25 



Mr. Race. Would that apply to the strawberry? 



Dr. Gates. The strawberry is not so susceptible to 

 the work of the honey bee as to the wild, solitary bee. 



Mr. Race. What is the effect of the spraying on this 

 work of the bees in carrying the pollen. 



Dr. Gates. That is a problem we are not prepared to 

 go into in detail just at present. I am perfectly frank to 

 admit that under confinement in a big tank, like this stage, 

 as it were, enclosing an apple tree, for instance, which had 

 been sprayed with arsenate of lead, it is found that the bees 

 taking food from that tree would be killed. That is as far 

 as I can go as an actual statement. 



Mr. Wheeler. I would like to ask what method you 

 consider best for wintering bees in an orchard. I think we 

 all agree that the bee is essential in fruit production, but we 

 all have a great deal of trovible in Mantering them. I no- 

 ticed in Amherst yesterday that the bees were liAdng right 

 out, with apparently no protection. I cover mine and I find 

 that practically two hives out of three have been killed. 



Dr. Gates. The problem of wintering is one which the 

 Department of Agriculture is taking up right now. There 

 are advocates on this side and advocates on that. From my 

 own experiments I found that the temperature just beneath 

 the cluster of bees and the hives is precisely identical with 

 the temperature outside the hive and consequently I have 

 concluded that the packing of bees around the bottom at 

 least is of no value. It merely acts as insulation, so that 

 when the rays of the sun strike on that insulation they are 

 repelled and do not enter the hive. That is the ground on 

 which I have been working. On the other hand, there are 

 those who advocate wintering bees in chaff packed hives 

 with an air space; that is. a false air space. Another way 

 is to have several coats of paper and fold it over and pack 

 it down. All those different methods seem to work with 

 certain individuals, although no one method for wintering 

 bees at present is absolutely safe for everybody, barring, 

 perhaps, the method of wintering bees in the cellar. For the 

 northern climate it is unquestionably perfectly possible, 

 with twenty or twenty-five colonies, to winter bees in the 

 cellar, maintaining, however, a temperature averaging 43. 

 If it goes above 43 to 48 they begin brooding ; if it goes be- 

 low 40 you find that they do not winter so successfully. 



Mr. Race. I would like to ask one more question : If 



