982 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



3. I never could get better crops of comb 

 honey than from strong swarms if I had 

 them at just the right time. Other bee- 

 keepers in other locations may get good 

 crops of comb honey from old colonies in 

 small or in large hives. I do not doubt 

 this; but I never could do it. As we can 

 make our swarms as strong as we like 

 them, I am fully convinced that this method 

 is the best for comb-honey production, in 

 in my locality at least. 



4. I have had the good luck to have no ex- 

 perience with foul brood as yet; but if the 

 McEvoy treatment is a sure cure, as many 

 bee-keepers report, there can be no doubt 

 that, by reasonable use of forced swarm- 

 ing, foul brood can be held in check in an 

 apiary, even if other colonies in the neigh- 

 borhood should remain infected with that 

 disease. 



SPRAYING FRU1T=TREES. 



Does Spraying do More Harm, as a Whole, than 

 Good ? When to Spray. 



BY HARRY L. SMITH. 



On page 845 Stenog takes a few extracts 

 from an article on spraying which appears 

 in the America7i Bee Journal. One of these 

 extracts says, " Spraying really does more 

 harm, as a whole, than it does good. I 

 have worked at it, and I have studied it 

 closely more than twenty years. It does 

 some good, but that good is limited." I am 

 sure that the editor of Gukanings will give 

 room for the other side of the argument. I 

 am not only a fruit-grower but an apiarist, 

 on a small scale. So far as my experience 

 goes, no orchardist can afford to be without 

 bees in his orchard at blossoming time, on 

 account of the benefits received from the 

 better distribution of pollen. 



If there is so much gained by having an 

 abundance of bees in an orchard, then it is 

 for the fruit-grower's interest to protect not 

 only his own bees but those of his neigh- 

 bors as well. 



Spraying is used as a means of combat- 

 ing the various insect and fungous enemies 

 of the orchard and garden crops. Nearly 

 every mixture used in fighting these ene- 

 mies is poisonous if taken internally in 

 large enough quantities ; consequently it 

 stands to reason that, if these mixtures are 

 forced into the blossoms, the bees that gath- 

 er the nectar from these blossoms will get a 

 greater or less quantity of the poisons, and 

 that the bees or larvae eating the honey 

 made from this nectar will die. 



But right here comes the point that it is 

 entirely unnecessary to spray fruit-trees 

 while 'in blossom. Dozens, I might say 

 hundreds, of official tests made in this 

 country go to prove that trees sprayed be- 

 fore the blossoms open, and again after the 

 petals fall, receive greater benefit than 

 those sprayed while in bloom. This applies 

 to the prevention of apple scab and leaf 

 blight, pear and plum leaf blight, peach- 



leaf curl, and any other of the fungous dis- 

 eases. For codling-moth of the apple it is 

 far better to wait nearly a week after the 

 petals have fallen than to spray while in 

 bloom. 



Mr. Jeffrey says, " It does some good, 

 but that good is limited." Yes, that good 

 is limited by the amount of care and intel- 

 ligence used in mnking and applying the 

 mixtures and by the study given to the 

 proper conditions under which they should 

 be applied. Like many of the operations 

 in the apiary, spraj'ing must be done at 

 the proper time to be really profitable; and 

 if done at that time it will be of great ben- 

 efit to the fruit-grower and no detriment to 

 his neighbors. 



It seems to me that, rather than condemn 

 the practice of spraying, and have only hard 

 words for those who practice it, it would be 

 better for apinrists to learn what the condi- 

 tions are under which it should be carried 

 on, and teach their neighbors how to do it 

 properl}', thus resulting in good feeling all 

 around, and benefiting both parties. 



East Dixfield, Me. 



[While we admitted the statement that 

 spraying really does more harm than good, 

 from our friend Mr. Jeffrey, in so doing we 

 did not mean to imply that we believe it 

 ourselves. After all the evidence from ex- 

 periment stations and private investigations 

 that have come before us, it seems we must 

 admit that it does a great deal of good — 

 that is, when properly administered before 

 and after blooming. — Ed. J 



WYOMING. 



A Good Country for Bees. 



BY E. L. KANNEY. 



I have taken Glkanings for many years, 

 and somehow I can not do without it, either 

 when in the bee business or out of it. This 

 is one of the greatest Cv>untries for bees I 

 know of or have read about. My son began 

 three years ago with four stands, and took 

 that year something like 1000 lbs. of first- 

 quality comb honey. The next year, from 

 eight stands he took 2800 lbs. of the same. 

 One stand that 3'ear made nearly 600 lbs. 

 The last season was not as good, on ac- 

 count of a cold spring, and was cut short 

 by an early freeze in September. Neverthe- 

 less we have taken S200 lbs. of first quali- 

 ty, and, in fact, there is no second quality 

 except from burr- combs, or from sections 

 not filled and capped. The flavor is all 

 the same, and comes almost entirely from 

 sweet clover and alfalfa. The .'•200 lbs. is 

 about half extracted, and was produced 

 from 30 stands. The prices obtained have 

 ranged from Tjz to 9 for extracted, and 10 

 to l.S for comb, all sold at home. 



There is, to my knowledge, no disease, no 

 moth-, and veiy few difficulties to contend 

 with in the management of bees here. 



Lander, Wyoming, Nov. 1. 



