306 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



and Logan berries, are grown in that valley 

 that will aggregate nearly 4000 carloads 

 more. Just think of it — 8000 carloads of 

 fruit from a triangular region about ten 

 miles across! 



But what has all of this to do with bee- 

 keeping? At first we heard that there wei'e 

 no bees there. If that were so it would have 

 a tendency to contradict some of our theo- 

 ries concerning apple-growing; but investi- 

 gation showed that there were some bees in 

 the valley, just the same, although the num- 

 ber was comparatively small; and the 

 strange thing is the fruit-growers in that 

 valley, supported by the county horticultur- 

 ist, do not care to encourage the introduc- 

 tion of bees. Another remarkable fact is, 

 that the trees are sprayed while in bloom; 

 and the horticultural commissioner, Mr. W. 

 H. Volck, supported by Prof. Woodworth, 

 says that such spraying does not kill the 

 bees, and they do not believe that the spray- 

 ing of cover crops in Colorado would do it 

 either. 



Right here locality has a wonderful bear- 

 ing on the relation of bees to apple-grow- 

 ing. Both varieties of the apples mentioned 

 are self-fertilizing in that valley — that is to 

 say, they do not need the agency of bees to 

 mingle the pollen. At least in that particu- 

 lar valley it would appear that bees are not 

 an important factor in the production of 

 these two varieties. 



One more factor is the long period of 

 bloom during which the bees are able to 

 work. A comparatively small number of 

 bees in weather like that of the valley can 

 do the work of many bees in localities where 

 cold and damp weather allows them to work 

 on the blossoms for only a few hours. 



But how do they know that spraying 

 while in bloom does not kill the few bees 

 that are there? Professor Woodworth placed 

 a colony of bees right in the midst of the 

 orchards during the time when the trees 

 were in full bloom, and while they were 

 being sprayed. Instead of using arsenate 

 of lead the apple-growers use arsenite of 

 zinc — a much stronger poison ; and even 

 this, say Professor Woodworth and Com- 

 missioner Volck, had no effect whatever on 

 that colony of bees. They prospered during 

 the entire spraying season, and stored hon- 

 ey. After the spraying season was over, the 

 colony was sent to the University at Berke- 

 ley, and both the honey and the bees them- 

 selves were very carefully examined for 

 traces of arsenic; but none could be found 

 except on the outside of the bees. It seems 

 that the bees were literally doused with the 

 ]>oison Avhile they were flying; but, appar- 

 ently, they got mine of it in their intestines.* 



Commissioner Volck was kind enough to 

 take us in his machine over different parts 

 of the valley. We drove something like 

 thirty or forty miles that day. We found 

 bees in several places, but hardly enough to 

 pollinate such an enormous number of trees 

 provided the varieties were sterile to their 

 own pollen, as occurs in most cases and in 

 most localities. In this connection it ap- 

 pears that locality has a strong bearing on 

 the question of whether bees are needed to 

 pollinate the blossoms. The Newtowns and 

 the Bellflowei'S are the only varieties that do 

 well there, and both are apparently self- 

 fertile in that wonderful clime. 



We remarked that if more bees were put 

 in the valley there would be more fruit; but 

 Commissioner Volck immediately replied, 

 " The fruit is too thick there already as it 

 is. It has to be thinned out on the trees." 



•'* But," we remarked, " if there were bees 

 there in sufficient numbers, would not the 

 fruit be larger? " 



" It could not be very much better," he 

 said, and pointed to some specimens on the 

 hotel table where we were then eating. 



Professor Woodworth is Entomologist of 

 the University of California at Berkeley, 

 and a great friend of the bees. While he 

 freely acknowledges they are necessary for 

 the proper fruitage in many localities, he 

 says it is clear that their presence in that 

 valley is not essential. 



He says, however, that there were more 

 bees there on this tour of inspection than 

 he supposed; and he thought it was possi- 

 bl}^ true that they did some work in those 

 orchards. But one thing he says is quite 

 certain ; and that is, that spraying while in 

 bloom did not hurt the bees nor the fruit. 

 He had his serious doubts as to whether 

 the arsenate of lead that fell on the cover 

 crops in Colorado was the real cause of the 

 death of so many bees. We told him that 

 Prof. C. P. Gillette, of the Colorado Ex- 

 periment Station, was very much of the 

 opinion that it does kill the bees. That 

 might be possible, but he did not see how 

 locality could make all the difference. Dr. 

 A. J. Cook, Horticultural Commissioner of 

 California, on the other hand, said he was 

 very sure that ordinary arsenate-of-lead 

 sprays could and do kill bees under most 

 conditions, and reports generally seem to 

 confirm this. 



* Prof. Woodworth. in an article in Gleanings, 

 pase 987, Dec. 15, 1914, described the olxservations 

 and the conclii.sions ho had reached on this matter. 

 Sulisequent rritici.sm ha.s boon to the effect that ex- 

 periments witli arsenite of zinc would give no re- 

 sult for arsenate of lead, since tlie former might 

 !-epeI the bees. It was also brouglit out that one 

 colony one season was not a fair basis for conclu- 

 sion. 



