698 



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■•They daily visited the fruit in 

 great numbers, and labored diligently 

 to improve the only remaining source 

 of subsistence. They inspected and 

 took what advantage they could of 

 every opening at the stem or crack in 

 the epidermis or puncture made by 

 insects which deposit their eggs in the 

 skin of grapes. They regarded the 

 epidermis of the peaches, pears, plums 

 and other fruits having a thick cover- 

 ing simplj- as subjects for inquiry and 

 investigation, and not objects for at- 

 tack. 



If the grape-skin be broken or re- 

 moved, they will, in the ease of need, 

 lap and suck the juices exposed. The 

 same was also true of the grapes, if 

 the skin was broken by violence or 

 burst on account of the fruit becoming 

 over-ripe ; the bees lapped and sucked 

 the juices from the exposed parts of 

 grapes and stored it in cells for food. 

 They made no attempt to grasp the 

 cuticle of grapes with their mandibles, 

 or with their claws. If the grapes 

 were cut open or burst from over- 

 ripeness, the bees would lap and suck 

 the juices from the exposed segments 

 of the grape until they came to the film 

 separating the exposed and broken 

 segments from the unbroken segments. 

 Through and beyond the film separat- 

 ing the segments they appear to be 

 unable to penetrate. I removed the 

 outer skin from many grapes of dift'or- 

 ent kinds, taking care not to rupture 

 the film surrounding the pulp. When 

 these were exposed to the bees, they 

 continued to lap and suck the juices 

 from the outer film until it was dry 

 and smooth as was the film between 

 broken and unbroken segments. They 

 showed no disposition to use their jaws 

 or claws, and the outer film as well as 

 the film between broken segments re- 

 mained whole until the pulp decaj'ed 

 and dried up." 



" After cbntinuing the test for thirty 

 days we sent to Michigan for varieties 

 not obtainable here," another colony 

 of Italian bees were added to the rest, 

 and twenty varieties of grapes being 

 exposed upon plates and suspended 

 from the rafters. "The conditions 

 naturally prevalent during a severe 

 and protracted drouth were again pro- 

 duced, and the test again continued 

 for 25 days." 'The bees showed no 

 more capacity or disposition to ofter 

 violence to one variety of grapes than 

 another. No more attention was given 

 the thin skinned varieties than the 

 thick skinned. As long as the skin 

 remained whole they did not harm the 

 gi'apes. When the skins were broken 

 by violence, such as by cutting or 

 squeezing, the juices exposed were 

 appropriated. 



The extent of damage the bees could 

 do to grapes which burst from over- 



ripeness, depended on the extent of 

 the rupture in the film surrounding the 

 pulp. A wide rupture may be made 

 in the epidermis, or it may be removed, 

 and if the film is unbroken the pulp 

 remains whole. The film seldom 

 bursts until the grape is about to de- 

 cay, or has begun to decay, and then 

 the grape is of little value." 



Page 338. "Many erroneously sup- 

 pose that bees sting the grapes. Bees 

 never sting except in self-defense, or 

 in defense of their homes from real or 

 imaginary danger." 



• • The evidence then shows that bees 

 do not injure perfect fruit. We have 

 observed that they give no attention 

 to the puncture and blight caused bj' 

 the ovipositing of other insects, until 

 after the larva is hatched and decay 

 has set in, and then only in cases of 

 extremity. 



■ The circumstances under which bees 

 appear to be able to injure grapes are 

 very exceptional. That they will not 

 molest or even visit grapes when it is 

 possible to secure forage elsewhere is 

 certain. It also appears certain that 

 they never attempt violence to the 

 skin of grapes. The capacity of bees 

 to injure over-ripe grapes is limited 

 bj- the extent to which the juice and 

 pulp are exposed by the bursting of 

 the film. If the film is only slightly 

 bursted the bees can do but little in- 

 jury. If the progress of decay has 

 caused a wide rupture in the film, the 

 bees more readily appropriate the 

 juice." 



• • Mr. Richard Rees, a florist and 

 horticulturist of many years experience 

 in the Eastern and Western States, in- 

 forms me that he has very carefully 

 observed the • eflect of bees upon 

 flowei-s and fruits in the orchard, gar- 

 den and greenhouse. He regards their 

 presence as whollj* desirable and alto- 

 gether beneficial. During a term of 

 four years he had charge of a large 

 conservatory and garden in this citj'. 

 At times he had as many as fourteen 

 different varieties of exotic grapes in 

 bearing in the conservatory, and from 

 two to three tons of ripe grapes hang- 

 ing on the vines at once. A large api- 

 ary was located near by, and late in 

 the fall and early in the spring the 

 flowers and fruits in the conservatory 

 were visited by the bees in great num- 

 bers. The grapes were unmolested, 

 and the bees aided in fertilizing the 

 flowers. 



' ■ He says that he has had large ex- 

 perience in grape growing in vine- 

 yards, and that he has never known 

 any damage or loss from bees, and 

 that when grapes are burst from over- 

 ripeness, or decayed and blighted by 

 the hatching of insect larvre, to such 

 an extent that bees can appropriate the 

 juices, they are of little, if any value. 



He has never kept any bees, but he 

 regards them as being of great service 

 to floriculturists and horticulturists on 

 account of the service rendered in fer- 

 tilizing blossoms." — Prof. McLairi's Se- 

 2>ort, jjage 339. 



{Concluded next week.) 



STATISTICS. 



The Kind Which are Incorrect 

 and niileading. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY H. G. BURNET. 



The following is from the "Report 

 of the Statistician." in the report of 

 the Secretary of Agriculture for 1889, 

 page 251. I would like to call atten- 

 tion to the last paragraph. Will not 

 this be taken as a confirmation of the 

 Wiley lie, which is the basis of so 

 many newspaper articles derogatory 

 to our pursuit ? Please ventilate the 

 matter. 



Alva, Fla. 



Here is the Statistical Report which 

 Mr. Burnet refers to : 



Bee-Keeping. — Among the minor 

 branches of rural industry bee-keeping 

 is one of the most important, though 

 its prominence is not generally recog- 

 nized, from the fact that it is almost 

 everywhere carried on as an incident 

 of general agriculture, and but rarely 

 as a leading rural occupation. 



Every State and Territory reports 

 bees, and more or less honey, usually 

 a hive or a few colonies for each 

 farmer rather than extensive apiaries 

 and large production. 



In some localities, as in portions of 

 New York, Ohio. Tennessee, and Cali- 

 fornia, where existing conditions are 

 particularly favorable, apiculture is 

 more prominent, dominating otlier in- 

 dustries perhaps in a neighborhood, 

 though very rarely the leading branch 

 of agriculture over any considerable 

 area. 



The value of the annual product of 

 honey and wax is not generally rea- 

 lized ; they are produced more or less 

 extensively in every section of the 

 country, and the aggregate value is 

 large, much larger than that of other 

 crops of which more notice is usually 

 taken. It almost equals the total 

 value of the rice or the hop crop, falls 

 but little short of the buckwheat pro- 

 duct, exceeds the value of our cane 

 molasses, and of both maple syrup 

 and sugar. It largely exceeds the 

 aggregate value of all our vegetable 

 fibers excepting cotton, and 1879 was 

 I half as large as tlie wine product of 

 1 the year. 



