1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CrLTURE. 



263 



the second in the room wher-« the watchman stays, 

 and the third is in our bedroom over at the house. 

 These are for the purpose of giving us notice, not 

 that the fire needs attention, but that the water 

 must be looked after, and turned off when the fire is 

 out. If nobody should be around to turn the water 

 off, I suppose the contents of the great tank on the 

 hill would be gradually sprinkled over the spot 

 where the fire was. Further particulars of this 

 wonderful apparatus may be had of B. W. Dawley, 

 115 Monroe St., Chicago, 111., Providence Steam and 

 Gas Pipe Co. 



THINGS NOT NECESSARILY USELESS BECAUSE OLD. 



All sorts of devices are being sent to us as im- 

 provements over the common accepted imple- 

 ments. With almost hardly an exception these 

 things are old; and It begins to seem as if it were 

 impossible to invent something new in bee culture. 

 But because a thing is old it does not necessarily 

 signify that it is valueless; but in a great many 

 cases the rule holds true. But things are changing 

 a good deal. What we a few years ago deemed im- 

 practicable and unnecessary— "too complicated and 

 too much machinery "—quite possibly may be just 

 the thing we need at the present time; or if not at 

 present, in the near future. For instance: A few 

 years ago a great majority of the bee keepers 

 would not tolerate frames at fixed distances. At 

 that time out-apiaries and moving bees had not be- 

 gun to assume the importance that they do now; 

 but it begins to look as if bee-keepers at large 

 would generally demand a frame that will be held 

 at certain distances apart, and .sfaj/ »o whether the 

 hive is to sit upright or on its side ; whether it is to 

 remain quietly on its stand, or be jolted over a 

 rough road. 



It is true, that a good many valuable devices have 

 been suggested in the past; but as the times were 

 not ripe for them, they lay dormant until they were. 

 Take, as an illustration, the thick top bar. It was 

 suggested years ago, and now is coming into prom- 

 inence. While Dr. A. B. Mason was here he told a 

 little story that bears somewhat on the point. In 

 or near Toledo, in the present gas-fleld, some old 

 fellow, after be had dug his well to pretty nearly 

 the required depth, discovered there was a hissing 

 noise. As it was a little dark in the well he deter- 

 mined to take a light down and investigate. He 

 had no sooner got his candle down near that 

 strange hissing noise than he was " fired "out of the 

 well as from the mouth of a large cannon, and, 

 strangely enough, he landed on the surface of the 

 ground without injury. Neither he nor any one 

 else stopped to reflect that it was natural gas, 

 mixed with common air, in the right proportion to 

 produce an explosion. The times were not ripe yet, 

 and the superstitious people declared that the 

 spirits held possession in the depths of the well. 

 Without further investigation the owner filled the 

 well up, burying one of the greatest treasures that 

 has ever been given to mankind, and concealing 

 for many years to come something that has blessed 

 the world during the last two or three years in the 

 form of natural gas. If superstition had not been 

 rife, and the spirit of scientific investigation had 

 prevailed, folks would have wanted to know what 

 threw that fellow out of the well. The result 

 would have been natural gas years ago, and the 

 poor well-digger and his neighbors might have 

 been immensely wealthy. Dr. Mason tells us that 



within the past year this old well has been resur- 

 rected, and is now one of the profitable gas-wells, 

 doing good service and blessing community. 



Just think how near many times we approach the 

 discovery of a valuable idea; and yet, even after 

 the thing is presented to our very eyes, we reject it 

 until the ripe time has arrived. Let us not be dis- 

 couraged, then, friends; even if things are old, may 

 be they are good. The only sad thing about it is 

 that, if we wish to patent the idea, we can not do it, 

 that is all, because some fellow away back in the 

 '60's illustrated and described that very thing, but 

 the world did not see the point. E. 



SPRAYING FRUIT-TREES. 



As the season will soon be upon us, it may be 

 well to consider this matter of damage to bees by 

 unnecessary and useless spraying of fruit-trees 

 when in blossom. The matter has been brought up 

 so many times, and it has been so fully explained 

 by our experiment stations that there is no collision 

 at all between fruit-growers and honey-producers, 

 it seems as if everybody should understand it. We 

 will go over it again, however. It has been fully 

 decided, by competent authority, that the proper 

 time to spray is after the blossoms have fallen. 

 Paris green or London purple must be deposited on 

 the fruit itself; and this can not be done while it is 

 covered by the petals of the blossoms. If done at 

 the proper time as above, there can be no possible 

 injury to the bees, nor to the people who eat the 

 honey; in fact, I do not see how there could be any 

 injury at all, unless somebody is stubborn, ugly, 

 and wicked. In that case he should be dealt with 

 by law, if nothing else will answer. Some of the 

 periodicals devoted to gardening and fruit-growing 

 have been very shortsighted in this matter; one es- 

 pecially, indulged in someunkindretiections toward 

 Prof. Cook, and intimated that the fruit interests 

 were as of much importance as the honey interests ; 

 whereas the publisher of any journal devoted to 

 fruit or vegetables should certainly understand 

 that there is no conflicting of interests at all. A 

 correspondent says that, in a catalogue published 

 by Chas. A. Green, editor of the Fruit Grower, oc- 

 cur these words of instruction: 



'*A spray of very weak Paris green thrown over 

 the foliage at blossoming time." 



One of our bee-men, Mr. N. T. Phelps, of Kingsville, 

 Ohio, wrote a remonstrance, to which the editor 

 replies: 



"On account of possible injury to bees, do not 

 spray until the blossoms have begun to disappear." 



Now, this is good so far as it goes; but it inti- 

 mates indirectly that there is need, in the interests 

 of a crop of fruit, to spray the Idossoms. I think 

 Editor Green wants shaking up a little. It seems 

 to us that the editors of the agricultural papers 

 should not only be thoroughly posted, but they 

 should be vehement in setting people right on a 

 matter that interests both parties— fruit-growers 

 and bee-keepers. It is a serious matter to poison a 

 neighbor's stock, but a thousand times more serious 

 when you heedlessly go at something that may poi- 

 son not only your neighbor, but the public at large. 

 We need hardly hint that the bees are of benefit to 

 the fruit-growers as well as to the bee-keepers. 

 Please remember, friends, that at the joint conven- 

 tion of the bee-keepers and fruit-growers of the 

 great State of Michigan, the decision was that there 

 were no conflicting interests of any account. This 



