373 EsroRT of the Horticultural Department of the 



would be seriously reduced in numbers if spraying' at blossoming 

 time became a common practice. The subject is still in need of 

 careful investigation. 



There have been few satisfactory experiments tO' determine 

 whether bees are likely to be killed if they visit a large orchard 

 which has been sprayed with areenites when in full bloom. In 

 some cases the experiment has consisted in covering the sprayed 

 tree with sheeting or netting and placing bees inside. After 

 awhile dead bees are found om a sheet which has been spread 

 beneath the trees. These dead bees are then washed with ammonia 

 water to remove any of the spraying material which might have 

 been brushed onto their bodies. If, after thisi washing, the 

 chemist finds arsenic in the bodies of thesie bees the conclusion 

 is reached that they died from arsenic poisoning. These 

 experiments merely show that if bees eat poison they will die; 

 they do not prove that if an orchard is sprayed with an arsenite 

 when in full bloom most of the bees visiting it will be killed. 



Whether or not bees will avoid poisoned blo'ssoms if untainted 

 flowers are to be had is a question that fruit-growers are always 

 asking. In 1896, Professar F. M. Webster reported three obser- 

 vations on this point. (1) Six apple trees were sprayed in full 

 bloom with Paris green and water at the rate of four ounces to 

 forty gallons. Sheets were placed under the trees and on the 

 sheets were two hives of bees. Fifty-six dead bees were found 

 near the hive within a week. Analysis of some of these showed 

 traces of arsenic. (2) On the morning of a clear warm day, two 

 apple trees were sprayed with Paris green and water at the rate 

 of one ounce to twelve gallons. In the afternoon a number of 

 bees which visited the blossoms were caught and marked. None 

 of these marked bees were afterwards found dead near the hives. 

 The next day other bees were caught, dissected and analyzed. 

 Arsenic was found in the honey-sacs and the abdomens of some 

 of these bees. (3) A small apple orchard was sprayed when in 

 full bloom with Bordeaux, to which was added Paris green at 

 the mte of four ounces per fifty gallons. Three apparently 

 healthy colonies of bees were located on the premises. All the 



