664 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Spraying: of Fruit-Xrees.— 



Mr. F. A. Gemmill, President of the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, sends 

 us Bulletin No. 73, on this subject, 

 published by the Ontario Agricultural 

 College Experiment Station, and also 

 the discussion while the Act was before 

 the Legislative Assembly, from which 

 we make the following liberal extracts : 



The Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 

 at the late session, passed the following 

 Act, in reference to the spraying of 

 fruit-trees and the protection of bees. 

 Following it will be found a brief sum- 

 mary of the evidence taken before a 

 Special Committee of the House in con- 

 nection with the consideration of this 

 Bill: 



AN ACT FOB FURTHER PROTECTION OF BEES. 



(Assented to April 8. 1892.) 



1. No person in spraying or sprinkling fruit- 

 trees during- the period witliin which such 

 trees are in full bloom, shall use, or cause to 

 be used, any mixture containing Pai-is green, 

 or any otlier poisonous substance injurious to 

 bees. 



2. Any person contravening the provisions 

 of this Act, shall, on summary conviction 

 thereof, before a Justice of the Peace, be 

 subject to a penalty of not less than $1.00, or 

 more than $5.00, with or without costs of 

 prosecution, and in case of a fine, or a fine 

 and costs being awarded, and of the same not 

 being upon conviction forthwith paid, the 

 Justice may commit the ottender to the com- 

 mon gaol, there to be imprisoned for any term 

 not exceeding 30 days, unless the fine and 

 costs are sooner paid. 



3. This Act shall not come into force until 

 the first day of January, 1893. 



EVIDENCE AS TO SPKAYING FKUIT-TREES. 



Mr. Allen Pringle, ex-President Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, Selby, gave evi- 

 dence as to bees being killed by Paris 

 green sprayed upon fruit-trees, referring 

 to various accounts taken from bee- 

 papers. He cited Prof. Cook, of Michi- 

 gan, as authority. He had no experi- 

 ence himself as to effect of poisonous 

 spraying upon his bees. 



Mr. F. A. Gemmill, President Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, Stratford : Bees 

 will feed upon sweetened matter that 

 contains poison. Spraying during bloom 

 is only throwing away time, labor and 

 money. When bloom has fallen is the 

 proper time. 



Mr. Wra. McEvoy, Bee-Inspector, 

 Woodburn : He had heard many com- 

 plaints that bees are being poisoned. 

 Had seen them dying and d(iad ; thonght 

 the honey also might be injured by 

 poison being carried to it by the bees. 



Mr. Gemmill did not think the honey 

 would be affected ; as when spraying is I 



done, the honey is being gathered for 

 brood. 



Mr. Gilmer said only one fruit-grower 

 in his neighborhood sprayed; there was 

 no loss, however, as he did not spray 

 during bloom. 



Mr. A. W. Peart, fruit-grower, Burl- 

 ington : Had been for sometime in the 

 habit of spraying apples, plums and 

 cherries immediately after fall of blos- 

 soms. Did so because the blossoms are 

 much more tender than the leaves. The 

 bees play a very important part in cross- 

 fertilization, and therefore should not 

 be destroyed. Had had success in spray- 

 ing, trees sprayed giving more bountiful 

 harvest than those not sprayed. Thought 

 this Bill was in accordance with the re- 

 searches on these lines for the last ten 

 years. Fruit-growers in his district 

 delay spraying until after the blossoms 

 fall, and are favorable to this Bill. 



Mr. P. C. Dempsey, fruit-grower, 

 Trenton : Had sprayed for over 30 

 years ; with Paris green for only five or 

 six. Sprayed only after blossoms fall.' 

 Since he had sprayed he would not find 

 in 50 barrels of apples one barrel of bad 

 ones, whereas before spraying was in- 

 troduced, it would have been difficult to 

 get that number of really good ones. As 

 to injury to bees, he keeps 150 colonies 

 of bees right in his orchard, and has 

 never seen any of them suffer on ac- 

 count of spraying. Never sprayed dur- 

 ing bloom. He sometimes sprays cher- 

 ries and plums before the petals drop. 

 He believed a Bill prohibiting spraying 

 while in full bloom would be a benefit. 



Mr. G. E. Fisher, fruit-grower, Burl- 

 ington : His experience corresponded to 

 Mr. Peart's. We are very generally 

 dependent upon insects for the fertiliza- 

 tion of our orchards. To destroy them 

 to any extent would be very injurious 

 to fruit-growers. He thought this Bill 

 is just what fruit-growers require. If a 

 man does not know enough not to spray 

 while his trees are in full bloom, there 

 should be an Act to prevent him from 

 doing so. He had had no experience as 

 to bees being injured by Paris green. A 

 gentleman in Burlington told him that 

 one of his neighbors used Paris green on 

 his trees while in full bloom, and while 

 it was going on he noticed that many of 

 the bees died, 



Mr. E. Morden, fruit-grower, Niagara 

 Falls, had never yc^t heard a speaker 

 who advocated spraying in full bloom. 

 The codling moth and curculio do not 

 deposit eggs on the blossom, but on the 

 calyx of the embryo fruit. The curculios 

 do not appear until abont a week after 

 the blossoms fall ; then they are very 



