-3- 



PROVIDE V;ATBR for bees during POLLIiJATIOH 



* 

 The need of water by bees is not commonly understood. In the case of 

 colonies brought into the orchard for pollination, the provision of a good source 

 of uncontarninated water close to the bees v;ill benefit then in two viays; in the 

 first place they will not have to seek for a supply of water, possibly at some 

 distance, and this will permit more time for working the blossoms; in the second 

 place if they can have a source of uncontaiiiinated water there will be much less 

 chance of bee poisoning. Frequently, bees having no other source of water will 

 collect dew from leaves having a deposit of poison from early spraying, Another 

 source of danger is from the bees collecting water near the filling station Vvrhere 

 insecticides or fungicides may have been inadvertently spilled. One of the best 

 sources of water is from a keg from v/hich water drips slowly on an inclined board, 

 Pans of water also carx be used but it will be necessary to place shavings or 

 similar materials in the water in order to allow the bees to have a chance to 

 light. Moreover, with the open pans there is the possibility of the spread of 

 Nosema disease to bees since open pans may be contaminated by body wastes as the 

 bee is drinking. 



If a brook is present •uithin ~ laile, little concern need be given to the 

 provision of a vvater supply unless such a source of water is contaminated by 

 insecticides or fungicides, 



— F, R, Shaw 



RECENT REPORTS ON CONTROL OF FRUIT DISEASES 



The follovifing are brief references to progress reports given at the annual 

 meeting of the j^erican Phytopatholo^ical Society in Chicago, December 28-30, 

 1947, The complete printed abstracts of each may be found on the pages indicated 

 of the January 1948 issue of PHYTOPATHOLOGY , 



1, Antibiotics for plant disease control: Curt Leben and G, ?,', Keitt, 

 V/isc. Station (p, 16), In laboratory tests a species of Streptomyces 

 produced a substanco that was highly antagonistic to 29 different 

 plant disease fungi. It completely inhibited growth of the apple scab 

 fungus at a dilution of 1:8,000,000 and of the peach bro\'m rot fungus 

 at 1:11,000,000, ITnen sprayed once on susceptible apple leaves 4 days 

 prior to inoculation in the greenhouse, the antibiotic material 

 either prevented outright or greatly reduced scab infection. The 

 substance vias not toxic to most bacteria. 



2, In a second greenhouse test using the streptomj''cin, the same vforkers 

 (p, 16) obtained complete prevention of apple leaf infection by scab, 

 and tomato leaf infection by early blight. Artificial rain tests 

 indicated that the active material resisted washing on both kinds of 

 plants. 



3» Antibiotics for crown gall control; Jack E. Haiipton, Arizona Station 

 (p. 11), Active galls on plura, pear, cherry and privet, as well as 

 on various herbaceous plants, v>fere quickly and completely inactivated 

 by thoroughly soaking with penicillin and streptomycin. Commercial 

 preparations and locally produced crude preparations were equally 

 effective. Streptomycin v>ras found to be somewhat more efficient 

 than penicillin. 



