GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



terest in bees in Ohio, especially the nortli- 

 wepL ])art of it, is considerably above the 

 normal. The bees were still gatliering hott- 

 er From the clovers at the time, and the 

 locality v;as exceptionally good for that 

 kind of field day. It is doubtless true that 

 other field meets will be held in the vicinity. 



A Harem of Queens 



A IIARKM of queens, as spoken of by 0. 

 A. Bromfield, page 765, is not an uncom- 

 mon occurrence with after-swarms. In fact, 

 tiiese little swarms usually have a plurality 

 of queens; but it is an uncommon experi- 

 ence to liave several virgin queens living 

 together in harmony among the same bees. 

 Wlien they do this, there is possibly a sort 

 of '' understanding " that more swarms will 

 issue, taking with them the surplusage of 

 queens. But such excessive swai'ming is 

 not a profitable condition in the beeyard, 

 and it is here that the apiarist sh.ould step 

 ill and stop proceedings. 



time. It sliould, therefore, be condemned 

 not only by beekeepers, but by experiment 

 stations and fruit-gTowers alike. 



Clover Prospects Next Season 



The weather maps show that the rain- 

 almost-every-day proposition in the clover 

 belt is giving way to sunshine and hot 

 weather. Our bees have started gathering 

 lioney from Die asters, goldenrod, white, 

 alsike, and red clovers. Mr. J. E. Crane 

 elscwlipi'e suggests that this peculiar season 

 has not been duplicated before since 1865 

 iu the days of Father Quinby. 



If, perchance, the rains should continue 

 through the fall, there will be an abun- 

 dance of clover next spring. As there has 

 not been a larger fall of rain in inches this 

 year than normal it is not at all likely there 

 will be a drouth next spring. If we have 

 ordinary conditions we shall have a record- 

 brealang clover season next year. Clover 

 thrixes when the rains are light and often. 



The Net-weight Law a Blessing and 

 not a Curse 



William Vollmer^ in this issue, says he 

 is in favor of the net-Aveight law as it 

 stands, even in reference to comb honey. 

 While the wrapping ai'ound hams weighs 

 from 3 to 4 ounces to 10 lbs. of meat, the 

 section around comb honey as he says is 

 one ounce to every ten or more ounces. 

 Relatively there is a big difference. We can 

 agree with our corresiDondent that the net- 

 weight law is all right as it is. All we need 

 to do is to adjust ourselves to it. While it 

 may impose a hardship at first, it will nec- 

 essai'ily result in a higher quality of comb 

 honey, better filling, and a more uniform 

 product. 



Conclusive Proof that Bees are Killed 

 by Spraying 



J. E. Crane, in his department in this 

 issue, furnishes some rather conclusive 

 proof showing that bees are actually killed 

 by the use of arsenate of led so commonly 

 used in spraying fruit-trees. The bees were 

 gathered up by the handful and sent to 

 Dr. E. F. T'hillips, of the Department of 

 vVgriculture, and an analysis shows an abun- 

 dance of arsenate of lead in the dead bees. 



Theie have been many reports of bees 

 dying as the result of spraying; but only 

 two or three that give such conclusive evi- 

 dence as this. The fact that the bees are 

 killed sometimes, at least, makes the spray- 

 ing of trees while in bloom unsafe at any 



The Spread of Blight Among Fruit- 

 trees due to Pvincturing Insects 



As an addendum to our article on page 

 767 in this issue, on the relation of bees to 

 blight, we may say that later investigations 

 go to show that bees seem to ti^y to avoid 

 the virus of blight. It has also been dis- 

 covered that there are certain puncturing 

 insects that pierce the bark of tender shoots 

 and limbs of tiees. These wounded limbs 

 or shoots are very susceptible to the virus 

 of blight. Many non-puncturing insects 

 such as ants and flies crawling over the 

 blighted portions of a tree will cai'ry the 

 infection to the punctures in the young 

 shoots. This is the reason why so many 

 young trees and young shoots that have 

 never borne any blossoms are so susceptible 

 to blight. 



The evidence is accumulating more and 

 more, showing that the bees do not carry 

 blight to the extent that was formerly sup- 

 posed. Some interesting developments will 

 be made a little later that will go to show 

 that they are in all probability a very small 

 factor in the spread of blight. 



A National Honey Day 



Elsewhere in this issue reference is 

 made to the advent of a new bee paper 

 called The Booster. Among other ])lans to 

 " lioost " the sale of honey the editor advo- 

 cates setting a.side a certain day in the year 

 as " Honey day." He suggests Nov. 25 as 



