castanet! dentata (marsh)). Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). Cowpeas (Vigna catjang). Cranberry ( T aeein ium spp. ) . Cucumber, cultivated (Cucumis spp.). Cucumber, wild (Micrampelis lobata). Dandelion (Taraxacum spp.). Elderberry (Samoucus spp.). Elm ( LI ntus spp.). Gentian, fringed (Gentiana crinita). Geranium, wild {Geranium spp.). Gill-over-the-ground (Glccoma hed- eracea ) . Gooseberry, wild and cultivated (Ribes spp.). to fifteen times.) Hickory (Hicoria spp.). Honeysuckle, Tartarian a (Lonicera tatarica ) . Horse chestnut (JEsculus spp.). Huckleberry (Gaylussacia spp.). Knot weed (Polygonum spp.). Milkweed (Asclepias spp.). Mints, catnip, etc. (Mentha spp.). Mustards, wild (Brassica spp.). New Jersey tea (Ceanothus amcri- canus). Radish (Raphanus spp.). Shad bush, wild (Amelanchicr botry- apium). Skunk cabbage (Spathyema fcetida). Strawberry, wild and cultivated (Fragaria spp.). Sunflowers (Hclianthus spp.). Syringa (Philadelphia* spp.). Thyme b (Thymus serpyllum) . Alburnum (Viburnum spp.). Willow (Salix spp.). Witch-hazel (Ilamamclis rirginiana). PERIODS OF NECTAR SECRETIONS IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES. Through the courtesy of several bee keepers the writer is able to present with considerable detail the periods of nectar secretion of a Reported of importance and very productive in Hampshire County. 6 Jackson, Joseph J. 1894. Through Glade and Mead. Jackson (p. 293) lists it for Worcester County. It was also reported to the writer three times from Berkshire County. 94 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. the more important honey plants in several sections of the State. It should be remembered, however, that the dates of nectar yielding must necessarily vary from year to year and at different elevations in the same territory; consequently the data here presented ma}7 be slightly at variance with other observations. BERKSHIRE REGION. (Furnished by E. H. Dewey, of Great Barrington, Mass.) Pussy willow, April 1 to 15. Pussy willow in sheltered places will bloom as early as the 15th of March and be visited by bees for pollen. Whether they get honey as early as that from this source I do not know. Just when pussy willow begins to yield honey I can not positively state, for bees work on it very early, but I have seen them with tongues extended in search of honey as early as the dates indicated. Soft maple, April 1 to 8. Hard maple, April 20 to May 5. Fruit bloom, May 1 to 25. Raspberry, June 5 to 30. Locust, June 5 to 15. Wild mustard. Wild mustard, I am told, appears about six weeks after culti- vation. It is most frequently seen here from the middle of June to the 1st of July. Clover, June 5 to July 25. White sweet clover, July 10 to August 25. Sumac, July 10 to 20. Basswood, July 1 to 15. Milkweed, July 5 to 20. Chestnut, July 10 to 15. Buckwheat, August 1 to 25. Smartweed, September 5 to frost. Brook sunflower (Bidens Iwvis), September 5 to — . It is fairly covered with bees. I have seen three or four working on a single blossom. Grows on low land and margins of water. Golden-rod, August 20 to frost. One variety of golden-rod appears here the middle of August, but never secretes honey. Asters, September 1 to frost. Tag alders, September 1 to frost. In my immediate locality tag alders are not common, but can be found in swampy places a few miles from here. CENTRAL REGION. (Furnished by Dr. James B. Paige. Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.") Fruit bloom, May 12 to 30. Cherry, plum, and peach are the earliest. Apple lasts the longest. Clover, June 10 to August 1. European linden, June 15 to July 1. Raspberry. June 6 or 7 to about June 20. American linden. July 21 or 25 and lasts ten days to two weeks. Buckwheat, latter part of July or August 1. Lasts nearly a month, according to quality of soil and location. Golden-rod and asters, September 1, lasting until frost. Smartweed, August 25 until frost. Does not appear to secrete after frost comes. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 95 Wild clematis, July 25 to September 1. Cultivated variety (Clematis paniculata) blooms early in September, but I doubt if it secretes honey; it is sparingly visited for pollen. Thoroughwort, ceases about 1st of September. About the 1st of April we get soft maple, willow, skunk cabbage, alder and some elms, and cultivated plants, such as crocuses, etc., which, I suspect, supply more pollen than nectar. CAPE COD REGION. a (Furnished by Mr. Allen Latham, Norwich, Conn.6) Dandelion, in May. Huckleberry, in late May. Blackberry,0 in late May. White clover, in June and July. Common locust (iu Truro), June. Sumac (Rims copallina) (occasionally), in July. YYbite alder (Clethra alnifolia), July to August. Fireweed (Erechtites It icraci folia), August to September. Cut-leafed water hoarhound (Lycopus amerlcanus) , August to September. Burr-marigold, August to September. Pink knotweed, August to September. Various golden-rods, August to September, especially Solidago sempervirens, a gigantic variety of golden-rod which thrives in the sand along the beach. Various asters, like those which are common all over New England, September to October. Cranberry, flourishes and blooms for a long period. This may yield nectar. Strawberry, grows wild by the acre and the children and women carry bushels upon bushels of these berries home every June. Possibly in that region this plant yields nectar. The beach plum is an old settler and is found all about the Cape whitening all the beach and dunes with its blooms in May. Whether the bees get any honey from that bloom I do not know. Wild cherry, both the black or " rum " and the " choke," grow in abundance. As these yield practically nothing inland, I judge they furnish the bees no nectar there. Listed in the order of their importance to the bee keeper : 1. Huckleberry. — Without this one could not be sure of a crop of honey often er than every other year, and possibly not one year in three. 2-3. Hoarhound and fireweed. — Probably the hoarhound should rank ahead of fireweed. 4. Fall flowers, golden-rod and asters especially. The fall flowers will always furnish a crop if the weather permits the bees to gather it, but too often the weather is foggy or high winds blow, or else it is aA good account of bee keeping in this region is found in the following paper: Miller, Arthur C. 100G. A Unique System. How an Ingenious School Teacher Harvests Crops of Honey from a Desert. American Bee Keeper, Vol. XVI, pp. 206-210, October. Illustrated. b Mr. Latham specifies that the data relate to the "plants known to yield honey near Provincetown," the extreme end of Cape Cod, about 50 miles direct by sea from Boston and 25 miles from Plymouth. c It is possible that blackberry is very important. I do not know its honey, and the flavor may be lost in the honey from huckleberry bloom. 96 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. too cold. I have never had such crops of fall honey here (Norwich, Conn.) as I have had down among those sand dunes, once in three or four years, strong colonies layiug upward of a hundred pounds. 5-6. White clover and Clethra, about equal. 7. Sumac. RACES OF BEES. Among the bees of Massachusetts are found representatives of those kept in all parts of the United States. They occur only in relative degrees of purity, due to the fact that young queens often mismate. " Hybrid " means any cross between recognized races, but more par- ticularly and generally the cross between Italians and Germans. ITALIAN BEES. According to the data at hand, 594 bee keepers say they have Ital- ians. This does not mean pure Italians in every instance, but it does indicate that practically half of the bee keepers who reported have Italians, a highly encouraging condition. Furthermore, 342 report that they have hybrids, which may almost universally be interpreted as a cross between Italians and Germans. By adding this to the number who report Italians, it makes 936, or about 80 per cent, of those reporting who have some Italian in their hives. This clearly demonstrates the popularity of the race. There are several strains of Italians, such as ''long-tongued," or " red-clover," and " golden," or " five-banded," and the like. Al- though these strains are all found in Massachusetts, data concerning them is not sufficient to decide their relative merits or popularity. GERMAN BEES. Pure German or black bees are exceedingly scarce. In the county of Worcester the writer has seen what he believed to have been the pure-blooded Germans ; but these colonies are seldom met with. Al- though, as is shown in the table below, 196 persons report that they have German bees, there is as much or even more doubt that these are strictly pure as there is doubt that all of the Italians reported are pure. This race, at least in Massachusetts, is destined to be sup- planted by the Italians, although some bee keepers still complain that their Italians are constantly being crossed with blacks. CARXIOLAX BEES. This race, from Carniola, Austria, is not generally used in Massa- chusetts. Many who were interested when it was first introduced into America tried it and since discarded it ; but 34 persons, or 3 per cent, reported having it in 1906. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 97 OTHER RACES. Practically every other race of bees known in the United States is on trial in Massachusetts. Several mention the newly introduced Caucasians. The Punic, Cyprian, and Banat bees are also reported. Considering the races by localities in the State, it is difficult to see that either the Italians or the Germans are more common to any one section than to another. Italian blood tends to predominate. Per- sonal observation, however, shows that hybrids or the more purely German are found in the back country, where newer methods of bee keeping usually receive less attention; the pure Italians and more recently introduced races are found near the large communities. Table VI. — Prevalence of different races of bees. Number reporting. Percentage Italian. 594 50 Hybrids.** 3-12 30 Black or German. L96 16 Carnio- lan. Other a Hybrids are largely an admixture of Italian and German races. HIVES. In 1852 Langstroth patented his movable-frame hive, which marked the beginning of modern bee keeping. In the same year he moved from Philadelphia, Pa., to Greenfield, Mass. Bee keeping was then in a deplorable condition, as he remarked, most of the hives in use being those impractical devices classed under the names of " box hives,'' " patent hives," and the like. According to the writer's ob- servations, these old-fashioned hives are fast being replaced by frame hives ; colonies in box hives in the country are being exterminated by disease; they are also bought up for transferring and for use in cucumber greenhouses; at present, bee keepers seldom, if ever, start with anything but frame hives. Of those who reported the kind of hive which they use, 10 per cent have exclusively box hives and 8 per cent more acknowledge having a few. Moreover, there are a thousand persons who did not reply, and it is fair to presume that a considerable percentage of these have box hives. It will, conse- quently, not be exaggerating to estimate that 25 per cent, and possibly 30 per cent, of the bee keepers of Massachusetts still use these hives to some extent. Lamentable, too, is the fact that the apiaries in Berk- shire County, against the New York State line, are perhaps in worse condition, so far as the box-hive problem is concerned, than other apiaries of the State, for figures show that one-third of the bee keep- ers of Berkshire County are using the old-fashioned hive. This circumstance is particularly unfortunate because the flora promises 98 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. good honey production ; and again because this is a border-line county, which may serve, with its high percentage of box hives in which diseases are controlled with difficulty, as a source of bee diseases in both States. The condition on the whole is hopeful — 90 per cent of those report- ing have largely or exclusively frame hives, which shows a progressive tendency. It is not, however, within the province of this paper to discuss the relative merits of the various frame hives which are in use. The several makes and patterns in principle are the same ; they vary only in detail of construction and proportion. Climatic conditions, the methods of the bee keeper, whether for comb or extracted honey — in a word, the needs of the individual should govern his selection. By far the most popular hive is the one generally used in the United States, perfected by Langstroth. In its simplicity and propor- tions it has proven satisfactory to the climate of Massachusetts. Two sizes, the 8 and the 10 frame hives, are popular. According to the statistics, the 8-frame hive is more common (340 bee keepers report having it) than the 10 frame (260 bee keepers). There is a rather strong tendency, judging from remarks in the reports, toward the 10-frame hive. Another 10-frame hive, devised in Franklin County, has a shorter and deeper frame0 than the standard, and is second in popularity. Its use is rather local, however, being confined largely to central and western Massachusetts, where 100 bee keepers report having it. There is but one " closed-end frame " hive in use to any extent. Seventy-seven bee keepers are using it. Besides these three types and the box hive, there are a great many homemade contrivances and a few patent hives with some merit. WINTERING. METHODS. Bees are wintered in two ways. By far the most common and at the same time least laborious and less efficient in the latitude of Mas- sachusetts is on the summer stands. The writer has seen bees go through a winter in Massachusetts unprotected, without bottom board and the corners of the hive rotted away. All manner of devices for protecting the bees on the summer stands are used. They are packed, put in winter cases, and wrapped in paper. But the safest method in a climate as famous for severe and variable weather as that of ° The frame is 14 inches long and lOf inches deep, with a top bar one-half inch thick, 1 inch wide, and 16i inches long, with the corners clipped at each end. The ends of the frames are one-half by seven-eighths inch, and the bot- tom bar is one-fourth by seven-eighths inch. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 99 Massachusetts is to winter in the cellar. Unfortunately, many of those who attempt it are not altogether proficient. Of those who have reported their method of wintering only 13 per cent winter their bees in a cellar. It is well established that by proper cellar win- tering the loss in northern countries may be reduced to a minimum. In order to do this properly the bee keeper must be painstaking and observing; he must use a dry cellar and maintain as nearly a uniform temperature as possible. MORTALITY. In Xew England and the Northern States loss during severe win- ters may run as high as TO per cent. This loss is greatly reduced in favorable winters, when it is as low as 10 per cent. Were all the bee keepers competent and careful, this loss might generally be reduced to 2 or 3 per cent. i 0% rB/)RNST/!BL£ BR/STOL ESSEX M/DDLESEX NORFOLK PLYMOUTH ISOEEOL/f (BER/YSR/RE H/tMPDEN H/IMPSH/RE ^.WORCESTER 20% W/A/TERED /N THE CELL/fR WINTERED ON SUMMER STANDS ~\ Fig. 1. — Proportionate loss of bees wintered in cellars and on summer stands. (Original.) In the winter of 190G-7, which was not especially severe, the dam- age amounted to 10 or IT per cent (see fig. 1) ; although this was not disastrous, it was too great a loss. It taxed the bee keepers of the State $4,88G, valuing each colony at $3.50. With plenty of stores and proper protection it would not be expected that one-sixth of all the bees in the State, 1,39G colonies, should succumb during winter. The loss was most severe in localities where disease is now known to exist, which suggests thai the excessive loss in a measure resulted from the depletion of colonies by disease. BEES IN GREENHOUSES. The use of bees in cucumber greenhouses is one of the many phases of bee keeping, perhaps the most prosperous or certainly that most peculiar to Massachusetts. The industry is little known outside of 100 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTURE. this State, yet growers in other Atlantic and Central States have undertaken it to some extent. Originating in Worcester County, it has assumed large proportions through the eastern part of Massa- chusetts. The accompanying map (fig. 2) shows the approximate location of the industry. It is a difficult task to obtain satisfactory data on this phase of apiculture. Market gardeners who grow cucum- bers under glass do not consider themselves apiarists ; on this ground they largely disregard requests for information. Only through a personal canvass among the growers has information been obtained. Fig. 2. — Approximate location of greenhouses in which bees are used for the pollination of cucumbers. (Original.) There are at least 118 greenhouse cucumber growers. Only 73 of these, however, have furnished definite figures. These growers, including some of the largest and many of the smaller producers, use on an average 8 colonies of bees a year to set the crop. If the 118 known growers, which is not by any means the total number, require on the average 8 colonies each, nearly a thousand hives of bees would be utilized annually and, if the statistics from every grower were at hand, the writer feels sure several hundred colonies more than a thousand would be needed. When it is considered that practically BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 101 all of these colonies are totally ruined while in the greenhouses and that the demand for bees is on the increase each year, it may be readily seen what excellent opportunity there is of producing bees for greenhouse use. Considering the recorded sale of bees in 1906, which amounted to 1,0:27 colonies, it is probable that these sales must have been largely a result of the demand for greenhouse use. In illustration of the extent to which bees are used for this purpose it may be mentioned that one grower who picks 10,000 bushels annually requires 80 colonies of bees ; another having 40 acres under glass requires 35 to 40 colonies; a great many of the smaller growers use from 5 to 20 colonies. Cucumber growers, as a class, know little of bee-keeping methods, but they are anxious to learn. They feel that they must, in the stress of competition and high expenses, reduce the cost and loss in bees. Bees are introduced into the greenhouses as soon as the cucumber vines begin to bloom. If the houses are large, two or more hives, according to the area of the house, are placed on boxes on the beds or hung in the gables of the house. Various other methods of intro- ducing the hives are also emploj^ed. Not being able to secure suffi- cient stores in the winter, the colonies dwindle or become depleted in seven or eight weeks or less. It is a common practice among the growers to feed their bees sugar sirup or other sweets. Besides not being able to secure nectar to any extent from the cucumber blos- soms, the bees are also unable to gather much pollen, which is prob- ably a factor in the rapid depletion of the colonies. During the spring and summer, however, bees in the houses fare better, because they are able to escape, through ventilators and lights of glass re- moved for their exit, to the fields, where they secure nectar and pollen. Even under these circumstances the writer has seen colonies with no stores, with only a handful of bees and with scattered and half-starved brood. It is not surprising under such conditions that bee moths are such a great annoyance. To an experienced bee keeper the reason for their presence is obAdous; when a colony be- comes weakened the moth gains headway on the combs. No remedy for the moth in dwindled colonies can be suggested save killing the larvae as they appear in the hive. A means of keeping the colonies strong must first be looked for, which will relieve the bee-moth nuisance. Without doubt, however, the pest could be reduced if the greenhouse men would be more careful in disposing of hives in which the bees have died. The moths breed by thousands in discarded hives, and later are at hand to infest fresh material. Under no circumstance should discarded combs be cast outside on the rubbish heap to be devoured by the bee moths. Such a practice is a menace to bee keepers for miles around. 102 MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTURE. Table VII. — Distribution of greenhouse cucumber growers and record of bees used in greenhouses. County. Number known to be en- gaged in cucumber growing. Number report- ing. Number of colonies of bees known to be used annually. Bristol 12 10 33 4 2 1 56 7 2 21 1 1 1 40 140 15 244 Norfolk 50 20 Suffolk 15 100 Total 118 a73 6584 a Average of those reporting, 8. b Estimated total, 944. THE BEE MARKET. It is doubtful whether in any other State in the Union more colonies of bees are sold, in proportion to the number on hand in the spring, than in Massachusetts. As is pointed out, the cucumber in- dustry has much to do with this. Although there are many small, more or less amateur bee keepers in the State who customarily sell their surplus colonies, the trade is not at all confined to them. The supply houses and commercial bee keepers sell heavily, which is remarkable in a region where there is so little bee keeping on a large scale. Peculiarly, every county in the State shares in the trade about equally, in proportion to their respective number of colonies. The table, arranged from the statistics of 1906, shows that the bee keepers of Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middle- sex, Norfolk, and Worcester counties sold approximately one-fifth of all the colonies on hand in the spring. Plymouth County, however, took the lead, selling 39 per cent, while in the remote counties of Barnstable and Berkshire, and in the metro polis county, Suffolk, the sale was relatively light. Table VIII. — Number of colonies sold as compared with colonies on hand in spring of 1906. Number of colonies of bees. County. Number of colonies of bees. County. Spring of 1906. Sold in 1906. Spring of 1906. Sold in 1906. 185 495 321 531 491 366 1 29 80 107 102 73 408 962 364 463 57 1,199 46 Berkshire 1 Middlesex Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk 142 Bristol 72 170 Franklin 3 202 BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 103 PRICES OF BEES. Figured on a basis of $5 a colony, which is an exceedingly low average price, the total sales reported for 1900 would have amounted to $5,135; at $G per colony they would have amounted to $6,162, which more justly represents transactions. Colonies of bees sell as low as $2, or, if they are in a nail keg or soap box, for $2.50; at about $3 if in a regular box hive; and from $4 to $10, according to the race, strength, and season, if in frame hives of standard patterns; a usual price is $6. The customer sometimes furnishes an empty hive to the bee keeper, in which to hive a swarm. Such swarms bring about $3. THE QUEEN TRADE. Besides a trade in colonies of bees, there are several persons in- terested in commercial queen rearing. All but three of these, how- ever, do a relatively local business. On account of late and cold springs, Massachusetts is handicapped in producing early queens for market which shall compete with those raised in the South. The prices prevailing throughout the country — 75 cents, $1, and up — are charged for queens produced in Massachusetts. It is difficult to calculate just how many queens are reared for sale, but an estimate of 500 may not be far from correct. ENEMIES. The only enemy which is formidable in all parts of the State, but which is not detrimental to progressive bee men, is the bee moth, G&lleria mellonella L. This insect, however, has been credited by all the early apiarists, Langstroth included, with devastating, crip- pling, and practically annihilating the bee-keeping interests through- out New England. According to Edmund Smith,a it first took hold in eastern Massachusetts about 1800. In 1805 it reached Connecticut. Thence it spread westward. Writers — as, for instance, Smith — were formerty inclined to consider the moth as a formidable enenry. Smith says : " For a time, wherever it appeared it nearly destroyed the bees. At first it was more fatal than it has been since." The inroads of the moth led to all sorts of claptrap devices in the form of " patent hives " to protect the bees from the pest. But there is serious doubt, in view of recent discoveries of the relation of moths and bee disease, if this historical disaster was really due to the moth. There is good reason to believe moths were secondary, while disease, not then under- stood, was primary. This matter is more fully discussed in a former a Smith, Edmund, Chairman. 1864. Bee Culture, Essex. From the report of the Committee on Bread and Honey. Abstract of the returns of the agri- cultural societies of Massachusetts. Bound together with Eleventh Annual Report of Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, pp. 221-229. 104 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTUEE. paper.0 The moth does not materially damage strong, healthy colonies, but is a menace only to persons who are inattentive to their bees or who are careless, leaving empty combs about their hives and bee yards, and who fail to recognize and to treat bee diseases. Combs not in use or not covered by bees should be fumigated with carbon bisulphid and sealed in tight boxes for storage. DAMAGE TO THE BEE-KEEPIXG INDUSTRY BY THE GIPSY MOTH (PORTHE- TRIA DISPAR) AND BROWX-TAIL MOTH (EUPROCTIS CHRYSORRHCEa) . Xumerous complaints came from eastern Massachusetts, where gipsy and brown-tail moths are doing tremendous damage to forest and shade trees, that they were causing a loss to the apiarist as well. Damage is done both directly to the bees and indirectly to the honey flora. From Cliftondale. Essex County, one bee keeper says that they have bothered during June and July by trying to crawl in at the entrance of his hives. Another speaks of the caterpillars having eaten up all the plants which the bees commonly forage upon, save golden-rod and burdock, and have thus caused a loss of his bees. Failure of his honey crop in 1906 is attributed to severe ravages of gipsy and brown-tail moths. The basswood of Xew England was formerly a good honey producer and could be counted upon for a crop, is a report from Melrose, but since the brown-tail and gipsy moths defoliated the trees it can no longer yield much. A Medford bee keeper contributes this interesting note: Gipsy and brown tails have so spoiled the fruit bloom, an important factor in spring building, that colonies fail to become sufficiently strong for the har- vest. The willow, maple, and elm, early pollen yielders, have also suffered from the moths, which has consequently damaged bee keeping. Another peculiar case is reported from Cliftondale. Brown-tail and gipsy moths were so thick on the trees when a number of swarms came out that the bees did not stay near the apiary. The trees were covered with them so that the bees would not stay to be hived. * * * In regard to the honey plants, the moths destroyed all the blos- soms on the fruit trees and wild plants. Every place was covered with them each year from 1904 to 1906 ; the result is that there was no honey this year (1906), owing to so many of the fruit trees and honey plants being destroyed by the pest. BEE DISEASES. This subject has already been treated with some detail in a former paper.6 Since the appearance of that paper, however, the extent of diseases and the damage they are doing have become more fully real- a Gates, Burton X. 190S. Bee Diseases in Massachusetts. Bui. No. 75, Part III, Bureau of Entomology ; Bui. 124, Mass. Agr. Exp. Station. & Ibid, pp. 23-32 ; also Bui. No. 124, Agr. Exp. Station, Amherst, Mass. 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 -8 106 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. SUMMARY. As early as 1644 the colonies made a beginning in apiculture in Massachusetts. More than two centuries passed, however, before modern bee keeping began, which came with the invention of the frame hive by Langstroth in 1853. To-day there are more than 2,100 persons in the State who derive some profit from their bees. The bee keepers who reported in the spring count of 1906 had 5,839 col- onies, or an average of 5.5 colonies. Massachusetts needs fewer but more proficient bee keepers, who will undertake their work along business lines. The major part of Massachusetts is quite as inviting and promising as Vermont and New York State, where bee keeping is more profitably conducted. There are but three persons who report 75 to 100 colonies in their yards, and but two who have more than 100 colonies. The number of amateur bee keepers is reduced through the dropping out of 50 per cent of the beginners during the past five years. In the production of honey and possibly of wax the effect of an excess of semiproficient bee keepers is again apparent. In 1906 the honey crop reported was 145,257 pounds, which is the largest recorded for the State. But this is small when it is remembered that in the West single individuals frequently produce in a single year from a quarter to a third more honey than Massachusetts' total annual har- vest. The crop would have been materially heavier if those who reported had even approached the standard average of 35 pounds instead of having harvested only 24 pounds. This lowering of the average crop is in a large measure due to the great number of non- progressive small bee keepers and to the presence of bee diseases. The more important honey sources, as reported by the bee keepers in all parts of the State, are clovers, golden-rod and asters, fruit bloom, basswood, wild raspberry and blackberry, sumac, and locust. Some other plants, such as clethra and huckleberry, are of local importance and some listed as of minor importance are probably underestimated. The Italian race in varying degrees of purity is most popular. The German or " black " still persists, but is rarely found pure. Twenty-five per cent of the bee keepers still use box hives to some extent. The presence of box hives is most noticeable in the back country, where modern methods penetrate less rapidly. Of the frame hive types, the one standard for the country, the Langstroth, is most generally used. The loss in the winter of 1906-7 was 16 to 17 per cent, which taxed the bee keepers nearly $5,000. By far the majority winter their bees on summer stands, protected in various ways or unprotected. A few take advantage of cellar wintering, but most of those who follow this practice are not especially proficient. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 107 A thousand colonies or more are annually used in cucumber green- houses. Since practically all of these colonies are useless after com- imr out of the houses, there is a constant demand and sale for bees. to ' Several greenhouse men use from 40 to 80 colonies a year. The average number reported is 8 colonies. In the sale of bees the several counties, exclusive of Barnstable, Berkshire, and Suffolk, sold in 1900 approximately one-fifth of all their bees, spring count. In Plymouth County the sale amounted to 39 per cent. The total income amounted to between $5,000 and $(>,000. The queen-rearing industry is limited to a few persons and late springs make it difficult to compete with southern producers. The chief enemy reported is the bee moth. There is great doubt, however, if the damage attributed is really and primarily due to it. There is, on the other hand, sufficient reason to believe that disease is primary and that destruction by the moth is secondary. Gipsy and brown-tail moths are also reported as interfering severely with apiculture in the eastern part of the State. Massachusetts is particularly fortunate and in some ways in advance of other communities in her bee keepers' institutions. Not alone do local societies aim to promote bee keeping, but the State Board of Agriculture, State Experiment Station, and Agricultural Station as well, are deeply interested in the advancement of api- culture. A LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT ARTICLES ON BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 1906. Massachusetts field meeting. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 188- 189. 1908. Worcester County (Mass.) convention. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, p. 43. 1908. Has annual meeting. Worcester County Bee Keepers' Association Elects Officers. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, pp. 40-41. Adams, Geo. W. 1900. Farm bee keepers [in Massachusetts]. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 88-89. 190G. Massachusetts bee keeping in 1644. Supply manufacturing before the days of new-fangled fixtures. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 180-181. Babcock, L. B. 1855. Bees. Norfolk [County], The agriculture of Massachusetts as shown in returns of the agricultural societies, 1854. Prepared by Charles L. Flint. Bound with Second Annual Report of the Secretary of .Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. Boston. Pp. 403-405. Brooks, Jennie. 11)09. Memories of Langstroth by one who know him in her childhood. Bee Keepers' Review, XXII, No. 2, pp. 39-42. Canning, Josiah D., Chairman; Cowles, David S. ; Wright, Asahel. 1854. Bees and honey. The agriculture of Massachusetts, as shown in the returns of the agricultural societies, 1x53. Prepared by Charles L. Flint. Bound with First Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. Boston. Pp. 390-393. 108 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS OX APICULTURE. Dewey, E. H. 1907. E. H. Dewey's doings. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, p. 85 1908. Yes ; Relegate the box hive. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, pp. 42-43. Eddy, De. Henby. 1858. Bee culture. Abstracts of returns of the agricultural societies of Massachusetts, 1857 ; edited by Charles L. Flint. Bound with Fifth Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Agri- culture. Pp. 27S-2S9. Illustrated. Boston. Ellswoeth, J. Lewis. 1909. Bee keeping in Massachusetts. Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1908. ESTABBOOK, A. H. 1905. Worcester County bee keepers' meeting. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, p. 176. [ESTABEOOK, A. H.] 1907. Schedule of the bee show of the Worcester County Bee Keepers' Association, Sept. 13 and 14, 1907. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, pp. 1S9-190. Flint, Chaeles L. 1S6G. Thirteenth Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Agriculture for 1S65. Boston. Pp. 314-320. Apicultural statis- tics by counties in Part II of the Report, Abstracts of Returns of the Agricultural Societies of Massachusetts, 1S66. Gates, Bueton X., and Hodge, C. F. 1904. 1905. Bee keeping : How to meet its dangers and difficulties. Mass. Crop Report, XVII, Xo. 6, October, 1904, pp. 30-40. Fifty-second Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. Pp. 411-426. Boston : 1905. Gates, Bueton X. 1906. The first annual bee show of the Worcester Co. (Mass.) Bee Keepers' Association. American Bee Journal, XL VI, pp. 946-947. 1906. An interesting meeting. Report of the first of the series of winter meetings of the Worcester County (Mass.) Bee Keepers' Associa- tion. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 260-261. 1906. Worcester County Association. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 97-99. 1907. Status of bee keeping in Massachusetts in 1906. American Bee- Keeper, XVII, pp. 79-81. 1907. March meeting of the Worcester County (Mass.) Bee Keepers' Asso- ciation. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, pp. 88-90. 1907, 190S. Bee keeping: Some suggestions for its adyancement in Massa- chusetts. Massachusetts Crop Report, XX, Xo. 4, August, 1907, pp. 26-36. Fifty-fifth Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachu- setts State Board of Agriculture, 1907. Boston : 190S. Pp. 370-383. 1907. Relegate the box hiyes. American Bee-Keeper. XVII. pp. 271-273. 1905. Bee diseases in Massachusetts. Bulletin 75, Part III, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture ; Bulletin 124, Massa- chusetts Agricultural College. 12 pp. 1909. A method of securing apicultural statistics. Journal of Economic Entomology, II, pp. 117-120. Latham, Allan. 1908. Is it well to relegate the box hiye? American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, pp. 2-4. Milleb, Aethue C. 1906. A unique system. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 206-210. 1906. Worcester County bee keepers' show. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 231-233. 1907. The Wiswell-Richardson apiary. West Medford, Mass. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, p. 8. 1907. The Massachusetts society. American Bee-Keeper, XVII. pp. 100-101. 1907. The Massachusetts field meet. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, p. 206. 1907. The Massachusetts meeting. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, pp. 220- 221. 1907. Profitable meeting at Worcester, Mass. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, pp. 239-241. 1907. Obadiah Brown Hadwen. American Bee-Keeper, XVII, p. 282. 190S. Massachusetts bee keepers. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, p. 103. BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 109 [Miller, Arthur 0.] 1905. Good work in Massachusetts. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, pp. L37 L38. Paige, James B. L903, L904. Bee keeping: Its pleasures and profits. Massachusetts Crop Report, Bui. No. 3, July, 190.3, pp. 30-40. Fifty-first Animal Eteporl of the Secretary of Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. Boston: 1904. pp. 399-411. Illustrated. 1900. Wood's bee disease. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 69-70. 1906. Death of James Fitts Wood, of Athol, Mass. American Bee-Keeper, XVI, pp. 73-74. 1907. The first principles of bee keeping. Nature Leaflet No. 34, Massa- chusetts State Board of Agriculture. 10 pp. Illustrated. Rice, David. ( Jhairman. L861. Bee culture. Hampshire [County I Abstract of the returns of the agricultural societies of Massachusetts for 1860. Bound with Eighth Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Agriculture for I860; pp. 229-234. Boston. Smith, Jerome V. C, M. D. 1831. An essay on the practicability of cultivating the honey bee, in maritime towns and cities, as a source of domestic economy and profit. Boston: Perkins and Marvin; New York. Frontispiece and cuts. 106 pp. Smith. Edmund, Chairman. 18G4. Bee culture. Essex [County]. Abstract of returns of the agricul- tural societies of Massachusetts, 1803. Edited by Charles L. Flint. Bound together with the Eleventh Annual Report of the Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, pp. 221-229. Boston. Thacher, James, M. D. 1829. A practical treatise on the management of bees: And the establish- ment of apiaries, with the best method of destroying and prevent- ing the depredations of the bee moth. Boston. 104 pp. Weight, W. D. 1908. Equipment and manipulation of an apiary for comb honey. De- livered at the Worcester County Massachusetts bee keepers' asso- ciation, April 11, 190S. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, pp. 115-116. [Wright, W. D.] 1908. Foul brood. Worcester Telegram, April 12. American Bee-Keeper, XVIII, pp. 120-121. I N I) E X Page. Acacia, sources of honey in Hawaii 48 Acer spp. (See Maple.) Achroia grisella, destructive to stored comb 73 work in colony infected with American foul brood 21 sEsculus spp. (See Horse chestnut.) Agave sisalana, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Age, relation to bee diseases 34 Alder, black. (See Clethra.) period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 93 tag, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 white. (See Clethra.) Alfalfa honey, rapid granulation 9 source of honey in Hawaii 49 Alfilaria. (See Erodium cicutarium and E. moschatum.) Algarroba honey in Hawaii 47^48 introduction into Hawaii 47 "Alii." (See Dodonsea viscosa var. spathulata.) Alligator pear. (See Persea gratissima.) A Inus spp. (5^ Alder.) Amelanchier botryapium, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Andrenidse as pollenizing agents 70 Aphis sacchari, source of honeydew honey in Hawaii 50 sugar cane. (See Aphis sacchari.) Apiaries, badly proportioned distribution a source of loss 75-76 Apiculture. (See Bee keeping.) Apidae as pollenizing agents 69 Apis mellifera. (See Bee.) Apple, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 93 Aquilegia canadensis, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Arctium lappa. (See Burdock.) Argemone mezicana, source of honey in Hawaii '. 49 Arnica montana, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Artemisia, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Asclepias spp. (See Milkweed.) Aspergillus pollini, supposed relation to ' ' pickled brood " 37 Asters, importance as honey plants in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 central region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 92 Avocado. (See Persea gratissima.) Ill 112 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Pago. Bacillus alvei, supposed relation to European foul brood 41 larvae, exciting cause of American foul brood 20, 24, 37, 38, 39-40, 41, 58 " Y," possible exciting cause of European foul brood 41 Bacteria, nature, distribution, methods of studying them, results of their activity 36-37 of brood diseases, heating honey for their destruction 12 relation to bee diseases 36-37 Bacteriological needs of beekeeping in United States 77 Banana, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Barberry, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Basswood (see also Linden). defoliation by gipsy moth and brown-tail moth 104 period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 Bee breeding, importance 78 brush, use 5 colonies sold in Massachusetts 102-103 disease in Hawaii resembling ' ' pickled brood " 57 inspection 31 status in United States -. 75 survey in Hawaii 56-57 diseases can be controlled 30-31 cause, relation to treatment 33-42 causes, exciting 35-37 predisposing 34-35 damage therefrom 25-26 diagnosis.... 38 etiology (cause) .' 34-37 relation to treatment 33-42 heating honey for destruction of bacteria 12 in Massachusetts 23-32, 104-105 introduction not recent '.i 27-28 present extent 26-27 loss to bee keepers , ,.M 73-75 nature, methods of spread, means of preventing introduction into Hawaiian Islands * 57-58 relation of etiology (cause) to treatment, summary and conclu- sions 42 spread 29-30 treatment 31-32 curative 39 preventive 38-39 escape, use 5-6 keeping in greenhouses and the spread of bee diseases 29-30 Hawaii 43-58 bee keepers' association 44 rights 45 disease survey 56-58 extent of industry 45-47 honey sources 47-54 introduction of honey plants 54 methods of management 44 publications thereon 43-44 wax production 54-56 ! INDEX. 113 Page. Bee keeping in Massachusetts 81-109 apiaries, numberand size 83-84 articles thereon 107-109 bee diseases 23-32, 104-105 bees in cucumber greenhouses 99-102 colonies per bee keeper 84, 86 increase in number 87 conventions 105 distribution of bees 80-87 early records 81-83 enemies of bees .'03-104 experience of bee keepers 81-85 historical sketch 81-84 hives used 97-98 honey production 87-89 sources 89-93 instruct ion in bee keeping 105 market for bees 102-103 organizations of bee keepers 105 pasturage, extent and capabilities 89 periods of nectar secretion in different localities. 93-9G queen trade 103 races kept . 96-97 status 23-24 summary 106-107 wax production 89 wintering methods 98-99 mortality 99 United States.' 59-80 associations, number 69 breeders of queens, number 69 colonies, number and value, June 1, 1900 63 per farm 60, 79 honey production, average annual value 61, 79 imports and exports of honey and wax -. 64-68, 79 journals, number : 69 loss, sources 71-76 needs 76 possibilities 76 production of honey and wax, 1840-1900 62-63 scope 61-71 statistics of Twelfth Census 62-63 summary 79-80 wax production, average annual value 61, 79 introduction of Langstroth hives 83 origin of industry in United States 81-82 winter losses 72 keepers, amateur versus experienced, in Massachusetts 85 professional 60-61, 80 association in Hawaii 44 associations in Massachusetts 105 ( ii lied .States, mi in her 69 years experience in Massachusetts 84-85 114 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Page. Bee moths (see also Wax moths, Galleria mellonella, and Achroia grisella). in New England 83 pollination of cucumbers 99-102 rights in Hawaii 45 value as pollenizing agent 69-71 Bees and queens, purchasing, how to avoid introduction of bee diseases 30 Banat, in Massachusetts 97 Carniolan, in Massachusetts 96 Caucasian, in Massachusetts 97 Cyprian, in Massachusetts 97 distribution in Massachusetts 86-87 enemies in Massachusetts 103-104 German, in Massachusetts 96-97 in greenhouses in Massachusetts 99-102 ' Italian, in Massachusetts 96-97 introduction into New England in seventeenth century 81-82 price in Massachusetts 103 Punic, in Massachusetts 97 queen trade in Massachusetts 103 races in Massachusetts 96-97 robbing, prevention 6, 7 stray, danger of infecting colonies therefrom 30 Berberis spp. (See Barberry.) Bidens Isevis. (See Sunflower, brook.) pilosa, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Blackberry, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 wild, source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 Blueberry, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Bombus. (See Bumblebees.) Botanical needs of bee keeping in United States 77 Brassica spp. (See Mustard, wild.) Breeders of queens in United States, number 69 Breeding bees, importance 78 Brood diseases of bees. (See Bee diseases.) manipulation in extracted honey production 3 Browne, C. A., paper, "Methods of Honey Testing for Bee Keepers " 16-18 Brown-tail moth. (See Euproctis chrysorrhoza.) Buckwheat, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts. . . 94 central region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 Bumblebees as pollenizing agents 70 Burdock, source of honey in Massachusetts 93, 104 Burr clover, California. (See Medicago denticulata .) marigold, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. 95 Buttercups, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Button bush. (See Cephalanthus occidentalis .) Castanea dentata. (See Chestnut.) Catalpa bignonioides, source of honey in Hawaii 48 speciosa, source of honey in Hawaii 48 Catnip, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Ceanothus americanus, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Census of 1900, statistics on bee keeping 62-63 Cephalanthus occidentalis, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 INDEX. 115 Page. Cestrum diurnum, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Chemical needs of bee keeping in United States 77 Cherry, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 94 rum. (See Cherry, wild.) source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 93 wild, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. . 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Chestnut, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey and pollen in Massachusetts 92, 93 Chokecherry. ( See Cherry, wild.) Citrus, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 Clematis paniculata, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts . 95 wild, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 95 Clethra, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 96 source of honey in Massachusetts 92, 93, 96 Climate, relation to bee diseases 35 Clover, alsike, source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 92 crimson, source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 92 period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 central region of Massachusetts 94 red, source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 92 sweet, white (see also Melilotus alba) . period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massa- chusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 90 yellow (see also Melilotus officinalis). source of honey in Massachusetts 90 white, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. . 95 source of honey in Hawaii 49 Massachusetts 90, 92 yellow, source of honey in Massachusetts 92 "Cocoons" 5 Coleoptera as pollenizing agents 69, 70 Columbine. (See Aquilegia canadensis.) Comb honey, average number of pounds produced in United States 61-62 Combs, shallow extracting 4-5 Conventions of bee keepers in Massachusetts 105 Cowpeas. (See Vigna catjang.) Cranberry, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Crocuses, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 95 Crop plants, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 Crystallization. (See Granulation.) Cucumber, pollination by honey bee 99-102 source of honey in Hawaii 49 Massachusetts 93 wild. (See Micrampelis lobata.) Cucumis spp. (See Cucumber.) Dandelion, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey and pollen in Massachusetts 92, 93 Diptera as pollenizing agents 69, 70 Disease, definition of term 33 preexisting, possible relation to bee diseases 35 116 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Page. Diseases of bees. (See Bee diseases; Foul brood, American; and Foul brood, European.) Disinfection of hive materials against bee diseases 32 tools and hands after manipulating diseased bees 29 Dodonxa viscosa var. spathulata, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Drug treatment for bee diseases 39, 40 Economic needs of bee keeping in United States 77-78 Educational needs of bee keeping in United States 78-79 Elderberry, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Elm, defoliation by gipsy moth and brown-tail moth 104 period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Erechtites hieracifolia. (See Fireweed.) JSriobotrya japonica, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Erodium cicutarium, source of honey in Hawaii 49 moschatum, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Erythrina monosperma, source of honey in Hawaii 48 "Etiology, " definition of term 33 Eucalyptus, source of honey in Hawaii 48 Eugenia jambos, source of honey in Hawaii 48 Euproctis chrysorrhcea, damage to bee-keeping industry in Massachusetts 104 Extracting room or house for honey 6 Extractor. (See Honey extractor.) Fagopyrum spp. (See Buckwheat.) Feeding honey to bees, danger of spreading brood diseases '. 29 Fertilization. (See Pollenization.) Filaree. (See Erodium cicutarium and E. moschatum.) Fireweed, period of nectar secretion and importance as source of honey in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts . 95 Food and drugs act of June 30, 1906, and Hawaiian honeys 44, 50-52 honey adulteration 1-2 relation to bee diseases 35 Forage plants, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 Foul brood, American, age of larvae with relation thereto 34 and wax moths 19-22 cause, exciting 24, 37, 38, 39^0 causes, predisposing 34-35 description 24 in Massachusetts, introduction into State 27-28 present extent 26-27 preexisting disease possibly a predisposing factor 35 prevention . . 38-39 relation of cause to treatment 39-40 sex of larvae with relation thereto 34 treatment 38-39, 40 European, age of larvae with relation thereto -. 34 cause, exciting, unknown » 37 causes, predisposing 34-35 description 24, 25 in Massachusetts, introduction into State 28 present extent 26-27 loss therefrom in New York State 74-75 relation of cause to treatment 41 sex of larvae with relation thereto 34 INDEX. 117 Page. Fragaria spp. (See Strawberry.) Fruit bloom, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts.. . 94 central region of Massachusetts 94 source of hone} in Massachusetts 90, 93 spoiled by gipsy moth and brown-tail moth 104 industry, value of honey bee thereto 71 Fungi, relation to bee diseases 37 Galleria mellonella destruet Lve to st< >re< 1 comb 73 enemy to bees in Massachusetts 103-104 work in combs infected with American foul brood 20-21 Gates, Burton N., paper, "Bee Diseases in Massachusetts" 23-32 "Bee Keeping in Massachusetts " 81, 109 Gaylussacia spp. (See Huckleberry.) Gentiana crin ita, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Gentian, fringed. (See Gentiana crinita.) Geranium, wild, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Gill-» iver-the-ground, source of honey in Massachusetts 92, 93 Gipsy moth. (See Porthetria dispar.) Gh coma fa ,h racea. (See Gill-over-the-ground.) Glucose, detection in honey 17 ( ; Lycerin, use as adulterant of honey 12 Goldenrod (see also Solidago sempervirens) . period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts .... 94 Cape Cod region of Massachusetts .... 95 central region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 92, 104 Gooseberry, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Granulation of honey 9-12, 14-15 acceleration 13-14 retardation 13 Grass, carpet. (See Lippia repens.) "Pili." (See Ileteropogon conlortus.) Greenhouses, cucumber, bee keeping therein in Massachusetts 29-30, 99-102 Guava, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Ifamiatoxylon campechianum, source of honey in Hawaii 48 I lal ictidae as pollenizing agents 70 Hamamelis virginiana, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 "Hau" tree. (See Paritium tiliaceum.) Hi Uanthus spp. (See Sunflower.) Hemiptera as pollenizing agents 70 Heredity, relation to bee diseases 34 Hi hropogon contortus, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Hickory, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Hicoria spp. (See Hickory.) • ' 1 1 ila hila," source of honey in Hawaii 49 Eive for extracted honey production 3 Langstroth, introduction 83 Hives used in Massachusetts 97-98 Hoarhound, cut-leafed water, period of nectar secretion and importance as source of honey in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 Honey, abnormal 14 adulteration, chemical detection 1-2, 16-18 118 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Page. Honey, age as affecting chemical composition 11-12 Algarroba, in Hawaii, extraction 47-48 bee. (See Bee.) bricks 14 "candied," production 13-14 coniferous 14 detection of cane sugar therein 17 glucose therein 17 invert sugar therein 17-18 determination of moisture therein 16-17 extracted, production, advantages 2-3 and care 1-15 brood manipulation 3^ "candied " honey production 13-14 extracting room or house 6 extractor and its use 7 granulation of honey 9-12 hive best adapted therefor 3 method 3-7 packing 12-13 perforated zinc queen-excluding board and its use 5 removing honey from hive 5-6 ripening honey 7-9 tiering 4-5 uncapping the honey 6-7 extractor and its use 7 extractors, solar, in Hawaii 47^8 fermentation or souring 8, 9 flavor of that from fruit bloom 90 floral, in Hawaii .' 47^9 flow, ' " locality differences " 5 from honeydew and algarroba, granulation test 52 gate 9 granulation, acceleration 13-14 retardation 13 heating for destruction of disease bacteria 12 Herzfelt' s artificial 10 high-purity types 14 honeydew 14 blends, polarization, and analyses 51-52 chemical composition 50-52 color and flavor 50 with reference to food and drugs act of 1906 50-52 imports and exports 64-68, 79 liquefaction before bottling 10 low-purity types 14 normal 14 other than floral, in Hawaii 49-54 packing 12-13 plants. (See Honey sources.) production in Massachusetts 87-89 United States, average annual value 61, 79 statistics of Twelfth Census 62-63 INDEX. 119 Page. Honey, removal from hive 5-6 ripening 7-9 sources in Hawaii 47-54 Massachusetts 89-93 strained, definition, wrong use of term 1 tariff schedules, acts of 1842 to 1897 64 testing, apparatus and methods for bee keepers 16-18 types 14-15 uncapping 6-7 Honeydew, extra-floral plant, possible source of honey in Hawaii 53 honey. (See Honey, honeydew.) of insects, source of honey in Hawaii 49-53 Honeys, American, chemical analysis and composition, reference to publication 12, 16 flavors 8-9 granulation 9-12, 14-15 Honeysuckle, Tartarian, source of honey in Massachusetts 92, 93 Horsechestnut, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Huckleberry, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. . 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Hymenoptera as pollenizing agents 69, 70 "Ilima." (See Sida spp.) Inkberry, Chinese. (See Cestrum diurnum.) Insect honeydew, source of honey in Hawaii 49-53 Insects, pollenization of plants thereby 69-71 Inspection against bee diseases 31, 75 Ipomxa pes-caprse, source of honey in Hawaii 49 spp., sources of honey in Hawaii 49 ' ' Kia we . ' ' (See Algarroba . ) Knives for uncapping honey 6 Knot weed, pink, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 92, 93 "Koa." (See Acacia.) Lantana, a plant pest in Hawaii 54 source of honey in Hawaii 49 Lathyrus tingitanus, source of honey in Hawaii 49 "Lauki." (See Bidens pilosa.) Leafhopper, sugar-cane, damage to sugar cane 52-53 source of honeydew honey in Hawaii 50, 52-53 Lemon, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Lepidoptera as pollenizing agents 69 Lime, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Linden (see also Basswood). American, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts. 94 European, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts. 94 Lippia repens, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Locust, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 Logwood. (See Hxmatoxylon campechianum.) Lonicera tatarica. (See Honeysuckle, Tartarian.) Loquat. (See Eriobotrya japonica.) Lupin, blue and yellow, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Lycopus americanus. (See Hoarhound, cut-leafed water.) 120 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Page. Malvastrum tricuspidatum, source of honey in Hawaii 49 "Mamani." (See Sophora chrysophylla.) Mangrove, black, source of honey in Hawaii 48 Philippine, introduction into Hawaii to be tried 48 Maple, defoliation by gipsy moth and brown-tail moth 104 hard, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts. . . 94 soft, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 central region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 pollen for bees 91 Medicago denticulata, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Melilotus alba (see also Clover, sweet, white). source of honey in Massachusetts 90 officinalis. (See also Clover, sweet, yellow.) source of honey in Massachusetts 90 Melons, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Mentha spp. (See Mints and Catnip.) Mesquite, Texas. (See Prosopis glandulosa.) Metrosideros polymorpha, source of honey in Hawaii 48 Micrampelis lobata, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Micro-organisms, relation to bee diseases . 35-37 Milkweed, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 92, 93 Mints, source of honey in Massachusetts .. . 91, 92, 93 Moisture, determination in honey 17 Musa spp. (See Banana.) Mustard, wild, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts. 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Nectar, periods of secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95-96 central region of Massachusetts 94-95 "Ohia lehua." (See Metrosideros polymorpha.) "Oi." (See Verbena bonariensis .) Onobrychis .sativa, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Orange, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Ornamental plants, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 Palm, cocoanut, source of honey in Hawaii '. 49 royal, source of honey in Hawaii : 49 Palms, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 ' ' Paralysis " of bees, food with relation thereto 35 relation of cause to treatment 41-42 supposedly noninfectious 37 Paritium tiliaceum, extra-floral nectaries a source of honey dew honey 53-54 Pasture plants, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 Peach, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 93 Pear, source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 93 Pea, Tangier. (SeeLathyrus tingitanus.) Pepper bush, sweet. (See Clethra.) Perforated zinc. (See Zinc, perforated.) Perkinsiella saccharicida. (See Leafhopper, sugar-cane.) Persea gratissima, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Philadelphus spp. (See Syringa.) INDEX. 121 Page. Phillips, E. F., paper, "A Brief Survey of Hawaiian Beekeeping," 43-58 "The Status of Apiculture in the United States " 59-80 ' ' Wax Moths and American Foul Brood " 1 9-22 "Pickled brood," age of brood with relation thereto 34 disease resembling it in Hawaii 57 heredity with relation thereto 34 relation of cause to treatment 41 supposedly noninfectious 37 Plants, pollenization by insects 69-71 Plum, beach, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. . . 95 central region of Massachusetts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 90, 93 Pollenization of plants by insects 69-71 Polygonum spp. (See Knotweed.) Poppy. (See Romneya coulteri.) Porthetria dispar, damage to bee keeping industry in Massachusetts 104 Prosopis glandulosa, source of honey in Hawaii 48 juliflora. (See Algarroba.) Protozoa, relation to bee diseases 37 Prunus spp. (See Peach, Plum, Cherry.) Psidium spp. (See Guava.) "Paukala." (See Argemone mexicana.) Pumpkin, source of honey in Hawaii . . 49 Pyrus spp. (See Pear, Apple.) Queens, purchasing, how to avoid introduction of bee diseases 30 Race, relation to bee diseases 35 Radish, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Ranunculus spp. (See Buttercups.) Raphanus spp. (See Radish.) Raspberry, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 central region of Massachusetts 94 wild, source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 Rhus copallina. (See Sumac.) spp. (See Sumac.) Ribes spp. (See Gooseberry.) Robbing, prevention 6, 7 Robinia spp. (See Locust.) Romneya coulteri, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Rose apple. (See Eugenia jambos. ) Rubussp]). (See Raspberry, Blackberry.) Sages, California. (See Artemisia.) Salix spp. (See Willow.) Sambucus spp. (See Elderberry.) Sanfoin. (See Onobrychis sativa.) Scientific needs of bee keeping in United States 76-77 Sex, relation to bee diseases 34 Shadbush, wild. (See Amelanchier botryapium.) "Shaking" treatment for bee diseases 32 "Shook swarming." (See Shaking.): Sida spp., source of honey in Hawaii 49 Sisal. (See A gave sisalana.) Skunk cabbage, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts. . . 95 source of honey in Massachusel ts 92, 93 pollen for bees 92 78013°— Bull. 75—11 9 122 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. Page. Smartweed, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 central region of Massachusetts. 94 Solidago sempervirens, period of nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massa- chusetts 95 spp. (See Goldenrods.) Sophora chrysophylla, honey plant in Hawaii 48 Spanish needle. (See Bidens piiosa.) Spathyemafcetida. (See Skunk cabbage.) Spirochssta apis, supposed relation to bee disease. 37 Squashes, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Statistical needs of bee keeping in United States 76 Strawberry, period of possible nectar secretion in Cape Cod region of Massachu- setts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 92, 93 Sugar, cane, detection in honey 17 invert, adulterant of honey 10 detection in honey 17-18 Sumac, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts 94 Cape Cod region of Massachusetts 95 source of honey in Massachusetts 91, 93 Sunflower, brook, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachu- setts 94 source of honey in Massachusetts 92, 93 Swarming, source of loss to beekeepers 71-72 Syringa, source of honey in Massachusetts . 93 Tamarindus indica, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Taraxacum spp. (See Dandelion.) Tariff on honey and wax, 1842-1897 64 Tea, New Jersey. (See Ceanothus americanus.) Thevetia neriifolia, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Thoroughwort, period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 95 Thyme. (See Thymus serpy Hum.) Thymus serpyllum, source of honey in Massachusetts : . . . 93 Tiering in extracted honey production 4-5 Tilia spp. (See Basswood and Linden.) Trees, forest, sources of honey in Hawaii 48 fruit, sources of honey in Hawaii 49 Trifolium agrarium. (See Clover, yellow.) hybridum. (See Clover, alsike.) incarnatum. (See Clover, crimson.) pratense. (See Clover, red.) repens. (See Clover, white.) JJlmus spp. (See Elm.) Uncapping box or can 6-7 honey 6 knives. (See Knives.) Vaccinium spp. (See Blueberry and Cranberry.) Verbena bonariensis, source of honey in Hawaii 49 Viburnum, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Vigna catjang, source of honey in Massachusetts 93 Waltheria americana, source of honey in Hawaii - 49 Wattle, black. (See Acacia.) INDEX. 123 Page. Wax, imports and exports 64-68, 79 moths. (See also Bee moths, Galleria mellonella, and Aehroia grisella.) and American foul brood 19-22 moth, large. (See Galleria mellonella.) lesser. (See Aehroia grisella.) production in Hawaii 54-56 Massachusetts 89 United States, average annual value 61, 79 statistics of Twelfth Census 62-63 tariff schedules, acts of 1842-1897 64 waste in bee keeping 72-73 Weeds, honey plants in Hawaii 49 White, G. F., paper, "The Relation of the Etiology (Cause) of Bee Diseases to the Treatment " 33^2 White-sage honey, slow granulation .' 9 "Wiliwili." (See Eryihrina monosperma.) Willow, defoliation by gipsy moth and brown-tail moth 104 period of nectar secretion in central region of Massachusetts 95 pussy, period of nectar secretion in Berkshire region of Massachusetts. . 94 source of pollen for bees 92 Witch-hazel. (See Hamamelis virginiana.) Zinc, perforated, in extracted honey production 5 Zoological needs of bee keeping in United States 76-77 o I