328 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



April 1. 



ber ever hearing of any one of them as a bee- 

 keeper. 



That chkap hakyest dkink, that I quoted 

 from C. B. J.. J. A. (Jreen feels so sure is all 

 wrong that I'm afraid he is right. Hereafter, 

 before I give a recipe for any drink I think I'll 

 first drink a few quarts of it myself. I don't 

 think the drink in question ought to be called 

 "cheap,'" for you must swallow about a quarter 

 of a pou)id of honey to get a pint of drink. 



Faik PI-AY has been shown on the battlefield 

 of the "cost" discussion; but Hon. R. L. Tay- 

 lor, unwittingly no doubt, indulges in foul play 

 when he accuses Doolittle of inconsistency in 

 changing from 313 days at W.2.5 to 81 days at 

 .?.5.00. I think Doolittle had previously explain- 

 ed that, in one case, he charged for the whole 

 year at a price that could be so earned, and in 

 the other case merely for the days actually em- 

 ployed at expert wages. That's fair, isn't it? 



■WHAT OUGHT THE GOVERNMENT TO DO FOR 

 APICULTURE 1 



VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS FKOM P. M. ELWOOD 



Apiculture is a branch of agriculture, and as 

 such is entitled to the same fostering care ex- 

 tended by the government to other branches 

 of the same occupation. As a pursuit it is a 

 new comer, an "infant industry," and we 

 should therefoi'e expect it to be treated with ex- 

 ceptional favor. Instead of this, however, the 

 three hundred thousand bee - keepers of this 

 country have been almost wholly neglected. 

 There seems to have been enough money to 

 spend on promoting the culture of silk, an arti- 

 cle of luxuiy. but nothing foi- the pioduction of 

 honi'y. the most healthful sugar food in the 

 world. Millions of dollars are freely offered for 

 the production of cane sugar, an industry that 

 needs the fatherly care of the government no 

 more than does ours, if, indeed, it needs it as 

 much. Bee culture is peculiarly important be- 

 cause it saves a product that, unless gathered 

 by the honey-bee, goes to waste; also because 

 of the offices the bee performs in the fertiliza- 

 tion of the flowers of fruits, grains, seeds, etc. 

 These indirect benefits are probably quite as 

 important as the primary woik of honey-gath- 

 ering. As mentioned in my last, we have 

 now under Secretary Rusk an effort by the 

 government to protect us. for it has within the 

 pa.st year employed two able bee-keepers. Mr. 

 Larrabee at the Michigan Agiicultnral College, 

 and Mr. Frank Benton at Washington, to look 

 aftei' oui' interests. 



This well-intended effort, however, is practi- 

 cally fruitless, since both of tliese men an- under 

 the direction of Chief Riley, of the Division 

 of Entomology, who. no matter how distin- 

 guished as an entomologist, can not be expect- 

 ed to know much about piactical and scientific 

 bee-keeping. n(jr to he able to intelligently su- 

 pervise the expenditure of money appropriated 

 for experimental work in advanced l3e(> culture. 

 In proof of this assertion, notice the misdi- 

 rection of the efforts of these two efificient men. 

 Mr. Larrabee's time has b('en so fully occupied 

 with the care and manual labor of the large 

 Michigan College apiary as to leave him but 

 very little time orenergy for experimental work. 

 Mr. Benton. I .judge, has a desk in some dark 

 corner of the Division of Entomology, and he 

 has no bees nor other facilities for practical 

 work. He has had enough light and time al- 

 lowed him. howcNcr, to jjicpare a bulletin, to 

 be sent to farmers and others making inquiries 

 as to how they shall connnence bee-keeping. 

 Now, we do not need this kind of work at all, 



for we have plenty of handbooks and journals 

 devoted to A B C instruction. What we need 

 is advanced work — work that private individ- 

 uals can not perform because of expense, or 

 lack of time oi' facilities for doing it. We do 

 not care to have the government make any 

 efforts to increase the number of bee-keepers 

 until after it shall have made successful efforts 

 to enlarge the markets for their products. We 

 liardly think that, in the fostering care the 

 govei'nment extended to the cotton, iron, and 

 other manufacturers, it ever became necessary 

 to issue bulletins describing the best course for 

 beginners to pursue in engaging in these occu- 

 pations. The government can and should help 

 us by making original investigation on the uses 

 of honey in the arts and manufactures, and 

 by collecting and disseminating information 

 already known to the few, on these points; also 

 by investigations as to the healthfulness of 

 honey, by compaiing its digestibility with that 

 of cane-sugar syrup and other sugar and heat 

 producing foods. The various diseases of bees, 

 particularly the pest of foul brood, should be 

 investigated, and methods of treatment dissem- 

 inated. The Canadian govei'nment has a foul- 

 l)iood inspector, and also grants pecuniary aid 

 to its national society for their efforts in pro- 

 moting advanced bee culture. Some parts of 

 our country are said to be as badly afflicted 

 with this contagious disease as is Caiuida; but 

 we get no help, although it is expected that the 

 Bureau of Aninuil Industiy, a division of the 

 Department of Agriculture, in charge of the 

 diseases of domestic animals, etc.. will call for 

 an appropriation of (me million dollars from the 

 present congress. 



The important part the honey-bee performs in 

 the fertilization of flowers should be so fully in- 

 vestigated as to make the results authoritative, 

 and the report spread broadcast aimmg farmers 

 and frult-growei'S. Bee-keepers now suffer seri- 

 ous loss from the prejudices of these classes who 

 should be our strongest friends and supporters. 



A number of disputed as well as a number of 

 undiscovered functions in the physiology of the 

 honey-bee should be definitely established. It 

 may be said that these do not concern the ordi- 

 nary bee-keejjer. Not so: for I have recent- 

 ly had occasion in practical bee-keeping to re- 

 fer to several of the most obscure. An experi- 

 ment apiaiT- conducted by so practical and 

 sixillful a beekeeper as Frank Benton, ought 

 also to establish many useful (joints in practi- 

 cal bee-keeping. The different races of bees 

 could be tested, and trustworthy reports made 

 as to their merits, without compelling a multi- 

 tude of be<'-keepers to investof their hard earn- 

 ings in making what are usually very imper- 

 fect tesis. The trial of the so-called I'unic bee 

 by the bee-keepers of this country will probably 

 cost thousands of dollars. Mr. Benton, with a 

 few swarms of bees at his command, quite like- 

 ly could have decided on their worthlessness 

 at an exiK'use of less than twenty-five dollars. 



A statement has recently gone forth from one 

 of our most distinguished State entomologists. 

 Dr. Lintner. that it woidd be desirable for the 

 destruction of certain insects that fruit-trees be 

 sprayed witli arsenical mixtures while still in 

 blooin, and that he refrained from advising 

 spraying at this time only because of the 

 assertion of bee- keepers that it poisoned their 

 bees. The proof of this poisoning, while conclu- 

 sive with bee-keepers, was not wholly so with 

 Dr. Lintner (it is feared it will not be with 

 fruit-growers), and he asked that conclusive 

 experiments be made during tiie coming spring. 

 As the danger is imminent, and concei'us the 

 bee-keepers of many States, it w(juld seem very 

 appropriate that these experiments be conduct- 

 ed at Washington, and the i-esults put into the 



