Jan. 2, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



as being- correct. Among- the ques- 

 tions which should be investigated 

 further are these : 



1. May bees be poisoned by spraying 

 open blossoms with l!ordeau.\ mixture 

 or other fungicides not combined with 

 any recognized insect poison ? 



2. Does spraying just before and just 

 after blooming give as good protection 

 against injurious insects and diseases 

 as a corresponding number of treat- 

 ments, one of which is made during 

 the blooming season ? 



3. At what stage of blooming has 

 the process of fertilization progressed 

 so far as to escape danger from the ap- 

 plication of spray mixtures? 



4. What cultivated varieties may be 

 expected to show improvement in fruit- 

 production as a result of crosspoUina- 

 tion secured through the agency of 

 insect visitors ? 



The following conclusions must be 

 accepted as now well estatjlished : 



1. Bees may be poisoned by applica- 

 tions of arsenical poisons to open blos- 

 soms. The brood in the hive may like- 

 wise be poisoned. 



3. The application of ordinary spray 

 mixtures to open blossoms may stop 

 the further development of the blos- 

 som, either through the corrosive action 

 of the spray upon the pistil, or by pre- 



venting the germination of pollen on 

 the stigmatic surface. 



3. With apple and pear trees, having 

 an abundance of blossoms, spraying 

 once in the blooming season has thin- 

 ned the fruit; spraying repeatedly, so 

 as to hit the lilossoms as they opened 

 from day to day, has practically de- 

 stroyed the crop of fruit. 



4. The productiveness of many of 

 the varieties of fruit which are more 

 or less self-sterile, is increased by cross- 

 pollination secured through the visits 

 of insects to the blossoms. 



S. A. Beach. 



(Continued next week.) 



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* The Afterthought. * 



The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By B. E. HASTY. Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



AMTS AND BKES. 



Yes. Mr. Working, it's possible thiit ants may roll a qui'en- 

 Cfll — may do worse, may grappli' and destroy a iiuceii. The 

 number of species of ants are immense, and no two species 

 alilve; so it won't do to judge of tlie whole by tlie species we 

 may liappeu to liave l^nown. Perchance the ants we have 

 known never ineddle with grain : hut there are ants that will 

 carry it off by the bushel. The ants most of us have known 

 are comparatively harmless to bees : but there are ants so 

 ferocious tliat bees, unless effectively protected, can not 

 survive near tbem at all. Bees show anger when multitudes 

 (if little ants, too small to g-rapple with, get scattered among 

 them in opening an ant-int'ested hive. And if ants abound, 

 don't rub a bee-hive with anything that ants like, preparatory 

 to liiving a swarm in it.- Myriads of the little nuisance will go 

 right in : and the bees, if I mistake not, will go out. I may 

 be wrong, but my impression is that ants, bulk for bulk, are 

 much stronger than bees, so that when big enough to be 

 grappled with they are always too strong to hi- handled. Also, 

 they are very hard and smooth, and afford no flat surfaces, so 

 that getting a sting into one of them is a practical impossi- 

 bility, likely. Page CibO. 



THE UNIVERSAL NEED OF AN EDUCATION. 



Both parents and children the country over are still some- 

 what infected with the pestilent idea that there is no use of 

 very much education unless one is going to be a teacher or 

 something in the professional line. Thanks to Prof. Cook for 

 his attack on that idea, page 682. Specially need a rich 

 education in order to lie comfortable while digging a ditch or 

 breaking stone. I would also put in strongly : Education pro- 

 longs life. Multitudes of people, scarcely old" yet. die of a mild, 

 chronic wretchedness. Time and age have rendered the 

 former routine of their lives impossible, and they have nothing 

 to be interested in. Digestion cannot go on properly — we 

 might almost say no other bodily function can go on properly 

 — while the mind is in a state of wretchedness. The net re- 

 sult is that the body deteriorates and ages more in one year 

 than it would need to do in two years; and soon something 

 trifling carries you to the grave. 



FEEDING BEES "GARDEN SASS.'" 



And so Louisiana wants to set his bees to eating vegetables. 

 As the extreme South has no wintering trouble except starva- 

 tion, teaching the bees to eat " garden sass " would be in the 

 nature of a panacea. He finds they eat somewhat at baked 

 sweet potatoes. Let. him feed 'em a big lot more — and then 

 tell us instead of expecting us to teil him. Possibly the Cali- 

 fornians can go him one lietter by feeding cooked sugar-beets. 

 The Italians are already in the van by raising watermelon 

 patches and feeding melons sliced on the ground. And Dr. 

 Peiro — hut then he's no ■• garden sass.'" Page 712. 



TWO KINDS OF DRONES FROM ONE QUEEN. 



Two kinds of drones from the same mother is not exactly 

 evidence in favor of absolute purity, we grant. I think it is 

 very common, however — so common that such a cjueen is not 

 called impure. We say instead that the Italian (not far back) 

 is a mixed race, anyhow. Page 716. 



" HOAD-TRAI'" FOR HABBIT8. 



Iowa comes to the front with bad roads that serve the 

 useful purpose of rabbit-trap. P.unnies think they can eet 

 across to the other side and get awfully taken in. But — 

 Iiicik out there 1 You'll get trapped, loo, if ynu don't exercl-ie 

 i-aro in getting the game from the trap. About the first re- 

 port we've had in favor of a clay road at its prettiest. Page 

 717. 



VKT(-II NOT A GOOD HONEY-PLANT. 



Glad to hear from the man who raised vetches by the acre 

 for years — I. Hiller, Washington State. It seems that (like 

 cowpeas) bees work on the steins, not on thi' flowers— but no 

 surplus from that, not even results enough to stimulate brood- 

 rearing. The consensus of a number of reports seems to be 

 that it is rare to see a bee on the flower of the vetch. Page 

 717. 



CALIFORNIA VS. AU.STRALI.A. 



I am surprised at the Australian Bee-Bulletin for inquiring 

 why California beats Australia in honey. Xext they'll be ask- 

 ing why British Colonial government isn't so good as American 

 State government. Page 71b. 



THOSE STONE SHADE-BOARDS. 



Stone shade-boards ! And they're pretty, and well liked, 

 and only cost a few cents each. If Jlr. A. E. Willcutt will 

 cut us all a supply and arrange to send them by mail, we'll 

 propose him three cheers. Pages 722 and 727. 



SOME "LONG smellers'' IN OHIO. 



Why, Mr. York, you ought to be willing to credit the bees 

 with longer ••smellers" than we'uns have. When Wood 

 County oil and gas was in its prime W(> often smelled it unmis- 

 takably plain and strong 3t) mill's away. We are due north, 

 so only an occasional turn of the soft south wind would bring 

 it. On one or more occasions I waked up in the night and 

 smelled it without going out-of-doors. As a matter of an opin- 

 ion I am well persuaded that, on just such a moist and gentle 

 south wind, and at morn, before the currents of the day have 

 got started up, bees could smell a forest of basswood in bloom 

 much more than 30 miles — many times over as far as they 

 could afford to go to it. Page 7 2-1. 



A MINIMUM OF UNFINISHED SECTIONS. 



On page 727, Mr. Doolittle writes well on the minimum 

 of unfinished sections. For years I have had very little 

 trouble from that source. Wonder if it's locality, or strain, 

 or kind of super. It is certainly not any fussing on my part 

 to prevent it — and I think that locality plays on the wrong 

 side. Strain and style remain : and I guess it's both combined. 

 Good hybrids of long standing, and the (now unusual) two- 

 story wide-frame. Four bait-sections all in one frame — two 

 above and two below — and that frami' put to the warm side of 

 the middle. Always 40 or -IS sections put on at once. Notice: 

 Let no beginner copy at wholesale till he asks his bees whether 

 they like that sort of thing. Mine do. In a poor, lean field, 

 which, nevertheless, has possiliilities all the season long, it's 

 just the lazy man's hallelujah arraugi'ment — put it on in June 

 and take it oft' in November. 



BREEDING FRO.M THE BEST. 



Dr. Miller's answer to South Carolina on page 729 is 

 right. (Breed from both.) But still, if you have excellent 

 bees, and are trying to make them better, the longer line of 

 unbroken excellence yon can get the more hopeful the last 

 queen ought to be as a breeder. This on general principles — 

 not drawn from any particular set of casts. 



