.'lo Jan., 191 2.] Bees and Spravuig. 



It has been frequently stated, especially in publications dealing exclu- 

 :sively with the honey bee, that spra\ing the fruit trees, at the time when 

 the trees are in blossom, will cause great mortalitx amongst thf bee 

 colonies, particularly if the spray be a poisonous one. 



\Vhene\-er losses of bees occur in apiaries located in or near orchards 

 in which spraying is practised, the -owners assume that the mortality is due 

 to the poisons used in the spraying mixtures. So far. there appeals to be 

 no proof that bees gather poison along with nectar and pollen, nor is there 

 any instance on record of the poisons ha\"ing' been proved, b\ anal}sis. 

 to be present in dead bees, bee hirvse, pollen, or honey. 



Dead bees may often be found not only on the blossoms of fruit trees 

 which were not sprayed, l)ut also on acacia and other flowers blossoming 

 at the same time. Heavy losses of bees from unknown causes occasionally 

 ■occur at the time of fruit bloom in localities where there are no fruit 

 trees at all ; while, on the other hand, apiaries located close to orchards 

 in which tlie trees were sprayed repeatedly, suffered no perceptible loss 

 and were in a thri\-ing condition. Again, bees might net be affected b\ 

 the amount of poison gathered with the nectar, but it might be sufficient 

 to kill the i)rood. In an independent experiment made last season, iron 

 sulphate, i i)art in 400 of sugar s\rup, was (juite harmless to bees, but 

 killed all the brood. 



In the ABC and- X Y Z of Bee Culture it is stated definitely that 

 spraying trees during bloom is destructive to bees and brood. We quote — 



Now that spraying with various poisonous liipiitls has come to be almost universal 

 among fruit-growers, the cpjestion arises, " Shall such spravini; be done during the 

 t'me the trees are in bloom, or before and after .'" If it is administered when 

 "the petals are out, bees are almost sure to be poisoned, much brood will be killed, 

 and many times valuable cjueens are lest. About the first thing one notices during 

 fruit-blooming time, if trees are sprayed while in bloom, is that a good deal of 

 the brood dies, until the bee-kee])er begins to wonder whether the bees have foul 

 brood, black brood, or ])ickled brood — unless the truth dawns ujion him that they 

 have been carrying in poisonous licpiids from the trees that have just been sprayed. 



It is not advocated in this article that fruit trees should be sprayed 

 when in full blossom ; the spraying operations can usually be conducted 

 •either before or after the flowering stage. 



It was pointed cut in the January, igii, article previously referred to, 

 that rain at the blossom time seiliously interferes with pollen action, and 

 naturally liquid sprays would have the same effect. But there may be times 

 when necessity compels the grower to spray at this season. 



At the Burnley orchards, there are altogether over 1,800 varieties of 

 fruit trees, which bloom at ^•arious times — fromi the end of August t(j the 

 beginnmg of November. Hence, the trees, particularly the apple and pear 

 trees, must be sprayed at a time when some of them are in bl:,om, with 

 both Bordeaux mixture and arsenate of lead. And this occurs every 

 season. 



During last year, the pear trees were sprayed with Bordeaux mixture 

 when some were in blossom ; while, later on. a number of apple trees were 

 .sprayed with lead arsenate when in bloom. Under these circumstances 

 it was decided to make observations in order to establish reliable data on 

 this question. 



At the Burnley apiary, the bee hives are right under the fruit trees, 

 and at the time of spraying with Bordeaux mixture the gmund had not 

 vet been ploughed, so that the spray fell not only on any fruit blossoms 

 which were open, but also on the C'ape weed then abundantly in bloom. 



