1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



791 



few days ago he came into the office triumph- 

 antly, bringing us the bird alive and in a cage. 

 He said it became so tame that it actually came 

 in at the open window, and began its work 

 on the grapes where they stood in a basket on 

 the table. They captured the bird and brought 

 him down to us. We forwarded him at once to 

 our Ohio E.xperiinent Station; and Prof. Green, 

 the horticulturist, has given us the following 

 very full and complete paper in regard to the 

 matter: 



Mr. Root :— Yours of the 14tli, with the bird, is at 

 hand. It is a g'oldflnch, or wild canary, commonly 

 called. I liave no doubt about its g'uilt, but I am 

 sure that there are nther birds equally bad. We 

 had considerable trouble with birds oue season in 

 Columbus, and, if I remember corrci'tly, it was the 

 bluejay; and I am credibly informed that the turtle 

 dove is a culprit al-o. I believe that, it' you were to 

 inquire of naturalists throughout the countiy, the 

 list of g'uilty birds would be found to be much 

 longer than most people suspect. 



I have noticed the controversy concerning the 

 bees and graphs, and thought of writing you about 

 the matter, but did not, because it seemed to me 

 that, if people would observe a little, there would 

 be no grounds for controversy. 



Grapes have cracked very badly this season— that 

 is, some varieties liave, and there is more or less of 

 cracking every year. One gentleman told me that 

 the grapes which he had inclosed in paper sacks 

 had cracked also. This proves that bees did not do 

 the work; but such proof is hardly necessaixy, tor 

 any one can easily convince himself that grapes 

 crack open when the weatlnsr is just right. A crack 

 is so unlike a puncture that no one need be told the 

 difference. So, also, the bill of a bird makes such a 

 characteristic mark that no one need mistake it for 

 anj' thing else. Grape-growers are so familiar with 

 these things that I do not think they very often lay 

 the blame to the bees. Certainly no one who has 

 worked with grapes a few seasons ought to blame 

 the bees when the causes named are so evident. 

 Of course, it is sometimes rather unpleasant to have 

 the bees swarming about the grapes; but it is just 

 as well that they get the wasting juices, and better, 

 in fact. I have known bees to be very troublesome 

 about overripe raspberries, but it was the condi- 

 tion of tlie fruit which attracted them as in the case 

 of the grapes. 



There is one reason for the discrepancy in the 

 opinions on this matter which I may point out, for 

 it comes in my line of work. Varieties of grapes 

 differ greatly in their susceptibility to crack, and 

 birds prefer some above others. Thus the bees may 

 l)e working on one person's grapes and not on those 

 of his neJglibors. If the man who is losing his 

 grapes lives near an apiary he may rashly conclude 

 that he is suffering because the bees find his grapes 

 convenient. I have often heard this alluded to in 

 a way that showed that the opinion was held that 

 the nearness of the bees proved their guilt. The 

 simple fact that a man who lives near where bees 

 are kept is losing his grapes proves nothing what- 

 ever against tlie bees. 



I have jilso heard it said that bees work on grapes 

 when there is a scarcity of honey, and the fact cited 

 to pi'ove their guilt. It may be that they will work 

 more freely on grapes when they do not find honey 

 plentiful than when it is abundant. 1 am not able 

 to argue the iiuestion from tlie bee-keeper's stand- 

 l)Oint; but as a horticulturist I can say that it is 

 nonsensi' to cl.aim that the cracking of grapes is 

 coincident with the scarcity of honey. 



To my mind it seems about as reasonable to accuse 

 bees of breaking open grapes as to suppose that 

 they will make holes in maple-trees to get the sap. 

 Rees like maple sap, and sit times they are quite 

 troublesome about the camp; but no one would 

 indulge in sucli an absurdity as to claim that they 

 have any thing to do with making the sap How. It 

 may not seem so absurd to most people to claim 

 that they open grapes; but those who know most 

 about bees find it about as hard to understand how 

 bees can break the skin of grapes any more success- 

 fully than they can bore through the bark of a 

 maple-tree. 



I used to amuse myself examining bees, Hies, and 



various insects under the microscope, but I never 

 discovered that the honey-bee is any better equip- 

 ped for puncturing grapes than the houseHy. It is 

 common sense, when looking for the reason of 

 things, to assign the force to the nearest apparent 

 cause. If I were looking for the cause of any un- 

 usual behavior in a tree or plant 1 would first ex- 

 amine carefully all of the surroundings, and not go 

 over into the next Held to find that which reason 

 would tell me must be close at hand, nor should I 

 attribute to the moon or stars that which abundant 

 experience convinces me must belong to the earth. 



Now, we know that birds puncture grapes, and 

 in some cases ruin the crop; and we also know that 

 grapes crack, even when tied up in paper sacks; but 

 we do not know that bees have the power to make 

 a hole in the skin of the most tender grape. Why, 

 then, go so far out of our way to prove the bees 

 guilty ? If we are going to abandon common sense 

 in the matter, why not lay it to the moon at once ? 

 The moon is said to have a powerful effect in warp- 

 ing shingles, and can even tear down a rail fence 

 and pull potatoes out of the ground. If it can do 

 these things, it seems strange that no one has dis- 

 covered it can burst the skin of grapes. 



Wooster, O., Oct. 16. W. J. Green. 



The picture and description of goldfinch, in 

 the Standard dictionary,* agrees with the spec- 

 imens we sent, or with the ones we have sub- 

 sequently captured. The goldfinch has more 

 yellow, and the bill is short and blunt, while 

 that of the little culprit is perhaps }{ inch long, 

 and very sharp. With this exception it looks 

 like the goldfinch. Is there not some mistake, 

 Prof. Green? 



AMALGAMATION AT LINCOLN, "CRAZY SHOTS," 

 ETC. 



In the paper by Thomas G. Newman, read at 



the North American convention at Lincoln, he 



used this language: 



The "nonsense" which has been published like 

 this: "I say, away with amalgamation, and let the 

 Union set about to reorganize itself as soon as it 

 can," is simply ridiculous. It has been a success 

 from its very inception. It asks nothing but good 

 will from its neighbor— the North American Bee- 

 keepers' Association— and can live and prosper, do- 

 lug its own work— that work for which it was cre- 

 ated—without losing its head, its temper, or its 

 understanding. Its uniform success and its excel- 

 lent fluancial condition are something all should be 

 proud of instead of hurling at it such crazy " shots " 

 or empty or crack^ " shells "' as the foregoing quo- 

 tation, and calling it a " poor flzzle," etc. 



I am a little surprised that the old wheel- 

 horse of the Union and of the American Bee 

 Journal should fall into the error (uninten- 

 tionally perhaps), of giving a jjart of a quota- 

 tion or just enough of it to mislead. The lan- 

 guage that Mr. Newman refers to appears on 

 page 609 of Gleanings. This is what I actu- 

 ally said: 



The Canadians are away ahead of us in that they 

 have a flourishing society almost national in its 

 character, but which really covers Ontario only. 

 Let us on this side of the line have something big 

 enough to cover the United States onlj% and one 

 that will answer the purpose of the two existing 

 societies. Having two, as we now do, is expensive 

 and unnecessary while it is perfectly evident that 

 one could do the work of the two. Personally I 

 should be glad to sec them amalgamated, providing 

 disagreeiible complications would not arise. As 

 there is a possibility of that, I say away with amal- 

 gamation, and let the Union set about to reorgan- 

 ize itself as soon as it can. 



The reading of the whole shows that the part 



*The ornithology in this work was edited by an 

 expert, and I assume that the cut and description 

 is reasonably correct.— Ed. 



