AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



71 



A Smart Scribbler for the press 

 gets off the following in a late issue of 

 the Boston Transcript : 



Oh, please don't hold up the bee as a 

 pattern. What of it, if he does improve 

 each shining hour? A shining hour 

 doesn't call for improvement. You never 

 heard of a bee improving a dull hour, 

 did you ? When the "little humbug" 

 does, send us word, and then we may 

 join the admirers of the bee. 



The writer of this item is so sharp 

 that it is wonder he did not cut himself ! 



He should have improved the oppor- 

 tunity to improve his time by " turning 

 to profitable account" the noble example 

 of industry presented by " the little 

 busy bee." That certainly would have 

 been "improving a dull hour." Let him 

 look at that pattern — and not call the 

 bee a " little humbug" again, until he 

 can appreciate the world-wide reputa- 

 tion of the bee, for habits of industry. 



Xbat Foolish Scare in London, 

 mentioned on page 39, of last week's 

 Bee Jouknal, about American apples, 

 is having its effect. Last Saturday the 

 following was found among the tele- 

 graphic dispatches from New York to the 

 daily papers throughout the country : 



Poisoned Apples. — A report that has 

 done the foreign apple trade of America 

 great injury within the past few weeks 

 is the alarm started by the Horticultural 

 Times to the effect that American apples 

 are poisonous, owing to the limbs of the 

 trees being syringed with poisonous 

 solutions to destroy the numerous ene- 

 mies of the apple. It asserts that the 

 poisons used upon the apple trees are 

 absorbed into the fruit, and even in 

 some cases a thin coating of it is left on 

 the skin. 



Whether there is any truth in this 

 statement, or whether it is " trick of 

 trade " used to the detriment of the 

 apple trade of the United States has not 

 yet been determined. . 



Of course it is only " a trick of trade." 

 The Department of Agriculture officially 

 investigated the matter, as stated on 

 page 581, and decided that it would 

 take over a ton of fruit sprayed 8 times 



with the Bordeaux mixture to furnish 

 a single poisonous dose. 



Then, again, the spraying is done just 

 as the fruit forms, and kills the larvtc of 

 the cureulio and codling moth before 

 they eat into the apples ! Then the 

 raiiis come and wash off both the dead 

 insects and the poison long before the 

 apples are ripe, so that none remains to 

 affect the consumer, even in the slightest 

 degree. 



But the injury is done, and the foreign 

 apple trade will sufi'er for a time — just 

 as the honey trade has suffered by the 

 frequent repetition of the villainous 

 " Wiley lie " during the past dozen years. 



Hoiiey-Dcw is said to have killed 

 some bees this winter where it was their 

 only dependence for Winter food, but 

 the following letter shows that " no bad 

 results" have followed from its use : 



My bees are wintering nicely. I was 

 somewhat uneasy about them on ac- 

 count of their stores being honey-dew. 

 They have frequent flights, and I can 

 see no bad results from the food. The 

 white clover is nice and green, and 

 promises an early Spring. We have 

 not seen a snow flake here this Winter, 

 but, of course, Winter is not over yet. 

 Am I right when I understand that any 

 person paying $10 can become a life 

 member of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Association ? I have been told 

 that, and I want to know if it is so. 



C. K. Reading. 



Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 2, 1892. 



Yes. Send $10 to Ernest R. Root, 

 Medina, O., and he will record you as a 

 life member of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. 



"Winter Problem in bee-keeping; 

 by G. R. Pierce, of Iowa, who has had 

 25 years' experience in bee-keeping, and 

 for the past 5 years has devoted all his 

 time and energies to the pursuit. Price, 

 50 cents. For sale at this office. 



Get a Binder, and always have 

 your Bee JouPtNALS ready for reference. 

 We will mail you one for 50 cents, 



