1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



309 



THE WII.EY CAXAKI). 



I should have supi)Osod tliat our friend Prof. 

 Cook woukl have known that he might expect 

 to raise a buzz of indijwiation at a convention of 

 l)ee-keepers by giving that wiley (liar) a chance 

 to put himself on recoi-d against tiie honey 

 interests again, and then he goes to apologizing 

 for him, and says he has done lots of good in 

 other departments of science. lie will never be 

 able to undo the mischief he has done the bee- 

 keepei-s of America, even if he lives to be 100 

 years old. The story of the machine-made 

 comb honey is still traveling. Only three 

 months ago I went into a grocery in a neighbor- 

 ing town, and the pioprietor said he was selling 

 lioney made without the aid of bees; and when 

 I asked him where he got it he said in Cleve- 

 land, and of a certain commission man. naming 

 a well-known honey-d(>aler. He said that said 

 commission man told him that tln^ honey was 

 not bees' honey, but manufactured by machin- 

 ery; and he took it all in dead earnest, and told 

 his customers the same story, and it took a good 

 deal of talk to get the idea out of his head; and 

 then I could see that, like the tree that is dug 

 up, the small roots were still there, ready to 

 come up again as soon as the weather was fa- 

 vorable. 



Now, if this does not find the xvay into the 

 waste-basket, I may send another basket for 

 the next tire if chips are good kindlings. 



WOODCHOI'PEK. 



[Well, well, Mr. Woodchopper, if you can do 

 as well as this every time we hope you will send 

 us more baskets of chips. They are too good 

 for kindling-wood. 



Never saw any good honey from kegs and 

 barrels? What were the barrels made of, and 

 what had they previously contained? Cypress 

 kegs, and oaken alcohol-barrels give no taint to 

 the honey— at least, so say some of the large 

 honey- producers. 



We are glad to get your testimony in regard 

 to painted muslin; but there are some of the 

 other bee-keepers who say the muslin is good.] 



E. R. R. 



[And I, friend W., want to say that I really 

 felt glad to tind some one with large experience 

 and good sound judgment to so entii'(>ly agree 

 with myself on so many points. Let me correct 

 you, however, in saying that bees would not use 

 Quinby's tin combs. They used them right 

 along, and no fault was found with them ex- 

 cept expense, that I heard of. It is true, the 

 bees did not winter in them; but. you see, when 

 the boys weighed the hives to se(^ lu)w much 

 honey "the hive contained, they forgot about the 

 metal, and did not calculate; therefore, long 

 before winter was over, the bees had lots of tin 

 hut not a drop of stores in the tin cells. — My ex- 

 perience with kegs and barrels is exactly like 

 yours; also with painted cloth for covers. 

 Shingles are too heavy and untidy for hive- 

 roofs.] A. I. R. 

 ^ I ^ 



THE PKOPER TIME TO SPRAY TREES. 



BY A FRUIT-GKOWEK AND BEE-KREPER; VAL- 

 UABLE HINTS ON THE SUB.JECT. 



According to my promise to you on my way 

 home from the Albany convention, I will write 

 an article on the above topic. I thought it 

 would be of most benefit app(>aringon the 1st or 

 1.5th of April, as May is the month in which we 

 do the most of our spraying. 



The first thing to learn is the habits of the 

 insects we wish to destroy. Apple-trees are 

 sprayed to destroy the larva of the coddling 

 moth. The moth deposits her eggs in the calyx 

 of the apple, or blossom, from about the falling 



of bloom until lOorl.") days after. The larva 

 hatches in a few days, according to the temper- 

 ature; and, if not "killed, it begins to eat its 

 way into the fruit. About three or five days 

 after blossoms fall is the best time to spray, 

 and continue so doing for about 20 days, as 

 often as rain washes off the poison. If, after 

 the first spraying, it should not rain for a week 

 or ten days, you will kill 75 per cent of the larva\ 



The cuVculio does not attack the plum until 

 the fruit is about the size of peas, which, in or- 

 dinai'y weather, is a week or ten days after the 

 blossoms fall. Spray plums the same as apples; 

 viz., with Paris green, at the rate of 1 lb. to 200 

 gallons of water, applied with a good spraying- 

 pump. Some use the same pioportion of Lon- 

 don purple on apples; but it should be avoided 

 on all fitoiic fndtx, as it is liable to injure the 

 foliage. 



You will see by the above that it is time and 

 material thrown away to spray trees while in 

 bloom; for, nine times out of ten. the rain will 

 wash away the i)oison before the larva is on 

 hand to eat it. I have my doubts whether bees 

 can be poisoned in this way. I "don't know" 

 that it will Hot kill them. With such a deli- 

 cately constructetl tool for collecting nectar; I 

 think it highly probable that they can gather 

 what they want, and rej(>ct the poison. Paris 

 gi-een is insoluble in water, and I think the 

 bees can easily leave it in the blossoms, and 

 take the nectar. I have heard of several cases 

 of bees being poisoned in that way, but was not 

 satisfied with the proof that spraying caused 

 their death. My apiary is mostly under large 

 apple-trees, and I always spray, just as though 

 they were not there. The poisoned water will 

 stand on hives, alighting-boards, and grass; 

 and if the day is a warm one, I always see a 

 great many bees sipping it, and have never 

 noticed any bad results. I have impiisoned 

 bees loaded with such water, for 24 houi'S, and 

 they came out lively. Those writing upon the 

 subject should not say, "Don't spray while in 

 bloom, for it will poison the bees." but strive to 

 satisfy people that, by so doing, they will throw 

 time "and money away; and if you do satisfy 

 them to that effect, why, that ends it. In other 

 words, show them, not how it will injure other 

 people, but themselves. I live in one of the 

 greatest fruit-growing counties of the United 

 States, and I know of but one man who sprays 

 his trees while in bloom, and he wants to kill 

 the moth that lays the eggs, instead of ihe lar- 

 va from the egg. The matun^ motli does not 

 eat either the foliage or the fruit, and I hope 

 we shall make him see it soon. I have yet to 

 tind an entomologist who recommends spraying 

 trees while in bloom. We have arrived at a 

 point in fruit culture where we have got to use 

 insecticides and fungicides intelligently, or give 

 up the business. As bee-keepers we must lose 

 no opportunity to educate fruit-growers in re- 

 gard to their own interests, and by so doing 

 further our own. I raise both fruit and honey, 

 and never los(^ an opportunity of speaking a 

 good word for both pursuits, and showing their 

 dependence on each other when at our farmers' 

 club meetings, agricultural institutes, county 

 fairs, or elsewhere. (r. H. Ashby. 



Sec'y Orleans Co. Farmers' Club. 



Albion, N. Y. 



HOME-MADE HIVES. 



HOW TO MAKE THEM CHEAPLY'. 



I think I saw a notice somewhere in Glean- 

 ings of a dovetailed hive some one was offering 

 cheap made of h lumber. The editor was afraid 

 it would be "too thin," but I rather like the 



