204 



American Hee Journal 



July, 1908. 



I ,,ve little or no effect on the human 

 system. This is why I say that no kind 

 of nectar secreted by the flowers of any 

 shrub or planfis poisonous. If the nec- 

 tar that is in the various plants were 

 really poison, the bees would never be 

 able to reach their hives with it, as all 

 honey is carried in the first stomach or 

 "honey-sac" of the bee. Then, if the 

 honey in the plants that was put there 

 for the purpose of attracting the bees 

 so as to cause perfect fertilization of 



the flowers should be poison, it would 

 seem that nature — or God, if you please, 

 — had made a big tnistake. 



No, honey is not poison, as gathered 

 naturally by the bees from any shrub 

 or plant, and I think the cases of sick- 

 ness that are reported from eating 

 honey, from time to time, are from one 

 of two causes, first, from over-eating; 

 second, from eating green or unripe 

 honey, which is not wholesome. — L. B. 

 Smith, in Dallas News. 



Conducted by J. L. BYER. Mount Joy, Ont. 



Fair Honey Prospects in Ontario. 



In our locality as well as in most parts 

 of Ontario, May was very wet. How- 

 ever, since June came in, a different 

 state of things has existed. For 3 weeks 

 here we have had scarcely any rain, and 

 as I write (June 21) everything is dry, 

 and rain is needed badly. However, 

 clover is rank by reason of the abundant 

 early rains, and for the past 4 days 

 has been yielding fine. If rain comes, 

 followed by good weather, prospects are 

 good for a crop. 



Bees in our locality, as intimated in 

 the June number, are not in as good 

 condition generally as in other years, 

 but the late season has helped some, 

 and prospects on the whole are fair. 



L.\TER, June 24.. — Since writing the 

 above, we have had splendid rains, and 

 everything looks smiling again, even the 

 bee-keepers. 



When to Examine for Foul Brood. 



It is a common view that during a 

 flow of honey, is a good time to examine 

 bees for foul brood. While this is true 

 in so far that honey enough to prevent 

 robbing should be coming in, yet when 

 there is a "sprinkling" in the yard, dur- 

 ing a HEAVV FLOW is not a good time to 

 inspect the bees. The bees in their 

 eagerness to deposit tlie nectar will put 

 the honey in cells even if there are dried 

 scales of foul brood present, and where 

 a colony is but very slightly affected, 

 it is a hard matter to be sure of not 

 missing seeing a cell or two. A recent 

 call to inspect a large apiary that had 

 only 3 or 4 cases of foul brood leads me 

 to make this statement. While there, 

 honey was coming in very rapidly, and 

 everything was simply swimming in 

 nectar. The best time in my estimation 

 for looking for foul brood in suspected 

 colonies, is during fruit-bloom. 



Spraying Dlooniing Fruit-Trees. 



Editor Hurley says in June Canadian 

 Bee Journal that a bee-keeper in British 

 Columbia has written him that there they 



have an inspector (presur:iably an or- 

 chard inspector) who advocates the 

 spraying of fruit-trees while in bloom. 

 Iilr. Hurley expresses surprise at this, 

 as here in Ontario we have a law that 

 prohibits the spraying of trees while in 

 bloom. I am not sure as to how much 

 legislation has been enacted along this 

 line in the United States, but from var- 

 ious articles noticed lately in different 

 papers, I presume our American bee- 

 keeping cousins need to be on the move 

 to see that spraying in bloom does not 

 become more general than is the case 

 now. 



One of these articles referred to was 

 written by an entomologist of Washing- 

 ton State, and he advocates a thorough 

 spraying with arsenate of lead to kill 

 codling-moth. He says : 



"To reach the bottom of the calyx 

 much pressure is absolutely necessary." 

 "Stay with a tree until the bottom of 

 every blossom is filled." Most early 

 worms enter the apple through the 

 bottom of the caly.x cup. When this is 

 poisoned there can be no late worms, 

 for the early must live to be the parents 

 of the later ones." 



Whether tliis course is necessary or 

 not is not for the writer to say, certainly 

 the bulk of opinion says it is not even 

 necessary, but positively harmful. Cer- 

 tainly it would make short shift of the 

 bees. The following article is taken 

 from the National Fruit Grower, and is 

 self-explanatory: 



Spraying in the Blossom. 



"There has been considerable dis- 

 cussion pro and con concerning the ex- 

 act time when spraying for the codling 

 moth should be done to secure best 

 results. It has been the accepted theory 

 that at least 80 percent of the blossoms 

 should have fallen before spraying 

 should be done. Recent experiment, 

 however, demonstrating this is later 

 than it should be ; that when 40 percent 

 have fallen operations should begin, and 

 in one of the most extensive fruit sec- 

 tions in New York spraying when trees 

 arc in the height of bloom has been 

 practiced for the past 5 years with not 



only the best of results so far as the 

 control of the codling moth was con- 

 cerned, but without any apparent injury 

 to the fruit. Our own observation in 

 other sections confirms this experience. 



"It is a fact, therefore, worthy of care- 

 ful attention, because if spraying in the 

 blossom can be successfully and safely 

 done it is a very decided advant.age in 

 that it allows a longer period in v/hich 

 the work necessary for the control of 

 this pest of fruit, principally the apple, 

 can be carried on. The importance of 

 spraying for the first brood of codling 

 moth cannot be misunderstood. If this 

 spraying is thoroughly done, the subse- 

 quent broods will amount to very little. 

 Spraying in the blossom then will be 

 an advance over present methods and 

 promises a larger control of the moth, 

 and an added value to our fruit crop. 



"One of the greatest objections to 

 spraying in blossom has been the dan- 

 ger of killing the bee, which is a well 

 recognized friend in the poUenization 

 process of fruits. Some experiments 

 along this line are exploding old and 

 generally accepted theories. It is found 

 that alternate planting of fruits of fer- 

 tile bloom with those of infertile was 

 far more productive of benecial results 

 than any or all bees furnished in poUen- 

 ization. A large apiarist near Gasport, 

 N. Y., in his testimony before the com- 

 mittee on agriculture of the New York 

 Assembly stated that he saw no injury 

 whatever to his bees from spraying the 

 fruit orchards in his neighborhood when 

 in full blossom with the usual arsenites. 

 This evidence may not be convincing, 

 but it is sufficient to justify careful ex- 

 perimenting with a view of determin- 

 ing the facts. The shortness of the 

 time to spray for codling-moth has been 

 the difficulty in having the work done 

 as it should be done, and if spraying 

 can be done in the bloom without ser- 

 iously affecting the bees or injuring the 

 bloom, controlling codling-moth is very 

 much simplified." 



It would be interesting to know how 

 this "large apiarist near Gasport" arrived 

 at such conclusions. Certainly a number 

 of reliable apiarists have had to their 

 sorrow, quite a different experience. 



Souvenir Bee Posted Cards 



We have gotten up 4 Souvenir Postal 

 Cards of interest to bee-keepers. No. i 

 is a Teddy Bear card, with a stanza of 

 rhyme, a straw bee-hive, a jar and sec- 

 tion of honey, etc. It is quite senti- 

 mental. No. 2 has the words and mu- 

 sic of the song, "The Bee-Keeper's Lul- 

 laby;" No. 3, the words and music of 

 "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey ;" and No. 

 4, the words and music of "The Hum- 

 ming of the Bees." We send these cards, 

 postpaid, as follows : 4 cards for 10 

 cents, 10 cards for 20 cents; or 6 cards 

 with the American Bee Journal one year 

 for 50 cents. Send all orders to the of- 

 fice of the American Bee Journal, 118 

 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, 111. 



Apiarian Pictures 



We would be glad to have those who 

 can do so, send us pictures of bee- 

 yards, or of anything else that would be 

 of interest along the bee-keeping line. 



