COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Gilbert N. Haugen presiding. Present: Representatives Haugen (chairman), McLaughlin of Michigan, Purnell, Voigt, McLaughlin of Nebraska, Riddick, Tincher, Sinclair, Thompson, Clague, Clarke, Jacoway, Rainey, Kincheloe, and Jones. The committee, after the hearing of witnesses upon another bill, at 12 o'clock m. proceeded to the consideration of H. R. 11396, which is here printed in full, as follows: [H. R. 11396, Sixty-seventh Congress, second session.] A BILL To regulate foreign commerce in the importation into the United States of the adult honey bee (Apis mellifica). Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in order to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases dangerous to the adult honeybee, the importation into the United States of the honeybee (Apis mellifica) in its adult stage is hereby prohibited, and all adult honeybees offered for import into the United States shall be destroyed if not immediately exported: Provided, That such adult honeybees may be imported into the United States for experimental or scientific purposes by the United States Department of Agriculture: And provided further, That such adult honeybees may be imported into the United States from countries where no diseases dangerous to adult honeybees exist, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Agriculture. SEC. 2. That any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. STATEMENT OF PROF. E. N. COREY, STATE ENTOMOLOGIST OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK, MD.; ÁLSO REPRESENTING AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGISTS. Mr. COREY. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I want to speak to you briefly about this House Resolution 11396, which is a bill to regulate foreign commerce in the importation into the United States of the adult honeybee, Apis mellifica. I am not going into the technical aspects of this matter. I merely want to say that at the Atlanta meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science the entomologists were a unit in indorsing a bill having the sense that is before you in this resolution. We feel that the beekeeping industry should be protected. We feel that in the introduction of bees from foreign countries there is the chance that we may wipe out, through the introduction of disease, the beekeeping industry of the United States. This bill has the backing of the Department of Agriculture, and it has the backing of beekeepers generally throughout the country. Mr. TINCHER. What will it cost to administer it? Will it place any additional burden on the Government to administer the act? Mr. COREY. No, sir; not as far as I can see. Mr. TINCHER. Your idea is to keep out the diseased bees? Mr. COREY. To keep out the diseased bees, and the only way to do that is to keep out all bees. Mr. SINCLAIR. You prevent all importations of honeybees? Mr. COREY. Yes, sir; except under the proviso here that the Secretary of Agriculture may import them. In regard to the technical details of this bill I wish you gentlemen would hear Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the Department of Agriculture, who will give you their attitude on the bill. The CHAIRMAN. Kindly tell us something about the damage done. Mr. COREY. He can give you that information, Mr. Chairman, better than I can. STATEMENT OF DR. E. F. PHILLIPS, OF BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. Chairman, for the last 18 years there has been a disease of bees in Great Britain which has caused excessive losses, leading to the wiping out of entire apiaries throughout large sections of that country. In December, 1920, it was announced that this disease, which is known as Isle of Wight disease, from the town of its origin, was caused by a parasitic mite which gets into the respiratory tract of the adult bee. The publication in which this discovery was announced reached us in April, 1921, and we immediately began a survey of the United States to determine whether the mite was here present. That survey last year failed to show the presence of the mite, and furthermore we have never had in this country any disease which compares in seriousness with what has been reported from Great Britain. We feel therefore that we have been fortunate in not having this disease introduced here. Since the discovery of the cause of the disease in December, 1920, the mite causing this disease has been found in the French Alps and through Switzerland. We do not know the exact distribution of the disease, because of the newness of the discovery, but it seems quite evident that if this mite were introduced into the United States we would suffer very severely in the beekeeping interests of the country. As Mr. Corey has already said, the entomologists in convention at Atlanta decided it was time to prevent the introduction of this disease by limiting the importation of bees. At that time a committee was appointed, consisting of two entomologists from the United States and the man in charge of beekeeping investigations for the Dominion of Canada, so that the action might be uniform in the two countries. I should like to say here that within the last week the minister of agriculture of Canada has passed an order prohibiting the importation of bees from European countries, under the authority of an already existing act. There is no legislation in the United States at present which would cover this case, and therefore this bill has been introduced giving authority for this restriction of importation. Mr. JACOWAY. Have we any quarantine law which would take care of this situation? Mr. PHILLIPS. There is no quarantine law which would cover the honeybee. Mr. THOMPSON. Is there a very large importation of these foreign bees from Great Britain and other countries? Mr. PHILLIPS. I might say, in the first place, that all of the honeybees in the United States or in North America have been introduced from other countries, since the honeybee was not native to this country. Of course, during the period of the war importation was impossible, but every year under normal circumstances a considerable number of queen bees are introduced from various European countries, especially Italy. Mr. KINCHELOE. Is there any way to tell by examination whether they are diseased or not? Mr. PHILLIPS. There is, by examining the respiratory tract of each individual bee that comes, which would necessitate the killing of that individual. Mr. KINCHELOE. And one queen means a large number of bees, does it not. Mr. JONES. You plan to issue this quarantine order whenever you discover that there is a particular locality in some foreign country where the bees are affected generally with this trouble? Mr. PHILLIPS. Under the provisions of the bill as drafted all importations are prohibited. Mr. JONES. No; there is a proviso here. Mr. PHILLIPS. Under the second proviso the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury may, by rules and regulations, permit the importation of queen bees from any country in which there is no serious disease of adult bees. Consequently it would be expected that immediately, in view of the fact that the disease is not known in Canada, and in view of the further fact that Canada has already safeguarded itself by prohibiting the importation from Europe, a regulation would be issued permitting the importation of bees directly from Canada. Mr. JACOWAY. Can you say to the committee how many pounds of honey are pr duced in the continental United States during a year? Mr. PHILLIPS. Our honey crop is valued at somewhere between $75,000,000 and $100,000,000 at the present time. Mr. JACOWAY. What would that be in pounds? Mr. PHILLIPS. I suppose four hundred or five hundred million pounds. Mr. JACOWAY. Can you state to the committee how the production of honey in this country would be affected, covering a period of five years, say, if these diseased bees should be imported into the United States and should get a hold in this country? Mr. PHILLIPS. If we may judge at all by what has happened in Great Britain, it would practically annihilate the beekeeping industry. It would make beekeeping unprofitable. Mr. KINCHELOE. Would those mites propagate in this country? Mr. PHILLIPS. So far as we know, they would. Last year when we were making a study in the Bureau of Entomology to determine whether this mite was present, through the kindness of a man engaged in beekeeping investigations in Scotland we received two shipments of adult bees which were supposedly infected with these mites. One of these shipments came through with all the bees alive, and there were living mites in these bees. Of course we immediately took precautions to see that they did not do any damage, but it showed conclusively that in the mailing of queen bees from various other countries there is a very easy means of introducing this parasitic mite. Mr. JACOWAY. Could they be killed before shipping the bees? Mr. PHILLIPS. Not without killing the bees. The mite is so small as to be microscopic, and consequently it would require a scientific investigation of each individual bee to determine whether the mite was present in that bee. Mr. JONES. There is no disposition on the part of any beekeeping industry or anything like that to limit the shipment of bees into this country? Mr. PHILLIPS. No; it is simply a matter of precaution. Mr. JONES. There is no organized effort to limit the number of bees here? Mr. PHILLIPS. Oh, no. Mr. KINCHELOE. Do you term the adult honeybees the "queens"? Mr. PHILLIPS. The queens are adult honeybees, yes; but we also have adult workers and adult drones. Of course, the queen bee is an adult bee. Mr. KINCHELOE. But all adult bees are not queens? Mr. PHILLIPS. No. Mr. KINCHELOE. I understood you to say a while ago that this proviso simply gave the Secretary of Agriculture authority, in his discretion, to import queens. Mr. PHILLIPS. That is because there would be no purpose whatever in introducing adult bees of any other kind. The CHAIRMAN. The Post Office Department has the power to regulate, but there are importations made outside of the Post Office Department over which it has no jurisdiction. of Mr. PHILLIPS. Yes. At the suggestion of the Secretary of Agriculture, about a month ago the Post Office Department passed a postal regulation prohibiting the importation queen bees through the mails, so that that avenue is already adequately cared for. But there has been, and probably will continue to be, a considerable importation of queen bees, with accompanying adult workers, without passing through the mails. This leaves an avenue open for anyone who cares to do so to bring in adult bees. The CHAIRMAN. And no one has power to stop it? Mr. PHILLIPS. No one has any power whatever to stop it. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. And your intention now is to give the Secretary authority to put on an embargo? Mr. PHILLIPS. The bill does in itself. The bill prohibits the importation, but the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Treasury may remove that restriction wherever they find it necessary and safe. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. I do not know about that second proviso. It reads: "That such adult honeybees may be imported into the United States from countries where no diseases dangerous to adult honeybees exist, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Agriculture." That does not authorize them to shut them out altogether. They must permit them to come in, under such rules and regulations as they may prescribe. Mr. JONES. The first section prohibits it. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. I know, but that proviso qualifies it in such a way as practically to take away from the Secretary of Agriculture the right to forbid the importation. They must be permitted to come in, under rules and regulations provided by him. The disease may exist in some countries and not be known to the Secretary of Agriculture, or representations made to him may indicate that there are no diseases in those countries. In the interest of safety he should be permitted to say they should all be shut out. I doubt if he could do it, under that second proviso. Mr. JONES. Change the last line on the first page to read, "may in the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury be imported into the United States.' Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. The first proviso is intended to permit the importation of diseased bees from countries where the disease exists, for experimental and scientific purposes by the Department of Agriculture. Is it intended to bring the diseased bees in? Mr. PHILLIPS. Oh, no, not at all. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. It says that such adult bees may be imported. Mr. PHILLIPS. The prohibition on line 6 is that adult bees are prohibited from importation; that is, all adult bees. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. But you say "such adult bees." Mr. KINCHELOE. It does not say "diseased" or "not diseased." Mr. PHILLIPS. On lines 4, 5, and 6 it says: "The importation into the United States of the honeybee (Apis mellifica) in its adult stage is hereby prohibited, and all adult honeybees offered for import into the United States shall be destroyed if not immediately exported." Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan (reading). “Provided, that such adult bees"-that is, diseased or not diseased-may be imported by the Department of Agriculture.” Is that right? Mr. PHILLIPS. I would interpret that to apply to all adult bees, but not being an attorney Mr. KINCHELOE. I think the proviso would permit the Secretary of Agriculture to import for scientific purposes Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. Diseased or not diseased. Mr. KINCHELOE. Yes. Mr. JACOWAY. Is there any other kind of bee except that named here-Apis mellifica? Mr. PHILLIPS. No; that is the only kind of bee that is used in the production of honey. Mr. JACOWAY. Why could you not leave that designation out and strenthen the bill, instead of confining it strictly to this Apis mellifica? Mr. PHILLIPS. I have no objection whatever to the omission of those words. They look scientific, that is all. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. I approve of the purpose of this, but I was wondering whether this bill would carry it out. I think that first proviso would permit the Secretary of Agriculture to bring in the bees for scientific purposes, diseased bees or not diseased. Mr. PHILLIPS. I do not think the Secretary would ever want to bring in any diseased bees. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. For study? Mr. PHILLIPS. Well, he might do that. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. And then, except to bring them in for scientific purposes, they have authority only to make rules and regulations; they have no authority to forbid them altogether. Mr. TINCHER. I think that adding the words "in their discretion" would cure that. Mr. KINCHELOE (reading). "Under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Treasury in their discretion. I think your point is well taken there. Mr. PHILLIPS. All that I know about the legal aspects of this bill is that it was examined and passed on by the solicitor of the department, who seemed to feel that it properly safeguarded the beekeeping interests. If that is not the case there will be no objection, I am sure, to such modification as will strengthen the bill. Mr. CLARKE. I think that is open to your construction, Mr. McLaughlin. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. As soon as that is corrected I would like to report the bill, but I am not sure just what the amendment should be. Mr. PHILLIPS. Regarding the desirability of this bill, I should like to have you hear for just a moment Mr. George F. Demuth, editor of Gleanings in Bee Culture, one of the journals published in this country, who has had considerable communication with the beekeepers of this country. STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE S. DEMUTH, EDITOR, GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, MEDINA, OHIO. Mr. DEMUTH. Mr. Chairman, I am one of the editors of Gleanings in Bee Culture, a beekeepers' magazine published at Medina, Ohio. Some time ago we sent out to all the queen breeders in the United States, breeders of queen bees, a circular letter telling them about the action taken at Atlanta by the committee appointed by the economic entomologists. In response to that there have been received no letters adverse to the passage of any rule or regulation that can be had to shut out bees from foreign countries. We have been importing queen bees into the United States from foreign countries for 50 years. There is now no need for further importation. We have paid more attention to the breeding of queens in this country than in any other country in the world, and at the present time we no doubt have better bees than can be had from any country in Europe. So far as we know the beekeepers of the country are in favor of absolute exclusion of bees from all foreign countries, with a provision for an exception where it may be advisable to bring in some new race or something of that kind. Mr. JACOWAY. Have you any information as to how much money is invested in bees in the United States? Mr. DEMUTH. No one knows how much is invested in bees in the United States. The census figures are not adequate to cover it. Mr. JACOWAY. Can you approximate it? Mr. DEMUTH. I could not. The annual income is somewhere between $75,000,000 and $100,000,000. Mr. JACOWAY. It is a great industry. Mr. DEMUTH. It is an industry that ranks, I believe, next above the rice industry. It is quite a large industry in certain parts of the country. Mr. JACOWAY. Do you think the passage of this bill would preserve that industry? Mr. DEMUTH. I do. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. Is there any opposition to this bill? Mr. DEMUTH. I understand there is some opposition. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. From whom? The CHAIRMAN. There has been some question as to the quarantine. Mr. DEмUTH. There is a misunderstanding, I think. Several persons have written in letters objecting to this, because they seem to think it would be impossible to import queen bees at any time if this bill were to pass. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. Who are they? Not individually, but what is their business and how are they connected with the industry? Mr. DEMUTH. Persons who desire to bring in queens from foreign countries and breed queens for sale. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. Could they not breed them with the queens already in here? Mr. DEMUTH. Yes; they could, but if they could bring in some from foreign countries and advertise that they had a special strain or a special race they could probably sell them better. Mr. MCLAUGHLIN of Michigan. Do they object to any restriction whatever? Do they ask to be permitted to do just as they please? Mr. DEMUTH. I think not. I think they ask that a provision be made whereby they may import queen bees from foreign countries, and that is already covered in the bill. Mr. KINCHELOE. It does not give them the right to do it. It gives the Secretary of Agriculture the right to bring them in for experimental purposes only. Mr. JONES. There are men in this country who make a business of breeding bees? Mr. DEMUTH. Oh, hundreds of them. We sent out that circular letter to everyone known to Gleanings in Bee Culture. Mr. KINCHELOE. If you cut off all importation of bees it would be quite a blow to their business, would it not? Mr. DEMUTH. Only a few queens are imported. They use them for breeders, and they sell the daughters of these queens that they import, or usually two or three generations removed from the original queen that was brought here from the foreign country. As I said a while ago, we have better bees in this country now than they have any European country. in Mr. KINCHELOE. Why should they want to import them if that is true? Mr. DEMUTH. Certain persons would like to import queens from abroad, because if they could do that they could make a point of advertising queens of that race instead of the Italian queens which are recognized in this country as the general-purpose honeybee. Mr. KINCHELOE. Has the disease been recognized and found to exist only in those that are imported from foreign countries, or has it developed in this country? Mr. DEMUTH. There has been no case found in this country. Mr. KINCHELOE. But it has been found in this country, brought in from foreign countries? Mr. DEMUTH. Only in the sample sent to the Bureau of Entomology last fall, as I understand it. Mr. KINCHELOE. From where? Mr. DEMUTH. From England. |