AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



539 



of the Department of Agriculture, and 

 various State Agricultural Colleges. It 

 should inspire confidence in the heart of 

 every consumer of American fruits, and 

 also cause every lover of justice and 

 honor to co-operate in the efforts to 

 establish and extend the knowledge of 

 the harmless effects of sprayed fruits 

 when such spraying is properly applied. 

 Mr. C. S. Walters, in the Faivners'' 

 Home, writes thus wisely on the subject, 

 urging harmonious action on the part of 

 horticulturists and bee-keepers : 



The fruit and honey interests should 

 work together, and for the latter it is 

 very important that the spraying of 

 trees should be done at the right tiine. 

 It is an unnecessary and useless labor 

 and expense to spray the fruit trees 

 when in blossom. The proper time to 

 have good effect is to spray immediately 

 after the blossoms have fallen. Paris 

 green and London purple must both be 

 deposited on the fruit itself to have any 

 effect, and this cannot be done when the 

 blossoms are on the trees. The petals 

 of the blossoms cover the fruit until 

 they have withered and fallen from the 

 trees. 



Spraying the trees when the blossoms 

 are on them is labor thrown away. 

 Moreover, whole colonies of bees are 

 killed off by eating such poison in the 

 blossoms of the fruit trees, and this is 

 the chief loss. 



That the bees should ever receive 

 their death at the hands of unwise fruit 

 growers, is to be regretted, and perhaps 

 , cannot better be prevented than by 

 seeing to it that all who must spray with 

 poisonous compounds do so at a time 

 which shall not endanger, the lives of 

 the bees, that are really the most help- 

 ful of' all agencies in producing a boun- 

 tiful yield of luscious fruits. If the 

 presentation of simple argument will 

 not have the desired effect in securing 

 the respect of the fruit-growers, of 

 course nothing remains except an appeal 

 for the enactment of such legislation as 

 shall protect bee-keepers from loss on 

 account of carelessness and willful 

 ignorance. 



The apiarist cannot afford to lose his 

 bees, and the farmer or fruit-grower 



cannot afford to kill the bees. They 

 are a benefit to both, and should be pro- 

 tected in every way possible. 



Bees and Farmers should al- 

 ways be the best of friends. Very often 

 the bees are of more- real benefit to the 

 farm than the owner supposes. Their 

 value is not entirely dependent upon the 

 amount of honey they gather, but it 

 would be difficult, indeed, to compute, 

 or even estimate, their services in in- 

 creasing the productiveness of fruits 

 and other farm crops by acting as agents 

 for the distribution of pollen. This fact 

 is sufficient reason why a place should 

 be made for them on every farm. If 

 kept for no other purpose than the 

 benefit they do to growing crops and 

 fruit-bearing trees and plants, by spread- 

 ing the pollen among the blooms, these 

 industrious workers would be a valuable 

 adjunct. 



Testimony is abundant and conclusive 

 as to the desirable effect of bees upon 

 grape-vines, fruit-trees, and fruit-bear- 

 ing plants generally. One prominent 

 apiarist goes so far as to insist that a 

 few colonies of bees, judiciously placed, 

 will revive a fruit farm from a non-pay- 

 ing to a profitable investment. 



Field crops, scientists tells us, and 

 wide-awake farmers know from their 

 own observations, are greatly assisted 

 by the honey-bee's manipulations. In- 

 deed, their influence is required for the 

 perfect floral fertilization of some of the 

 cereal crops and the meadow-grasses. 



Where the farmer is too busy to give 

 his personal attention to the production 

 of honey, it is suggested that he buy 

 a few colonies and turn these over to 

 the care of his wife and daughters. 

 They will find the "pin money " accru- 

 ing from the sale of the honey a con- 

 venient and pleasant return for the 

 labor and time spent among the bees. 



The out-door occupation, too, will 

 prove a welcome and healthful change 

 from the in-door drudgery, which they 

 can afford to hire done. 



