GRAPES. 289 
gentleman the impression that the bees did it. But the fact 
that that little round hole was left there proves to me that the 
' yellow jackets made it, not the bees. 
Mr. Wilcox: I believe that it has been well established that 
the honey bee cannot puncture the skin, or the little film or inner 
skin that surrounds the grape. This has been demonstrated 
in our society by overwhelming evidence. 
Mr. Cutler: I will state that when the material for honey 
was very scarce last summer the bees came and settled in 
swarms upon my raspberry bushes so thickly that a lady could 
not go in there and pick thefruit. I know that they punctured 
the cuticle of the raspberry. They did not touch my grapes, 
although they were within two rods of my bee hives. 
Mr. Wilcox: I will state the experiment of Prof. McLean, in 
which he confined colonies of bees in a glass house and took 
their food away from them so as to bring them into a starving 
condition, and hung bunches of grapes of different varieties all 
around inside of the house, and even hung bunches of grapes 
inside of the hives, and kept them so confined until the bees 
died of starvation. There was not a single grape injured by 
them. But as soon as grapes were punctured even with a 
needle, so as to penetrate the epidermis, then they went in 
and cleaned them out entirely. That is the entire basis of 
these charges against the honey bees., It has been my experi- 
ence that whenever any bird or insect once punctures the skin 
of a grape, then the bees take possession and clean out the 
grape. But they have no biter by which they can penetrate 
the skin of asound grape. This fallacy is one that the bee 
keepers of this country have been obliged to fight for years 
and years, and yet it has many times been proved to be wrong. 
Mr. Harris: Ido not believe that the honey bee injures the 
grape, that is, the sound grape. 
DISCUSSION ON THE JANESVILLE, &C. 
Mr. Sampson: I would not like to have it go out that the 
Janesville grape is the best grape, because I do not believe that 
itis. Ihave grapes that I consider very much better than the 
Janesville. 
Mr. Cook: What are they? 
Mr. Sampson: Well, among others I will name Moore’s 
Early and the Delaware. We cannot sell the Janesville. 
Ute 
