1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



59 



of punctui'ing or "sucking" holes 

 through the skin of fruit, however. 

 I our contemporary has unwittingly 

 afforded important evidence for the 

 defense. If the editor of the Flori- 

 da Farmer and Fruit-groicer will 

 institute a very careful series of 

 experiments along this line, or en- 

 gage the services of some c nnpetent 

 expert in Sunny France to do so. 

 we feel sure he will find invari- 

 ably that, where bees collect the 

 nectar of which he speaks, the fruit 

 has first "cracked open at their 

 own accord " and taat the bees, in- 

 stead of injuring the fruit, are 

 simply cleaning up a nasty, sticky 

 mess, which would otherwise remain 

 to annoy the harvesters of the crop. 

 The evident sincerity of our con- 

 temporary in believing bees guilty 

 of sucking holes through the skin 

 of fruits, does not change the na- 

 ture or anatomy of the insect; and 

 both proclaim its innocence. 



DO BEES DAMAGE FRUIT? 



Elsewhere in this number we 

 have noted what we believe to be 

 an erroneous position u^jon this 

 subject, held by the Florida Far- 

 mer and Fruit-grou'er. Since the 

 item referred to was put in type, 

 our esteemed contemporary, in just- 

 ification of its views, publishes the 

 following: 



DO BEES DAMAOE FRUIT? 



The question came up in Hungary in 

 a practical way two or three years ago, 

 when grape-growers in a certain dis- 

 trict accused the insects of puncturing 

 the ripe berries, writes John B. Sniitli 

 in Rural Neir Yorher, The matter was 

 referred to Prof. Josef Jablonowsky.the 

 State Entomologist at Budapest. All 

 the evidence Icnown to him wa? against 

 the charge, and none of the observa- 

 tions at and near Budapest gave the 

 least support to it. But no amount of 

 negative evidence can discredit even a 

 single positive observation, and he vis- 

 ited the district where the crime was 

 committed. I saw V*rof. Jablonowsky at 

 Budapest in June, UtOO. and he told me 



there was no doubt that the bees were 

 guilty as charged. But in extenuation 

 it WMS said that there was absolutely 

 nothing else tor ihem to eat at that 

 season. The region is semi-arid, and, 

 while there are plenty of spring flowers, 

 there is nothing for the bees after mid- 

 summer. What was at first an occas- 

 ional feeding on a brolcen grape devel- 

 oped into an occasional attack on a 

 sound one. and this became a universal 

 habit in a surprisingly short time. 



Th'e mouth parts of a bee, while beau- 

 tifully adapted for gathering nectar, 

 have also well-developed jaws or man-, 

 dibles, and there is absolutely no reason 

 why they should not puncture ripe 

 fruits to get at the juices, if there is 

 notliing else equally attractive. I do 

 not believe that the fruit-piercing habit 

 is at all a normal one, and, so far as my 

 own observations go, I have never seen 

 a bee on any fruit not previously in- 

 jured by some other cause. I would be 

 always inclined to seek a prior break 

 rather than consider the bee guilty. I 

 am a believer in bees, and frequently 

 suggest bee-keeping in large orchard 

 areas. I think their work in securing 

 a set of fruit far outweighs the little 

 mischief they may cause on ripe ex- 

 amples. And, after all, if lack of suit- 

 able food is really at the bottom of 

 their raid, why not feed the bees ? De- 

 liberately sacrifice a few juicy fruits to 

 them, or a few pans of sugar-water or 

 diluted molasses. Or plant a clover- 

 patch where they can get in, or buck- 

 wheat, or whatever else may be in 

 honey-yielding condition when the fruit 

 ripens ; but keep the bees by all means. 

 The trees need them. 



This journal is aware that there 

 are some learned men who hon- 

 estly believe that bees do punc- 

 ture sound fruit. It is aware, also, 

 that their number is on the decline. 

 Our own experiments in the mat- 

 ter are to a great extent re- 

 sponsible for our pres-^nt oplnicm 

 that bees do not, and. will not punc- 

 ture a sound grape, than anything 

 we may have read on the sub- 

 ject. Hence, to adopt the logic of 

 Mr. John B. Smith, it will require 

 no small amount of opposing evi- 

 dence to cause us to relinquish our 

 faith. Although Mr. Smith shall 

 have full credit for the e.xcellent 



