June 21, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



393 



year by reason of some ignorant or careless bee-keeper.s 

 who do not find out the crop and market conditions, but 

 rush their honey to the grocery store for any amount they 

 can get. Some small bee-keepers seem to think that what 

 they can realize out of their honey is just like finding so 

 much money ; not stopping to think that they are thus in- 

 juring their neighbors who must depend upon the income 

 from their bees for a good share of their living, and who 

 must take an unreasonably low price for their honey be- 

 cause some one has foolishly set the price too low in ad- 

 vance. 



We do not think that bee-keepers should ever combine 

 to get more for their honey than it is really worth, but we 

 do say that they ought always to do their best to get a good 

 price for it, for there is little danger of being able to get 

 too much for the best grades of honey. But by using a lit- 

 tle co-operation, better financial results should be secured. 



Later. — Right in line with the foregoing is this by 

 Editor W. J. Craig, taken from the Canadian Bee Journal 

 for June : 



" The question presenting itself to many just now is 

 whether the better prices for honey can be maintained 

 when the new crop comes in. Certainly there is an excel- 

 lent opportunity for making an effort in this direction if 

 bee-keepers will only be unanimous and talk the matter up 

 and work it thru their local associations. The poor-price 

 difficulty originated not with the bee-keepers who depend 

 upon bee-keeping for a'living, but with those who make it a 

 side line, and who retail their little in their local market at 

 whatever price they can get for it. 



" When talking up price it would be well to keep up 

 quality — this after all has much to do with the free sale of 

 the commodity. Unfortunately, many of our bee-keeping 

 friends are not aware how very sensitive honey is, and how 

 easily it is affected by its surroundings. Keep cans covered 

 and as air-tight as possible, not only for the sake of clean- 

 liness, but to retain the fine aroma of the honey. Much of 

 the distinct flavor of the basswood is lost by the heating 

 and exposure in liquifying." 



Bees and Spraying — A Warning. — In the Country 

 Gentleman (a most excellent New York farm paper), for 

 June 7, we find the following by the State Entomologist, 

 which will be of interest to bee-keepers everywhere : 



The Albany Argus of May 22 contained a brief account 

 to the effect that many honey-bees had been killed at 

 Medusa, N. Y., by visiting trees sprayed while in full 

 bloom with an arsenical poison. It was stated that one 

 bee-keeper lost his entire apiary of 100 colonies valued at 

 $500. The report was investigated, with the following re- 

 sults : 



Several men sprayed their fruit-trees on Friday and 

 Saturday, May 18 and 19, the former being a bright day. 

 Trouble was first observed on the 20th. Of the condition 

 of his apiary on that day, Mr. W. P. Makely writes : 



"The si^ht that met my eyes was enough to paralyze any bee-man. 

 In front of each hive lay the full wor<ing" force of the bees, some in clus- 

 ters apparently dormant, and others wiergling- about as if in f^reat ag-ony. 

 With the appearance of the sun there was a general movement among the 

 bees io an effort to get as far away from the hive as possible. Those 

 that had the strength would try to fly, but could only succeed in making 

 three or four feet before they would drop to the ground. The next day. 

 Monday the 21st, I opened a few hives and found all the workers gone, 

 and a large amount of brood and but a few young bees left. I think that 

 most of the colonies will pull thru, but our honey crop is gone, and we 

 can e.xpect no swarms." 



Mr. Makely estimates that practically all the field- 

 workers were lost. Mr. Edwin Snyder claims to have lost 

 between 80 and 95 percent of his workers in his 90 to 100 

 colonies. Mr. Aaron Jennings has from 200 to 22S colonies, 

 and the first serious consequences were observed on the 

 23d, when in the vicinity of more than half his hives he 

 could scoop up handfuls of dead or dying bees. Orchards 

 were sprayed on the 21st and 22d, I'i miles north, and the 

 same distance northwest of this man's place. 



A large quantity of dead bees have been received at my 

 office, and they will be analyzed for the presence of arsenic. 

 The destruction was fearful, and there is every reason to 

 think that it was due to poison thrown upon trees in blos- 

 som. There is at present a law prohibiting the spraying of 



trees while in bloom ; and this deplorable experience cer- 

 tainly indicates the wisdom of its remaining on our books 

 and being enforced to the letter. 



There is a strong sentiment in some sections of the 

 State in favor of spraying trees while in bloom, but prac- 

 tically every economic entomologist contends that all in- 

 sects can be controlled just as effectually by spraying just 

 before or after blooming, and in many cases the result is 

 much better. 



It has been demonstrated beyond all question by ex- 

 perimental methods that honey-bees can be poisoned by 

 visiting sprayed blossoms ; but this is the first case known 

 to me where widespread destruction has resulted under 

 strictly natural conditions, most probably as a result of 

 spraying. This case will be closely watcht. 



E. P. Felt, 

 New York State Entomologist. 



Certainly, the foregoing illustrates very clearly the 

 importance and necessity of a good law against spraying 

 trees while in bloom, and then a rigid enforcement of such 

 a law. We can hardly believe that any fruit-growers would 

 willfully cause such destruction of their best friends — the 

 honey-bees. Only inexcusable ignorance can be the rea- 

 son for such conduct. 



We hope that in some way the fruit-men may become 

 informed on this subject, which is so vital to their welfare 

 as well as to bee-keepers. 



An Important Omission is that of the American Bee- 

 Keeper, where it publishes a very full account of a lawsuit 

 involving a seller of adulerated honey, and then omits the 

 name of the alleged original adulterator. Might as well 

 leave out all personal names as to omit the most important 

 one, we think. 





Mr. E. S. LiOVESY, of Salt Lake Co., Utah, writing us 



June 6th, says : 



"I have just returned from a trip to Northern Utah and 

 Idaho, and as a rule I found the bee-industry in a flourish- 

 ing condition ; the same may be said as to the fruit." 



* ♦ * « * 



Mr. N. E. France, of Grant Co., Wis., State inspector 

 of apiaries, in a letter dated June 9, writes as follows : 



" Prospects are not very good for clover honey, but 

 basswood is well budded all over the State, and if the har- 

 vest is a fair one there will likely be a goodly number of 

 Wisconsin bee-keepers at the convention of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association in Chicago next August." 

 » * * « # 



Mr. Wm. a. SelSER — the great honey-man of the East 

 — is just recovering from a very severe attack of typhoid 

 fever. In a letter dated June 12 he says : 



" Your letter to hand some time ago while I was in bed. 

 I have had along siege of it, and without going into details 

 to weary you I will say that the doctor at one time gave me 

 up ; and indeed I feel as if I had stept at the edge of the 

 River of Death, and have returned by the mercy of the 

 Great Physician, and am now anxious to seek and fulfill 

 the mission He has spared me for. I am sitting up in my 

 room, and in a few weeks I hope to go out again. Recovery 

 is slow, as my sickness was so severe." 



We rejoice with Mr. Selser and his family in his re- 

 covery. The world has all too few such men as he. Per- 

 sonally, we can never forget the week we spent in that 

 delightful home when attending the Philadelphia conven- 

 tion last September. Our very best wishes for health, con- 

 tinued happiness, and unusual prosperity, go out to Mr. Sel- 

 ser and his loyal as well as royal family. 



