mi 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15. 



detract much from the appearance, but it ren- 

 ders it much more liable to be broken. This 

 increased liability to breakage is not only dur- 

 ing shipment, but perhaps more during the 

 handling it receives after it reaches the hands 

 of the retailer and consumer. At this time it is 

 very undesirable that it sliould be packed up- 

 side down as often advised. The section is lift- 

 ed by the bottom, which, unless there are at- 

 tachments of comb to strengthen it, is apt to 

 come loose, letting the section drop. I have 

 seen many a section smashed in just this way. 



I have produced many hundreds of pounds of 

 honey, on the sections of which the closest ex- 

 amination could scarcely detect the slightest 

 stain of propolis. Mr. Elwood is taking too re- 

 stricted a view when he says that the honey- 

 boxes are not usually seen by the purchaser or 

 consumer. Although in many places the gro- 

 cer takes the majority of his orders by telephone 

 or at the home of the consumer, most gi'oceries 

 are still ordered by the consumer within the 

 grocery. If it were not so, it would be much 

 worse for the honey-market, for it is a well- 

 known fact that many people never buy honey 

 unless they see it or have it brought to theii' 

 notice. The successful seller of honey keeps it 

 prominently in sight, often taking it from the 

 case and stacking it up on counters and in show 

 windows, and a soiled section detracts much 

 from its attractiveness. 



Personally I entirely agree with Mr. Elwood 

 in regard to sections not full of honey. Such 

 sections I generally give away or use for feed- 

 ing. I mentioned them in my fourth grade, 

 simply because I knew that such honey is sold 

 by many bee-keepers, and I wished to have the 

 system complete. 



Dr. Miller takes me up on the difference be- 

 tween the meanings of " flavor" and "quality." 

 What I meant was, that the two higher grades 

 should be of good flavor and quality, and the 

 next grade the same, though I would admit to 

 it honey not quite so good as would be needed 

 for the better grades. You see, doctor, it's 

 only because I'm not handy in the use of the 

 English language, as you have somewhere ex- 

 pressed it, that it happened so. Perhaps it 

 would be best to use the words " of good quali- 

 ty " for all of the first three grades. I think it 

 well to have this condition, because I once had 

 some honey sent me from Missouri that was 

 beautiful to look at. but with a flavor that 

 made it almost uneatable to me. 



Straight combs should be graded higher than 

 crooked or uneven ones, because they look bet- 

 ter, and consequently sell better, are not so 

 easily injured, and are more convenient to sell. 



Dayton, 111., Mar. 8. J. A. Green. 



SPRAYING FRUIT-TREES. 



r. H. KLWOOt) KECONSIDEKS THE EFFKC'T OF 

 AllSKNITES ON BEES AND LARV.E. 



The discussion in Albany on spraying fruit- 

 trees while in bloom has called fortii criticism. 

 Some think that State Entomologist Lintner 

 (as if we could tell how far a bug-man would 

 jump) ought not to have been permitted to 

 make such stat(>ments before the convention. 

 But which, may I be permitted to ask, would 

 have been the better place for Dr. Lintner to 

 express his opinions — before a meeting of fruit- 

 growers, such as he usually addresses, who 

 would fall in with his id(>as. or before a conven- 

 tion of bee-keepers who would and did contro- 

 vert them ? Evidently the doctor had nearly 

 made up his mind to advise spraying during 

 bloom, and undoubtedly would have done so 

 had there been no evidence against it. When 



he left the convention he was fully satisfied 

 that it would be best to recommend, as hereto- 

 fore, no spraying until after blossoming. Nev- 

 ertheless, the doctor wished more conclusive 

 testimony. He thought Mr. Smith's bees may 

 have died from other causes, or from poison ad- 

 ministered in some other way. He asked that 

 a committee be appointed to bring the matter 

 before some of our experiment stations, par- 

 ticularly the Rhode Island station, which has a 

 department devoted to apiculture, so that we 

 might have full and complete tests. He 

 thought the result of such experiments would 

 be accepted as authoritativ(>. Prof. Lintner is 

 not to be blained for the position he takes; for 

 if you will turn to April 1.5th Gleanings, 1891. 

 you will learn that the late Mr. Ashby, a very 

 reliable, intelligent man, believed, after testing 

 the matter somewhat, that Paris- green solu- 

 tions or mixtures of the standard strength do 

 not injure the mature bee. And I notice by the 

 last Arnerlcan Bee Journal that Mr. Smith 

 himself calls for experiments that will be satis- 

 factory; and well he may, for he discloses the 

 fact that his bees were probably i)oisoned by a 

 solution of Paris green of four times the recom- 

 mended strength, or four times as strong as can 

 be applied to the apple without injury to the 

 foliage. There are a number of points on which 

 we need light. For instance, we want some 

 scientific men to visit oi'chards at the time of 

 spraying, and test the strength of the solutions 

 as actually applied to the trees. There are 

 good r(iasons for believing that the poison ap- 

 plied from near the bottom of th<' barrel is often 

 much stronger than that applied earlier. Paris 

 green is much heavier than the liquid into 

 which it is usually put; and unless the agitat- 

 ing appai'atus works perfectly, the above I'esult 

 will appear, so that this factor would have to 

 be taken into consideration. Or the solution 

 may be applied of the standard strength, and a 

 drying day may so evaporate the water as to 

 leave it very strong. This sometimes injures 

 the foliage. It would be well to know how it 

 affects the bees. In combination with lime the 

 arsenites (London purple and Paris green) may 

 be applied of greater strength without injury 

 to foliage (see Bulletin No. 3.') of Cornell Ex- 

 periment Station). Gillette, of the Iowa Ex- 

 periment Station, says, " London purple can be 

 used at least eight or ten time-; as strong with- 

 out injury to foliage, if applied in common 

 Bordeaux mixture instead of water." As yet, 

 however, the Bordeaux mixture can not be 

 thrown into the tops of tall trees. Again, the 

 arsenites ai'e of various degrees of solubility in 

 water. Pure Paris green is called insoluble, 

 but it is not. London purpl(>, is more soluble. 

 Over 150 per cent of the arsenic in the London 

 purple used at the Cornell station was soluble 

 in water. It would be well to know which usu- 

 ally kills the bees — the part soluble in water 

 or the solid particles. The ditference in solu- 

 bility of the poison may perhaps explain why 

 Prof. Cook's bees wei-e poisoned when Mr. Ash- 

 by"s were not, with mixtures reported the same. 

 Mr. Ashl)y thought the honey-bee in gathering 

 nectar is able to reject the minute particles of 

 foi'eign matter. Our best authorities, however, 

 do not agree with him. If Mr. Ashby was not 

 right, then the size of the particles of undis- 

 solved poison, no matter how weak the mixture, 

 becomes important, as it will take a very small 

 grain of arsenic to poison a bee. Taking weight 

 only into consideration, it will require only a 

 millionth part as much to poison a worker-bee 

 as an average-sized man. In the case of Mr. 

 Smith's bees, the brood is reported to have been 

 poisoned quite as extensively as th(^ mature 

 bees. Dr. Lintner asked the convention if this 

 great loss of brood could be accounted for by 



