Old Mother Nature 141 



have sufficient time to return to the hive before passing out. 

 If they did that, it would be very unfortunate, for in that 

 way they could carry DDT to the hive itself and bring 

 about the death of the whole colony. But so far, at least, 

 there is no evidence that bees pick up lethal doses of DDT 

 and return to the hives to die. Either they don't get enough 

 DDT to kill them, or else they get so much that they die 

 right away; and there is no evidence whatever that the latter 

 is the case. 



Obviously, one must use judgment when applying DDT 

 to his crops, the same as he does when he uses it in his home. 

 It would not be sensible to spray the blossoms of fruit trees 

 when you knew that the bees would soon be on those very 

 blossoms. The sensible thing would be to spray the trees 

 before the blossoms opened — and no bees were around — 

 and again after the bees had finished their task. Then there 

 would be no possibility of leaving a residual deposit of DDT 

 on the blossoms themselves. 



By the proper application of DDT, our bee population 

 should be materially increased, for when destructive insects 

 get in their work, plants are often so badly destroyed that 

 they have few blossoms and, hence, little food for bees. Thus, 

 treatment of alfalfa fields with DDT before bloom is very 

 desirable from the bee's point of view as well as from the 

 farmer's. The results can be summarized in a few words: 

 Fewer insects, more flower buds, more bees, better pollina- 

 tion, and more seed. 



Bees have been with us a long, long time. They have 

 seen many insecticides come into use, and they will undoubt- 

 edly see many more. So far, no insecticide has seriously af- 

 fected our bee population, and DDT is less likely to do this 

 than other popular inseaicides. Your chances of getting 



