168 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



kill, and only one can do the stinging at a time. If one gets 

 the advantage, it curls up and gives the fatal sting. 



Mr. Augur. Do bees puncture the skin of tender fruit at 

 the time of ripening, like the peach and grape ? 



Mr. Bradley. Among fruit men there is a great deal said 

 in regard to bees destroying fruit, but I think it is all falsely 

 laid to the bees. As far as proven — I cannot state this from 

 actual observation, but as far as has been proven, taking relia- 

 ble statements, the bees use the juice of fruits only after 

 the skin has been punctured or bruised in some way. That 

 is, facts go to show that. 



Question. Is there anything in the market that is so near 

 like honey that it is difficult to decide between the real article 

 and the counterfeit. 



Mr. Bradley. Honey is very much adulterated by dishon- 

 est dealers, and the inexperienced are deceived, but you could 

 hardly deceive a person who is handling honey a great deal. 



Mr. Cheever. I would like to ask a question in connection 

 with that. I see a machine on the table for making what I 

 suppose is foundation comb. I have heard the rumor going 

 around that men have become so ingenious that they can not 

 only make artificial comb, but can fill it with artificial honey, 

 cap it over, and sell it for pure bees' comb. 



Mr. Bradley. The gentleman very well knows that in or- 

 der to make newspaper articles interesting it is necessary to 

 get up sensational stories, and I suppose that is one of them. 



Mr. Wm. L. Burgess of West Morris, President of the 

 Connecticut Bee-keepers' Association. I will beg leave to 

 say, that two years ago last July my family complained that 

 some very fine peaches were being destroyed by bees. I said, 

 " I shall buy my honey, and preserve the peaches." I went out 

 to the peach trees, and the bees were on the peaches — that 

 was sure. Well, I did not have to put on my glasses to find 

 that the yellow hornet, or yellow wasp, was first puncturing 

 the peaches, and then the bees were gathering around those 

 punctures and sucking the juice from the peaches. I went in 

 and said, " I shall let the bees live awhile longer, and if I can 



