6g6 Journal of Agriculture. [lo Nov., 1909. 



bees kept anywhere in the locality to be within reach of a bee's flight, and 

 I think there are not many localities without bees. Still it is, in mv 

 opinion, an open question whether in some localities, and under unfavour- 

 able conditions of weather, the setting of fruit would not be improved if 

 more bees were kept. In my personal experience, I have always been on 

 the safe side, as I usual h- have more hives than fruit trees. I have never 

 had occasion to complain of poor setting of fruit ; on the contrarv, I always 

 have to do a lot of thinning out. While I have shown the great value of 

 bees in the fertilization of fruit, I do not deny that there are some instances 

 of antagonism between fruit-growing and beekeeping. These instances are. 

 on the one side, the spraying of fruit trees with poisonous compounds while 

 the tree is in. full bloom, and, on the other side, the damage or apparent 

 damage done by bees to ripe fruit. 



In regard to the spraying of fruit trees while in bloom, I am not sure 

 whether the practice is at all general in Victoria. I have heard of only one 

 or two instances of bees being poisoned by spraying, and none have come 

 under my personal observation. The practice of spraying trees in full 

 bloom has been abandoned in America, because not onlv was it found no 

 more effective than spraying before or after, but it actuallv reduced the 

 fruit crop by destroying the pollen and the delicate organism of the stigma 

 of the blossom. I am aware that in orchards where varieties are grown 

 which bloom at different periods, it would interfere with straight ahead 

 work to spray the different varieties separately. Still, I would ask 

 orchardists to avoid spraying trees in bloom as far as possible, for the sake 

 of their own interests and for the sake of the industrious insect which is of 

 so much value to horticulture, while it is to the l>eekeeper his means of 

 living. 



Dealing now with the least pleasant item of mv paper, that of damage 

 to fruit by bees, it is well known that at intervals of vears, corresponding 

 with years of dearth of nectar,, bees are accused of damaging ripe fruit. 

 That bees, under stress of circumstances, extract the juice of fruit the 

 skin of which has been broken bv birds, insects other than bees, or wet 

 weather I do not deny, but I absolutely deny that bees e^■er harm sound 

 fruit. Bees will actually starve to death with a bunch of grapes or any- 

 other kind of fruit right inside the hive if all other food is out of reach. 

 I do not claim this as a virtue for bees. It is an impossibility for them 

 to puncture fruit. Numerous experiments have proved this fact. When 

 bees gather the juice of damaged fruit it is when no nectar is available, 

 and I have always advised beekeepers to feed their bees near or inside the 

 hive at such times, not so much to keep them away from fruit, but to ]ire 

 vent the fruit juices :l)ein,g gathered and consumed bv the l)ees. as thev are 

 quite unsuitable for bee food, and verv detrimental to the health of the 

 bees. In my own experience bees have once in a while gathered the juice of 

 grai:)es and plums which had small round holes pierced through the skin l)v 

 that mischievous little bird known as the silver eve. 



In conclusion, I would again ask you, in performing the operations 

 of vour occupation, to l^ear in mind the value of the bee to vour industry, 

 and, in return for the services it renders vou, to extend to it a sympathetic 

 consideration, which will at the same time benefit the industry I represent — 

 that of apiculture. 



