smoke, and let us know the results 

 of both methods. I do not know that 

 the tar smoke will drive off the weevil, 

 but I do know that it is destructive to 

 animal life, and think that it would 

 likely drive away the weevil from the 

 apple trees as well as it does the curcu- 

 lio from tbe plum trees. 

 Oxford, O., July 9, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Do Bees Injure Fruit? 



FRANK FLINT. 



At the recent meeting of the South 

 Barbara County, Gal., Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, the subject of fruit-growers 

 vs. bee-keepers was discussed, together 

 with the probable fight that will take 

 place between the two at the next meet- 

 ing of our State Legislature, and it was 

 voted that the Secretary request the ed- 

 itors of the leading bee papers of the 

 country to publish any articles bearing 

 upon the subject of the destruction of 

 fruit by bees. 



Will you kindly help us by publish- 

 ing anything that has been or can be 

 written on the above subject? Very 

 truly yours, Frank Flint, Sec. 



[Some time since this subject was 

 thoroughly discussed in the Bee Jour- 

 nal. We now append an article from 

 the Lancaster, Pa., Farmer, which was 

 called out by the fruit-growers threat- 

 eng to destroy the bees — poisoning, 

 trapping, and declaring a war of exter- 

 mination generally against them. — Ed.] 



Do Bees Destroy Fruit 1 ? 



" As regularly as the autumn comes 

 around we are treated with long ac- 

 counts of the depredations committed 

 by that industrious honey-gatherer — 

 the bee. The charges brought against 

 them are not only many, but as serious 

 as they are numerous. Nine times out 

 of ten these charges are brought by per- 

 sons incapable of pronouncing an opin- 

 ion, but who swell the hearsay cry of 

 denunciation merely because it is pop- 

 ular, or in consequence of some unreli- 

 able information receeived at second 

 hand. The result of all this is, that the 

 poor bees have a hard time of it. It is 

 to relieve them from at least one, and 

 that the most serious, of all the accu- 

 sations against them, that we write this 

 article. 



"No opinion seems to be more gener- 

 ally prevalent than that bees tear open 

 the outer skins of grapes,plums,peaches, 

 and other fruits for the purpose of feast- 



ing on the sweet juices within. Be- 

 cause they are found on these fruits in 

 the act of committing a trespass, they 

 are condemned without a hearing or 

 any consideration whatever. It is most 

 commonly said they sting the fruit. 

 This is the result of sheer ignorance. 

 Neither the bee nor any other insect 

 employs its sting for such purposes ; 

 they have them for other uses, as a 

 means of defense against enemies, and 

 use them solely as nature designed that 

 they should. It is as impossible for a 

 bee to sting open a grape as it is for it 

 to open a walnut or a shellbark by the 

 same process. Its only means to com- 

 mit the deed of which it is accused, is 

 the proboscis with which it is armed, but 

 this, although perhaps capable of tear- 

 ing open skins of ripe fruit, is never 

 used for thatpurpose, its functions, like 

 those of the sting, being far different, 

 and confined exclusively to the ends de- 

 signed by nature. 



"Although the charges are based 

 mainly on the fact that at this season 

 large numbers of bees are seen on the 

 grapes on our vines, busily employed in 

 helping themselves to the palatable 

 juices, yet we assert very positively that 

 none of the persons who bring this 

 charge of stinging the grapes have ever 

 seen the insects depredating on a sound 

 grape or attempting to tear one open. 

 They always select those already in- 

 jured, and never perpetrate an original 

 injury. A rainy spell followed by warm 

 weather very frequently causes grapes 

 and other fruits to burst, and it is to 

 the fruit thus injured that the slandered 

 bees pay their attentions. 



" The results of a close investigation 

 of the question, lasting through a series 

 of days, are : On the grapes of a vine 

 growing in our yard hundreds of bees 

 were literally swarming, their home be- 

 ing in a neighbor's yard, not 20 paces 

 distant. We sat hour after hour watch- 

 ing closely the proceedings of the in- 

 dustrious insects. There was not a sin- 

 gle raceme on the whole vine but was 

 visited by dozens of bees, who exam- 

 ined every grape on it in search of a 

 bursted one whose juices were acces- 

 sible, After a most careful search, and 

 finding none such, they would immedi- 

 ately leave and continue their search 

 elsewhere, until the berry they desired 

 was found. On all the defective fruit 

 clusters of bees were gathered, but we 

 failed utterly in detecting in a single 

 instance anything like an attempt at 

 trying to tear open a perfect berry ; 

 their investigations were hasty but 

 thorough, and when the desired spoil 

 was not found no time was wasted in 

 useless delay. There can be no mistake 



