406 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



to become acquainted with me, and shall I let him stay there until 

 he sees me? (Laughter.) 



Mr. Russell : If the beekeepers think they know anything for a 

 certainty, anything they do not guess at, it is that bees do not injure 

 fruit. I have had some correspondence this fall with a fruit grower 

 in a neighboring state. He keeps bees and also raises fruit, and 

 he claims that the bees destroyed a considerable amount of his grapes 

 this past season. I don't know whether I can convince fruit growers 

 or not that they are mistaken, but I know they are. I think he 

 guesses at it somewhat. I would like to hear from the beekeepers 

 who believe it is impossible for a bee to injure sound fruit. No 

 doubt there is some one who has given the subject attention and 

 knows. 



Mr. Jno. Freeman : I have from my earliest youth wanted to 

 keep bees. My father, in Maine, was keeping them in quite large 

 quantities, but I have been unable to keep them, from their enmity 

 toward me. They are sure to sting me, and their sting poisons my 

 system. Is there anything in the fact that I have read many times 

 that a person who perspires freely is more likely to be stung by the 

 bees? 



Mr. J. S. Trigg: He is quite apt to sweat after he has been 

 stung. (Laughter.) 



Dr. L. D. Leonard : I have a theory on the subject, but I do 

 not know whether it is a true one or not. That is, that a man who 

 works among the bees is impregnated with the odor of the hives, 

 so that no matter where you meet that person, if he has on the clothes 

 in which he worked around the bees, you can smell the odor of the 

 hives in the clothes. I believe there is that difference and that the 

 bees can recognize one person from another by sight ; I am perfectly 

 sure they do it in some way, because I may have a man with me 

 whom they will sting, while they don't offer to molest me. I believe 

 it is due to the fact that my clothing is impregnated with the odor 

 of the hive, and that familiar odor is sufficient to stave off the anger 

 of the bees ; whereas a man who comes around with a strange odor 

 will be stung or is more liable to be stung. Now, that is my theory 

 on the subject, and I give it to you for what it may be worth. 



Mr. John Penney : My theory is that it is the smell that causes 

 the enmity of the bees. Some people have a different smell from 

 others. I can go and end up a bee hive sometimes, and the bees 

 will light right on my hand just as if they were going to sting, and 

 they will sit there a while and then fly away again. They don't like 

 a horse. Just the moment they get the smell of a horse they seem 

 to hate him and make for him, but a man can go right up to the hive, 



