222 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



after the matter had been placed in type. 

 When the honey was received in the first place, 

 it came in the best of order; but it looked so 

 nice that I had a photo of it taken, and this 

 was half-toned, and the plate lay on my desk 

 several months, perhaps, before it was used. 

 The honey here shown being made in old- 

 style sections with old-style fences, some two 

 years ago, does not show up as well as some of 

 his later honey; and I would call attention to 

 an obvious defect in it ; namely, ridging across 

 its faces. The fences with which this honey 

 was produced were old-style, and the first 

 that Mr. Danzeubaker got out. The slats in 

 these were spaced Y% inch ap irt. We did not 

 then know, as we now do, th it closer spacing 

 from j 2 2 to T \ avoids almost entirely this ridg- 

 ing. But we never made any fences for our 

 own hives with spaces wider than ^, and most 

 of them were spaced closer. — Ed.] 



SPRAYING FRUIT TREES; HOW AND WHEN. 



Where to Get Necessary Information in Regard to 

 Spraying; a Matter of Value to the Fruit- 

 grower and Bee-keeper alike. 



J. W. ROUSE. 



We notice that Bro. M. N. Simon, of Ohio, 

 has a letter, saying that ' ' the fruit-growers 

 near him spray their fruit trees while in bloom, 

 thus destroying large numbers of his bees." 

 We will say that the fruit-growers of his neigh- 

 borhood very much need some missionary 

 work among them for their own especial ben- 

 fit as well as to help the bee-keepers. While 

 we have no doubt that these fruit-growers are 

 an intelligent people, yet spraying when fruit- 

 trees are in bloom shows ignorance on this sub- 

 ject at least, as all well-informed horticultur- 

 ists know that it does but very little good to 

 spray while the bloom is out ; and to do so de- 

 stroys large numbers of the fruit-grower's nec- 

 essary helps to successful growing of fruit. It 

 would be too much in one article to show the 

 necessity of insects (and bees are the best of 

 all of them) to the successful growing of fruit; 

 but what we have to say will be on spraying. 



It is fully recognized in Missouri and in the 

 West — in fact, everywhere, so far as we know 

 — that the time to spray must be determined 

 by what the spraying is intended for. If for 

 fungus, it should be done before the tree comes 

 in bloom; and, in some instances, even before 

 the buds get started much. For the codling 

 moth the spraying should be done after the 

 bloom has fallen, as the moth does not depos- 

 it her eggs until the fruit is set ; so to spray 

 while the bloom is out would be too soon, and 

 the work lost, besides poisoning the fruit-grow- 

 er's helpers, the insects. 



In the Missouri State Horticultural Society's 

 report for 1893, 1895, and 1896, experiences 

 are given as to when to spray; and in no in- 

 stance is it advised to spray while bloom is 

 out. The writer had the honor of offering a 

 resolution at the meeting of the society at 

 Marciline, Mo., in 1896, being there by re- 

 quest of the secretary to give a lecture on bee- 



keeping in relation to horticulture. The reso- 

 lution was: "Resolved, That this society 

 strongly advises fruit - growers, in spraying 

 fruit-trees with poisonous insecticides, not to 

 do so while the trees are in bloom, for the rea- 

 son that at that time it practically does no 

 good, but may be the cause of destroying, by 

 poisoning, large numbers of our helpers in 

 fruit-growing, particularly the honey-bees." 

 This was unanimously adopted. Our horti- 

 culturists (many of whom are bee-keepers), 

 recognizing the importance of bees in the suc- 

 cessful growing of fruit, have cordial feelings 

 toward bee-keepers; and for the past several 

 years, in almost every one of their annual 

 meetings, they have had either a paper or a 

 bee-keeper to make a talk on bee-keeping. 

 We would advise our readers who may be in- 

 terested, to send their address to Cornell Uni- 

 versity, Ithaca, N. Y., and get Bulletin No. 

 101, entitled "The Spraying of Trees;" also 

 Bulletin No. 86, "Spraying of Orchards;" 

 and to U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, Farmers' Bulletin No. 7, 

 " Spraying Fruits." These are all free. The 

 best of all, that will give the most informa- 

 tion as to when to spray and how many times 

 is the Spray Calendar, by E. G. Godeman, is- 

 sued in Feb., 1895, by Cornell University Ag- 

 ricultural Station. I. P. Roberts is the direct- 

 or. This calendar tells when to spray and 

 what with; and in a long list, in every in- 

 stance, either before or after the bloom has 

 fallen. If any one wants to spray he should 

 have these bulletins, especially the calendar, 

 as we deem them of much value, being given 

 from practical experience and experiments. 

 We will not give any formulas, as that is an- 

 other question. 

 Mexico, Mo. 



FOUL BROOD GERMS. 



May not Honey Boil in Separate Strata ? 



BY J. H. MARTIN. 



Mr. Editor: — I am going to try to help you 

 out on that proposition about boiling honey 

 for the killing of foul-brood germs. You 

 quote Messrs. Cowan, Taylor, and others as 

 indorsing a ten-minutes' boil. On the other 

 hand, Mr. Buchanan has made a failure at it, 

 and would boil an hour or longer. Now, I can 

 imagine that every one may be right. I will 

 guarantee that Messrs. Cowan, Taylor, and 

 others, boiled only a small amount as compar- 

 ed with Buchanan's 15 or 20 gallons. 



Is it not a fact that liquids boil in successive 

 strata ? For instance, if there is a small amount 

 of liquid in the bottom of a boiler it will all be 

 thoroughly boiled in a few minutes ; but fill 

 the boiler with several gallons, and though it 

 may seem to be boiling furiously there are 

 successive strata, from the hottest at the bot- 

 tom to the coolest at the top; and while foul- 

 brood germs would be killed in the bottom 

 stratum they would be alive in the upper 

 stratum. It is the hot-air bubbles continuous- 

 ly rising to the surface that eventually give 

 the whole mass of liquid a uniform tempera- 



