334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



filled with comb foundation is given, but 

 this only when queen-cells are being built. 



'' In uniting the colonies at the end of the 

 honey season the queen in the lower brood- 

 nest is usually killed by the bees. In ease 

 we did not take time to hunt out the old 

 queens we proceed in this fashion : 



"All honey is removed as soon as finished. 

 By the use of the sectional hive we have no 

 dummies under any part of our supers. 

 Over dummies bees never do the work as 

 when all sections are in close touch with 

 the brood-nest." 



I believe, in the above, I have covered 

 about all Mr. House told the convention, 

 and I want to say that I have for some six 



years or more handled a j^ortion of my 

 yards along this line. At times I have used 

 a modification of the plan outlined, follow- 

 ing Mr. Taylor, of Colorado, and Mr. Hand, 

 of Ohio; and I can say that I am well 

 pleased with this style of hive and its 

 workings. 



As to the wide-frame super, I can only 

 agree with Mr. House, having used this 

 style extensively for more than 35 years, 

 and am perfectly satisfied with it, using 

 now no other. It protects the honey-boxes 

 on all sides, thus giving us the cleanest 

 lioney with the minimum of labor. 



Naples, N. Y. 



BEES AND FRUIT- GMO^ 



BY S. H. BURTON 



That bees are an important factor in 

 fruit production has long been proven; and 

 the time is coming when the orchardist will 

 consider a few colonies of bees in the or- 

 chard as much a necessity as a sprayer. 



"With increased spraying we are destroy- 

 ing the beneficial or pollen-distributing in- 

 sects as well as the injurious ones; and to 

 offset this loss more bees must be kept. 



Observations taken at different times in 

 my own oi'chards show that weather condi- 

 tions, governing the flight of bees during 

 the time of blooming, have moi'e to do with 

 the setting of a good crop of fruit than any 

 other one factor in fruit production. Here 

 is some very striking proof: 



In a peach orchard of mixed varieti&s are 

 located several colonies of bees; and during 

 one particular season at blooming time the 

 weather was very cool and cloudy, with a 

 cold east wind. Several cold cloudy days 

 followed with drizzling rain, and the bees 

 did not visit the blossoms except at rare 

 intervals, when the sun would warm things 

 up for a couple of hours. The row of trees 

 directly in front of the hives bore an enor- 

 mous crop, while the trees on the distant 

 side of the orchard produced scarcely a 

 dozen peaches each. 



DOES SPRAYING KILL THE BEES? 



Under certain conditions the use of arsen- 

 icals is very destructive to the bee, and 

 orchardists who have given the matter care- 

 ful study will adopt means to prevent the 

 wholesale destruction of these most valuable 

 insects. Spraying while in full bloom is not 

 considered good orchard practice. The poi- 

 sonous spray falling on the sensitive stigma 

 of the flower injures it by burning, and you 

 not only kill the bees but defeat the very 



purpose which is sought — that of a good set 

 of fruit. Only a few varieties of apples, 

 notably the Roman Beauty, close the calyx 

 cup as soon as the petals fall, and it is well 

 to begin spraying this apple as soon as pos- 

 sible after blossoming. 



Most orchardists begin api3l3ang the cod- 

 ling-moth spray when about three- fourths 

 of the bloom has dropped. By this time the 

 flowers have ceased to j'ield nectar, and are 

 no longer visited by the bees. The stigma 

 in the flower-cup has dried up, and no harm 

 results from the spray falling on the blos- 

 som. 



The greatest danger of poisoning the bees 

 lies in the fact that most orchardists use 

 some variety of clover, either singly or in 

 mixture, as a cover crop ; and about the 

 time for the third summer spray this clover 

 is in full bloom. At this spraying, arsenate 

 of lead is used to control the second brood 

 of codling moth, lesser apple-worm, and 

 other leaf eating and chewing insects. The 

 poisonous spray falls on the cover crop, is 

 blown across the middles between the trees, 

 and every orchardist who has done much 

 spraying will admit that as much spray 

 material falls or is blown to the ground as 

 sticks on the trees, and herein is where the 

 trouble lies. 



RED CLOVER UNDER TREES DWARFED, 



Not much importance is attached to red 

 or crimson clover as a honey-plant, and bees 

 do not usually visit the blossoms; but the 

 moisture taken up by the trees and the 

 shade tends to dwarf the blossoms, shorten- 

 ing the length of the corolla till the bee is 

 able to sip the poisonous nectar from the 

 flower-cup. To obviate this trouble the 

 orchardist should mow the cover crop just 



