294 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 9, 1901. 



tated bee just chloroformed I could get most of the tongues 

 to stretch to 18-100." 



With such an admission as this from one who has all 

 the paraphernalia in his establishment for nicety of work, 

 what can be expected from the thousands of bee-keepers 

 that Dr. Miller would have set at this work ? And so one 

 of my correspondents can be excused for asking me the 

 question, " Do you not think that one of those queens 

 advertised on page 240 of the American Bee Journal at 

 $10.00, could, ' b3' exerting a little pressure,' have its 

 tongue stretcht so as to make a S25.00 queen of it ?" 



There are times when it is necessary that a "halt 

 should be called " by some one, and as no one has seen fit to 

 do this, I have felt it my duty to do so, that too much 

 money need not be sunk on this latest fad, even if we do 

 not call it a fallacy. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 







Do Bees Help to Spread Pear-Blight? 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



UR good friend, J. H. Martin, so favorably known to 

 all bee-keepers, writes me from his present home as 

 follows : 



'•I herewith hand you a clipping from cue of our local papers. 

 The supervisors and commissioners referred to are from Kings County. 

 As I understand, the blight is in the blossom and so it is possible that 

 it is spread by the bees. Would it not be well for you to comment upon 

 this subject in the American Bee .Journal and give us the truth of the 

 matter !" 



The following is the clipping : 



" The supervisors have a novel question under consideration. It 

 is whether bees are responsible for the spread of pear-blight, and what 

 action, if any, should be taken in the matter. N. W. Motheral and .1. 

 F. Tilton, Horticultural Commissioners, gave their opinions on the 

 matter. Mr. Motheral asserted strongly that bees spread the pear- 

 blight, and should be condemned as a nuisance to the orchardist. Mr. 

 Tilton is not so positive." 



There is no doubt but that this question is a very 

 important one, and certainly bee-keepers will be interested 

 in any experience regarding it. Pear-blight has long been 

 a serious enemy in the pear orchards in the East, and is 

 now working fearful havoc in many places in California. 

 At a recent institute, held at Banning, Riverside Co., there 

 was no topic which called forth so much of interest as did 

 this same one of pear-blight. The people there are much 

 disturbed regarding the matter. 



I think it was Prof. Arthur, of Perdue University, Indi- 

 ana, who demonstrated that pear-blight is a microbe dis- 

 ease. If I remember correctlj', he discovered the specific 

 microbe, found that he could grow it in artificial cultures, 

 and could by their use inoculate healthy trees. I think 

 Prof. Arthur suggested that bees might be a means of 

 spreading this malad3'. It is well known that the blight 

 attacks the end of the twig and works inward toward the 

 trunk of the tree. Of course the germs are in the sap, and 

 might very likely be in the pollen, altho, so far as I know, 

 their presence there has never been demonstrated. The 

 pollen is carried to the stigma of the flower which, from its 

 delicate sensitiveness, we would suppose, might be a very 

 vulnerable point for infection. Thus the conjecture that 

 bees spread the disease would not be an unreasonable one. 

 Until we find, however, that the microbe is in the pollen, 

 we certainly have a right to place a large interrogation 

 point after this theory. Mr. Motheral or any one else who 

 speaks with assurance in this matter, would be rash, indeed. 

 To declare bees a nuisance on this account is entirely 

 uncalled for. 



In the early spring, the swelling buds of both flower 

 and leaf would be the most susceptible to microbe influence 

 which may come entirely without the aid of insects. If 

 insects are the medium of transportation, there are many 

 others than bees, and removing the bees would not bring 

 security. We know that without the honey-bee, complete 

 poUenization will not occur, and thus to declare bees a nui- 

 sance on behalf of the pomologists would be to stand in 

 their very light, and would work them incalculable injury. 



Many leading scientists of the East, especially Profes- 

 sors Waite and Fairchild, of the Agricultural Department, 

 have given this matter the most careful attention. It is 

 significant that they urge most strongly that fruit-growers 

 take all pains to secure the presence of bees in the near 

 precincts of their orchards. The supervisors and commis- 

 sioners of Kings County can not afford to take a back step 

 in this important matter. Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



No. 4.- 



Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee- 

 Culture. 



BY J. D. GEHRING. 

 iContinued from pape 262.) 

 "ATOW, Mr. Bond," I continued, seeing that he lookt, 

 \\ less incredulous, " had I known less about the swarm- 

 ing capers of bees I could not have known how to 

 interpret these queer proceedings. By putting this and that 

 together, however, I had good reason for the conclusion 

 that the bees I heard and saw above the tree were the scout- 

 ing party which had left the swarm as soon as it had 

 selected a place to cluster; and, that the peculiar noise 

 they made as they flew about the top of the tree where, they 

 knew, the swarm had settled down to wait for their return, 

 was the signal always given on such occasions, and which 

 all bees seem to understand. 



" These seem to be trivial matters to relate just now, I 

 know ; but there are ever so many such things in the course 

 of a bee-keeper's experience, and j'et thej' are important." 



" But," queried Mr. Bond, "what has all this to do with 

 my way of hiving swarms? I don't, somehow, catch on." 



" I'm coming to that," I replied. " These explanations 

 were necessary in order that you might easily understand 

 the application ; which is this : 



" When j'ou take your box-hive and set it directly 

 under, or near, the place where the swarm has settled, and 

 after getting the bees into it, and, as you think, preparing 

 to go to housekeeping, j'ou leave them there. You don't 

 even take the trouble to look at the hive again a few 

 days after. Well, sir, in a majority of such cases the 

 scouting party comes back soon after you leave and takes 

 that swarm away. That is the reason I said you would find 

 manj' of those hives, standing around in out-of-the-way 

 places, empty, when you examine them. 



" I lost a swarm one time under similar circumstances, 

 when I was yet a green hand at the business. The bees had 

 clustered on a low-hanging limb of an apple-tree. I took an 

 empty hive and placed it under the cluster. Then I slowly — 

 that is, gradually — shook the bees off, and thus got them all 

 in. Then I sat down on a box not far away and watcht 

 them, intending to carry them to the apiary after sundown. 



"Well, sir, while I was sitting there I heard a buzzing 

 noise above the tree, and saw a great many bees flying 

 about in an excited manner, making more noise, I thought, 

 than bees ordinarily do. Before I could take a step, or 

 think a thought, that swarm poured forth and joined the 

 scouting party ; and oft" they went like a whirlwind. Had 

 I known enough to remove the hive, after securing the 

 swarm, far enough away to be out of sight of the returning 

 scouts, I wouldn't have lost that swarm. 



"Now, Mr. Bond, I am well aware that it may appear 

 to you that I'm telling you all this because I like to talk 

 about bees. Bee-keepers have a reputation, you probably 

 know, for being out-and-out cranks on the subject ; and 

 you surely know that nearly all cranks are great talkers. 

 Well, I want to assure you that I am not 'talking thru my 

 hat." The information I am giving is of no slight impor- 

 tance. Should you conclude to keep only one or two colo- 

 nies of bees instead of 50, and to apply to those two the les- 

 son I am giving you, you would soon find out that everj' 

 item of seemingly trivial detail will be useful at one time 

 or another. If you go at the business in earnest j'OU will 

 soon learn that you can not succeed, all around, unless you 

 know how to handle a swarm when it leaves the parent 

 hive, and how to prevent its running off to the woods either 

 before or after hiving it. 



" Permit me to tell another thing before I forget it, Mr. 

 Bond. Long before I became a bee-keeper myself I often 

 observed the fact that those that are not fulh' informed in 

 bee-lore seem to put a low estimate on a swarm of bees. If 

 they knew what an early swarm may really be worth in a 

 favorable season they would surely try to keep it. And, 

 I'm sorr)' to say, even reputable bee-keepers are not all as 

 well informed on this z'i/al point as they should be. That 

 this assertion is true I can show by relating two incidents 

 from my experience which illustrate the fact itself, as well 

 as the result of the ignorance that led to it. The first case 

 was as follows : 



"It was my first season's experience in bee-keeping. I 

 had onlj' two colonies, but they were boomers. Both had 

 been transferred the winter previous, one from a cracker- 

 barrel, and the other from an old-fashioned box-hive. Some 

 time when it's more proper and convenient than just now I 

 will tell you all about that job of transferring bees. It was 

 interesting in several ways, I assure you. I lived in Mis- 



