436 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the hives but a short time. I would 

 often find them strolling over the 

 ground, sometimes with a small lot of 

 bees with them. Please make this mat- 

 ter plain to me, and oblige. 



James P. Hall. 



I think I see your difficulty in under- 

 standing, Mr. H. In the second para- 

 graph, on page 69, I speak of caging 

 the queen, and then it appears as though 

 I left the subject, having said all I had 

 to say about it. But if you will consider 

 it as closely connected with what im- 

 mediately follows, I think you will find 

 all clear sailing. 



The caging the queen, and leaving her 

 in care of the bees, is merely the first 

 step in the process, and whatever plan 

 may be followed afterward, the first 

 thing to do is to cage the queen, for if 

 she is left free, the colony will continue 

 to swarm until she is lost, or a young 

 queen goes with the swarm. And that's 

 just what yours did, from which I infer 

 that you left the colony without any 

 further treatment, and freed the queen 

 some time before a young queen had 

 issued. I'm speaking, of course, of a 

 clipped queen. 



Now just consider the caging as the 

 first step, and follow one of the plans 

 outlined on page 69 or page 70. If you 

 follow the Doolittle plan, the one first 

 given, you will kill all queen-cells in five 

 days from swarming, then again kill all 

 queen-cells five days later, at the same 

 time freeing the queen ; you will thus 

 see that the answer to your question is 

 that I release the queen in ten days 

 from the time of swarming. 



If I haven't made all clear, ask again. 

 I don't know that any of the plans given 

 in the book can be counted as best, but 

 I think I would rather use any one of 

 them than to have all swarms hived in 

 the regular way. But every one doesn't 

 dislike swarms as I do. 



Marengo, Ills. 



^-»-^ 



Bees and Fruit — Some Careful 

 Observations. 



Written f(yr t?ie American Bee Journal 



BY L. J. TEMPLIN. 



I see by the action of these Michigan 

 fruit men, on page 41, that ignorance 

 of bees, and prejudice against them in 

 the orchard, are not extinct. This is a 

 subject that I have investigated for 

 many years, both in Indiana and in this 

 State, and all my observation has led to 



a conclusion in direct opposition to the 

 theory that bees ever puncture sound 

 fruit. 



I have often seen bees at work on 

 fruit that had been cracked, or had been 

 punctured or bitten by other insects, but 

 I have never seen a bee puncture, or try 

 to puncture, the epidermis of a sound 

 fruit. 



I am a fruit-raiser as well as an api- 

 arist. In my orchard I have apples, 

 pears, peaches, plums, cherries and 

 quinces, as well as a good list of small 

 fruits. Bees are kept in all directions 

 from and within 40 rods of this orchard, 

 and yet I do not believe I have ever been 

 damaged to the extent of 10 cents by 

 the bees working on my fruit. 



My vineyard of two acres lies just in 

 front of the apiary, and comes within 

 about 100 feet of It. The bees have to 

 pass directly over the vineyard to reach 

 the alfalfa fields just below, but I have 

 never been able to detect a bee at work 

 on the grapes ; nor have I ever seen any 

 sign of such work. Sometimes, when 

 the bees are booming on the alfalfa, the 

 mowers are set to work, and in two or 

 three days all the alfalfa in bloom 

 within reach is cut for hay. The bees 

 are sadly demoralized, and may be seen 

 searching in every nook and corner for 

 something to carry to the hive. And 

 yet no evidence of their ever attacking 

 the grapes has appeared ! 



True, all this is negative and circum- 

 stantial evidence, yet it does raise the 

 presumption of the innocence of our 

 little pets, and in the entire absence of 

 any affirmative testimony, it carries all 

 the force of positive evidence. 



So far from being an injury to the 

 fruit crop, bees are almost an essential 

 aid in securing the perfect fertilization 

 of fruit-bloom ; especially is this true in 

 certain unfavorable seasons. 



I think in equity, those 25 neighbors 

 (?) of Mr. Pearce, ought to give to him 

 from 5 to 20 bushels of peaches each, 

 every year, as part compensation for the 

 services of his bees in helping to secure 

 good crops of fruit. So thoroughly am 

 I convinced of the importance of their 

 aid in this matter, that if I were to en- 

 gage exclusively in fruit-raising, if no 

 bees were kept near me, I should keep a 

 few colonies for the benefit of my fruit 

 crops, if for nothing else. 



Canyon City, Colo. 



A Binder for holding a year's num- 

 bers of the Bee Journal we mail for 

 only 50 cents ; or clubbed with th« 

 Journal for $1.40. 



