224 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



This orchard consists of about 100 

 acres, and is situated about Ij^ miles 

 northeast of my apiary. 



Now for the proof of my belief : It 

 was on or about April 28, 1888, that I 

 discovered an unusual amount of dead 

 and dying bees in front of every hive 

 containing bees. I also saw bees coming 

 from the northeast, indicating that my 

 bees were going to and from Mr. 

 Williams' orchard. I immediately went 

 to that orchard and found that the 

 spraying business was going on. I could 

 see bees continually going and coming in 

 several directions from and to the or- 

 chard. I came home and found the 

 destruction of my bees still going on, 

 and as night came on the number of 

 returning bees that fell at and near the 

 hives seemed to increase, while some 

 would enter the hive with their spoils of 

 the day. At the same time, and all day 

 long, there was a stream of young bees 

 (that had never as yet been out to the 

 field as gatherers) pouring out of each 

 and every hive in the bee-yard, that 

 hopped all over in front of the hives on 

 the ground, and in a few minutes the 

 bees would be dead. I picked up several 

 bees and pressed them between the 

 finger and thumb, and the exudation 

 was unmistakably mixed with the solu- 

 tion of Paris green. I am a house- 

 painter by trade, and know Paris green 

 when 1 see it, whether in solution or 

 dry. 



Further proof : The next day (April 

 29) I went out on a tour of inspection, 

 and was stopped on the road one-half 

 mile west of my home, by Mr. Jacob 

 Seibold, a bee-keeper having about 20 

 colonies of bees. He said : " Mr. Smith 

 I want you to come and see my bees, 

 and tell me what is the matter with 

 them. They have been coming out of 

 the hives and crawling all over the 

 ground and dying by the bucketful." 



" How long has this been going on ?" 

 I asked him. " Two or three days, and 

 is getting worse every day," he replied. 



I told Mr. Seibold that I had an idea 

 what it was, but would not say until I 

 had raad(! further inquiries in the mat- 

 ter. I went on to New Canton, Ills., 

 distant from the orchard in question 

 about 3 miles, and found Mr. Kline's 

 bees all right — nothing the matter^ but 

 they were working in an opposite direc- 

 tion. Also Mr. Lorenzo Gard, of New 

 Canton, who had an apiary 200 colonies 

 of bees, but they were all right. Also 

 "William II. Hyde, who lived a trifle south- 

 east of Mr. Gard's, had about 200 colo- 

 nies which were found to be all right. 



Then I went south on a bee-line 2j^ 

 miles, to Mr. Benj. Newman's. He had 

 4 colonies, and before I got to his gate, 

 he called to me, "You are just the man 

 I want to see." (By the way, I am 

 known nearly all over Pike County as 

 " Bee John," from the fact of my hav- 

 ing manipulated bees for nearly every 

 bee-keeper in the county). 



So it was that I was the very man 

 that Mr. Newman wanted to see just 

 then. Said he, " I want you to tell me 

 what is the matter with my bees." I 

 examined them, and found them in just 

 the same condition as my own and Mr. 

 Seibold's. 



The next bees within the radius of 

 3 miles were located east from the or- 

 chard. The first east was owned by Mr. 

 Chas. Dodge, one-half mile from the 

 orchard. Again I was hailed before I 

 could get to the house, with, "Look 

 here, you are just the fellow I wanted 

 to see. I want to know what is the 

 matter with my bees." I found his bees 

 affected as were the others — rolling and 

 tiirabling in front of their hiyes, and 

 all. around. Still, I would not give my 

 conviction. 



Next I visited the bees of Mr. Ed. 

 Whittleton — 2 colonies, 2% miles north- 

 east of the orchard ; also the bees of 

 John Booth, G. B. Hall, Mr. Berbridge, 

 Joseph Green and P. D. S. Green, all of 

 Barry, Pike Co., Ills. All their bees 

 were affected alike. 



I want to further say that the Williams 

 orchard was the first and only one 

 being sprayed at the time mentioned, 

 while the trees were in full bloom. I, 

 for one, would like to see a satisfactory 

 experiment, but not on so large a scale 

 as was done on my bees and those of my 

 neighbors. All the bees within the 

 radius of 3 miles north, south, east and 

 west, were affected, though the ones 

 nearest suffered the worst. Of course, 

 they did not all die outright, but were 

 rendered unprofitable for the rest of the 

 season. 



New Canton, Ills., Jan. 15, 1892. 



Bees Working In llie Open Air. 



H. B. FURUEK. 



I noticed an item on page TO, about a 

 swarm of bees found in Pennsylvania 

 working in the open air, which had ex- 

 cited considerable curiosity. 



In July, 1890, Mr. J. W. Crosby's son 

 came to my house, and wanted me to 

 take a hive and go to their farm (some 



