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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



When to Spray Friilt-Trees. 



JACOB MOORE. 



Some time since I sent a request to 

 Mr. James V. Mickel, of Ionia, Mich., 

 for a statement of his views on the sub- 

 ject of spraying fruit trees. He has 

 sent to me the following reply, which I 

 think will be interesting to the readers 

 of the American Bee Journal, and so 

 I send it for publication. He writes 

 thus : 



Dear Sir : — Your favor requesting me 

 to write a short article giving my experi- 

 ence in spraying fruit trees, is received. 



Your first question, as to when is the 

 proper time, I will have to answer there 

 can be no date fixed, as the seasons vary 

 so much. Some seasons would be a 

 week or ten days later than others, and 

 vice versa. My experience is that the 

 best time is when apples or pears are 

 about the size of a small cherry. The 

 codling-moth does not deposit her egg 

 until the blossom is fully opened, and I- 

 think a large majority of them are 

 deposited after the blossom has fallen 

 off. I should not expect to receive 

 much benefit, if any, by spraying while 

 the trees were in blossom, but, on the 

 other hand, I should fear injury by caus- 

 ing the fruit to blast. 



It may be asked, why I recommend 

 waiting until the fruit is as large as a 

 cherry. 



First, because I have found that for 

 two or three days after the blossoms 

 fall, the stamens and pistils remain in 

 the calyx, which makes it difficult to 

 force the spray into the calyx just where 

 it is wanted, the stamens and pistils 

 seeming to break the force of the spray. 



Last, but not least, we want the time 

 as short as possible between the spray- 

 ing and the hatching out of the egg, 

 because at that time of the season we 

 are liable to have heavy rains, which 

 would make it necessary to do the work 

 all over again. I am satisfied that a 

 second spraying, a week or ten days 

 later, would well pay for the expense; 

 but in my own case it has been imprac- 

 ticable, on account of the work I have 

 had to do at that season of the year, 

 having an orchard of nearly 3,000 

 trees, in all my different kinds of fruit. 



I would say for those not fully ac- 

 quainted with the results obtained by 

 spraying, that the codling-moth deposits 

 her eggs when the tree is in blossom, or 

 soon after in the calyx 'or "blow" end 

 of the fruit, where it hatches out in ten 



days or two weeks, and immediately 

 bores and eats its way to the center of 

 the fruit. 



Now, our object is to spray some of 

 the poisoned water into the cup-shaped 

 calyx, where it dries down and remains 

 until the worm hatches, and so when it 

 eats its first breakfast, it is also its last 

 one. 



In conclusion, I would say that as to 

 whether or not the spraying of fruit 

 trees is injurious to the honey-bee, I 

 think I have fully answered when I say 

 it is improper and injurious to the fruit 

 crop to spray when the trees are in 

 blossom. J. V. Mickel. 



Ionia, Mich., Feb. 29, 1892. 



Preyentlon of Afler-Swarnis. 



THEODORE HEISS, JR. 



I noticed in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal that the subject of " Prevention of 

 After-Swarms " has attracted some 

 attention. Mr. Cronkleton claims to be 

 in possession of a secret modus operandi, 

 which he offers for sale, by which bee- 

 keepers might be benefited. Regarding 

 this proposition, I venture the following 

 assertion : I know of a simple procedure 

 which will produce the same effect, and 

 my modus operandi is offered free of 

 charge. 



My method is the following : As soon 

 as a swarm issues, I mark the parent 

 colony, and the next day I uncover the 

 hive and introduce a virgin queen by 

 simply allowing her to run in between 

 the combs. This simple transaction will 

 prevent after-swarming, for the follow- 

 ing reasons: It is a well-established 

 fact, that by departure of the old queen, 

 the queenless colony depends upon its 

 queen-cells for its future queen, and as 

 the first queen thus hatched destroys all 

 the remaining queen-cells, unless sig- 

 naled by the "piping" of a second 

 queen, this new queen will take the old 

 queen's place, hence there will be no 

 after-swarming ; the queen, if signaled, 

 will leave with part of the bees, called 

 an after-swarm. As the next queen 

 (No. 2) hatches, if signaled by a third, > 

 another swarm will issue, and so on. 



By introducing a virgin queen about 

 two days old (which every bee-keeper 

 should have at that time), all queen- 

 cells will be destroyed by that queen, 

 which will be mated in a few days, thus 

 effectually preventing after-swarming, 

 and advancing brood-rearing from 10 

 to 15 days. 



