JANUAEY, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the proportionate cost of the package (in- 

 cluding material and labor) decreases, and 

 the proportionate value of honey increases. 

 The increase is fairly regular, altho the 

 percentage falls back a little from what 

 gallon and gallon tin cans. This is due to 

 might be expected in case of the one-half 



the small screw-cap opening, making the 

 labor of filling proportionately greater. 



This may not be interesting to all bee- 

 keepers; some are concerned only with the 

 problem of jjroduction. And yet, the proper 

 disposition of a crop ought to be just as 

 interesting as the production of that crop. 



SHAOEp PORTION 

 INDICATES COST OF 

 HONEY COMPARED 

 TO THE TOTAL COST 

 OF THE JAR OR CAW 



Diag am showing relative value of honey and ccntainer. The shaded part represents the value of the 



lioney (percentage of honey vahie marked) while the unshaded parts represent the proportional cost of the 



container. Note how very much larger is the proportional cost of the contiiner in the small sizis. 



BEES NOT PROVED GUILTY 



Careful Review of the Known Facts 

 Does '^N^t Warrant the Conclu- 

 sion that They Spread Fireblight 



By Prof. J. Troop 



TH E m e a n s 

 f distribu- 

 tion of pear 

 blight, o r fire- 

 blight, or twig- 

 blight, as it is 

 variously called, 

 has long been a 

 m y s t e r y and 

 still remains 

 more or less of a mystery, in spite of the 

 fact that many scientific articles have been 

 published concerning it. Eecently, a num- 

 ber of articles have been written upon the 

 subject the sole object of which seems to 

 be to connect up the honeybee as the main 

 culprit in spreading the disease in our or- 

 chards, and some of the results of experi- 

 ments, which have been conducted along 

 this line, would seem to favor this theory; 

 yet, when all the facts are connected up, 

 the bee usually has the best of the argu- 

 ment. Many people are prone to ignore 

 facts and accept theory instead. For ex- 

 ample, there are good orchardists who have 

 so much faith in the theories which they 

 have heard presented, or which they have 



read about on 

 this subject, 

 that they would 

 not allow a bee 

 in their or- 

 chards, if it 

 were possible to 

 keep it out. The 

 fact is, about 

 all the evidence 

 we have on the subject is circumstantial, 

 and that is very often far from reliable. It 

 is well known that bees visit apple and pear 

 blossoms for the purpose of obtaining pol- 

 len and nectar, out of which they make food 

 for the young bees, storing the surplus hon- 

 ey in the hives for future use. Soon after 

 the visits of the bees to the flowers, possi- 

 bly indications of the blight begin to show 

 themselves; therefore, according to the rea- 

 soning of some, the bees must have intro- 

 duced the germs, regardless of other possi- 

 ble causes. 



This reasoning is very much like that 

 other fallacy; viz., that bees destroy ripe 

 fiuit, because they have been seen working 

 like troopers gathering the juice and carry- 



