THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



239 



[Fi>r tho American Bee Journal .] 



Answer to Correspondent. No. 2. 



Do bees injure the fruit crop by taking honey 

 from the llowers ? 



A lady came to a neigboring bee-keeper's 

 house and requested him to thut up his six 

 stocks of bees, as they were taking the sweet 

 out of the flowers, and it made the currants sour! 

 When asked if she could prove them to be his 

 bees, she replied of course they were his, as the 

 hives were in the adjoining garden. The lady, 

 with her little knowledge on the subject, did 

 not think that the bees of my several hundred 

 stocks could fly the distance of less than a mile, 

 to rob her currant bushes of the sweets, and 

 thus left her currants to grow sour. That is the 

 theory also of tlie failure of fruit crops, grain, 

 or seed, from the fancied bad effect of the re- 

 moval of honey from the flowers. 



I have grown seventy -five bushels of currants, 

 twenty-flve of gooseberries, and apples, pears, 

 cherries, and all kind of fruit that can be grown 

 here, in abundance ; and tlie same year had six 

 hundred and fifty stocks of bees within working 

 distance of the fruit garden. I have not had an 

 entire failure of the various kinds of fruit since 

 I have kept bees. I have some seasons had 

 large crops, while at other places ou the prai- 

 ries, with no buildings, trees, or streams of 

 water, with few or no bees kept near, I have 

 seen failures of fruit from various causes, such 

 as cold dry winds, frosts, hot dry winds, "rotten 

 root," "wet feet," (land not well drained), 

 scales or bark lice, various kinds of aphides or 

 plant lice, that suck the juices from the leaves, 

 tender branches, fruit stems, buds and flowers, 

 and eject a sweet liquid resembling honey, of 

 which the bees are fond. I have seen large ap- 

 ple orchards on the bleak prairies that bore no 

 fruit, or only at intervals, until the shelter belts 

 of timber and hedges grew up. Now varieties 

 bear often that were entire failures before such 

 growth of protection. "While some orchards 

 bore fruit only on the east side rows in some 

 seasons, in others the produce would only be on 

 the south side rows. Why not say the bees 

 gathered all the honey from the barren rows ? 

 The red clover yielded surplus honey for boxes 

 the first time "for twenty years, and also the 

 largest crop of seed. The melilot clover yielded 

 the largest crop of seed, and also honey, for 

 several years. One year I saw the white clover 

 in flower for fifteen days ; but no bees were at 

 work on it during that time, and no seed teas 

 formed. A change in the atmosphere gave a 

 yield of honey, and in a few days the flowerets 

 turned down with the growth and weight of 

 seeds — of which each pod contained many. I 

 have seen buckwheat that had been sown in the 

 spring, and also such as was sown in the latter 

 part of the summer, in flower for thirty days at 

 a time, and no honey gathered or seed set. Yet 

 a change in the atmosphere gave a yield of hon- 

 ey, and also of grain in proportion. 



Can persons who think bees injure fruit, 

 poison our bees ? 



I think not. Bees gather poisonous honey 

 in 6ome districts, but that has no injurious effect 



on themselves; yet it is injurious to man, unless 

 the poison is removed by boiling or the use of 

 chemicals. 



Most bee-keepers can tell what their bees are 

 at work on, and may track them to the poison 

 dish, if such a thing could be done as to poison 

 them. An enlightened neighborhood would 

 not tolerate an ignorant and vicious person in 

 their midst, who would attempt so wicked !.n 

 act as to endanger the lives of the whole com- 

 munity, that might partake of tlie honey so 

 stored, if it could be done. Tlie proper remedy 

 for such persons is, to educate them I)y lending 

 or giving them books, or if they cannot read, 

 practical lessons in fruit growing and bee-keep- 

 ing. Get them to go to fruit growers' and beo- 

 kcepers' conferences; lend or give them a stock 

 of bees ; give them knowledge, as that will give 

 them power to overcome their prejudices. 



St. Charles, iLii. Jas. M. Mauvin. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



"Wintering Bees. 



Last winter I placed twelve stocks of bees in 

 a pit, as directed by Bidwell Brothers, in the 

 American Agriculturist Annual for 18G7. My 

 soil being heavy, and not high enough to drain 

 very thoroughly, I removed them as soon as 

 spring began to open, and found them in good 

 condition, though beginning to mould. 



I am thinking of constructing a house for 

 future use, with walls five or six inches apart, 

 filled in with saw dust ; and would be glad to 

 know from those who have had experience in 

 using such winter quarters, about how long in 

 the spring bees can be kept in such a house 

 without becoming too restless. If it were prac- 

 ticable, I would like to keep my bees housed 

 until the appearance of fruit blossoms, and thus 

 avoid the chilling winds which so surely follow 

 the sunny days of March. 



I would also like to hear further from Messrs. 

 Bidwell Brothers, in regard to the feasibility of 

 burying bees in heavy clay lands. 



Selma, Ohio. C. E. Thokne. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Make of Hives. 



Being a new hand in the bee-keeping business, 

 I have became very much interested in the con- 

 tents of the Bee Journal and more particu- 

 larly in the writings of E. Gallup and J. H. 

 Thomas. I notice that they differ on three im- 

 portant points, to be considered by those just 

 engaging in the business, viz : the size of the 

 hive, the use of the slanting bottom boards, and 

 fixed or equal distanced frames. Mr. Thomas 

 advocates a hive of two thousand cubic inches 

 comb capacity, the use of a slanting bottom 

 board, and fixed frames. Mr. Gallup is in favor 

 of a hive of greater capacity, and deprecates the 

 use of the slanting bottom board and fixed 

 frames. If these gentlemen would give their 

 ' views more definitely ou those points, through 

 I the Bee Jouuxal, they would confer a favor 

 : on more than one Xew Beginnku. 



1 Diamond Lake. Ills. 



