1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



533 



gets from him is up to date, and of the very 

 best." 



It struck me a good deal the same way. A 

 year or so afterward, owing to ill health, Mr. 

 Newman was obliged to sell out, and we bought 

 his stock, including some two oi three thou- 

 sand globe bee-veils. But this stock of veils 

 we felt disinclined to take, because we thought 

 they would not sell, and, besides, we didn't be- 

 lieve they were as handy and as serviceable as 

 the old kind. But Mr. Newman assured us, 

 as did Mr. York, that this was one of the best- 

 selling articles they ever had, and we finally 

 took the lot. After cataloging it we were sur- 

 prised to see how well it " took " with the 

 general public. The demand has grown so 

 enormously of late that I felt constrained to 

 try one of the " ornery " things myself, and I 

 was surprised to see how nice and convenient 

 it was. Why, one can wear any kind of hat 

 with it except a plug, and his face will be ab- 

 solutely protected. Besides the convenience 

 of wearing the every-day head gear that al- 

 ways feels comfortable, one has the added se- 

 curity, real as well as fancied, of having the 

 veil held clear away from the neck, face ^ and 

 head by means of the skeleton-like globe steel 

 springs. 



Yesterday at our out-yard, when two or 

 three of the crossest bees made a dive for the 

 back of my neck, I did not have the feeling 

 \ki2iX perhaps the veil was touching me at some 

 .spot where the rascals could get in a good jab. 

 No, I had the satisfaction of knowing that 

 those parts were invulnerable. At another 

 time, when I received an onslaught from that 

 hive of cross bees I wrote about, and which 

 stand as guardians over the whole apiary 

 against the intrusions of thieves, I had the 

 pleasure of seeing (even though at close range) 

 that my nose was a good big inch from the 

 mesh of the veil. 



While this veil is an " ornery " thing to 

 look at, I must say that I have changed my 

 notion about its general utility. I am not sure 

 but if I were to work in the apiary day in and 

 day out that I would use it exclusively ; for 

 one of the things I do like is to wear a hat I 

 am used to. The ordinary cap will not sup- 

 port the average veil in a way that protects 

 one properly, and I very often wear a cap, and 

 with that the globe is just the thing. 



EXPERIMENT STATIONS, AND THKIR ADVICE 

 ON THE SUBJECT OF SPRAYING. 



On 1 age 403 of our issue for May 15 I refer- 

 red to tlie advice of one Wm. Stahl, a vender 

 of sprajing outfits, in which Mr. S., in the di- 

 rections that go with his spraying-pumps, 

 cl ums to have a "great secret;" and that 

 secret (?) is to give the trees an "additional 

 spraying " " when in full bloom," regardless 

 of the interests of the bee-keeper, and directly 

 contrary to the advice of the experiment sta- 

 tions. 



Seeing which, the editor of the Fariner''s 

 Guide, published by the Guide Co., Hunting- 

 ton, Ind , took Mr. Stahl sharply to task. In 

 reply, Mr. Stahl had the audacity to say that 

 the editor of the Guide was " just a little bit 



behind the times; " see Gi^eanings, page 403. 

 To make sure of the exact attitude of the ex- 

 periment stations of the country, the Guide 

 next addressed a circular letter to seven ex- 

 periment stations. In this it referred to the 

 advice of Mr. Stahl, and added, " If we are be- 

 hind the times, we want to know it, and know 

 the safe, sure, and good way to catch up." 

 Replies were received from five different sta- 

 tions, and they are published in the Farmer'' s 

 Guide for May 26. As these are all so valua- 

 ble I have thought best to place them in full 

 before our readers, and here they are : 



In reply to your inquiry of recent date concerning: 

 the spraying of fruit-trees when iti full bloom, I will 

 say tliat the comments of the editor upon the advii e 

 givtn by Mr. Stahl, in a recent number of The Giiidf, 

 coincide with my experience and observation. In 

 the first place, if the spraying is done to prevent the 

 apple scab, no Paris green is necessary, and the a])- 

 plication of the Bordeaux mixture should be made 

 just as the leaf-buds are opening, or liefore the blo-- 

 soms open. This has been clearly shown by Prcf. 

 Burrill, of the University of Illinois, whose ability 

 along this line no one will question. Again, if tie 

 spraying is intended to prevent the ravages of the 

 codling moth it would be impracticable, to say the 

 least, to spray while the trees are in full bloom, as the 

 moth dot-s not brgin her work until there is a pros- 

 pect of something for her young to feed upon or until 

 the young apples are formed, it is also a well recog- 

 nized fact that bees and other insects are essential to 

 a proper fertilization of the blossoms, and it has aUo 

 been demonstrated, by my.self and others, that many 

 of these insects are killed l)y spraying with the arsen- 

 ites when the trees are in full bloom. J. Troop, 



Horticulturist, Indiana Exp. Station, I,afayette, Ind. 



Some of the fruit-growers in this State hold very 

 firmly to the opinion that much better results can be 

 obtained, especialUy with apples, by spraying when 

 the trees are in fullbloom than by following the ad- 

 vice uf experiment stations and spraying just before 

 the blossoms open and ju-t after the blossoms fall. 

 There is a law in this State, enacted in the interests of 

 the bee-keepers, which prohibits spraying trees with 

 poi.son when in bloom. Some of the men who believe 

 in spraying at blooming lime declare that they would 

 rather spray at that time and pay their fine than to 

 comply with the requirements of the law. So far as I 

 know there have been no tests conducted by experi- 

 ment stations to show whether or not there is any ad- 

 vantage in spraying trees when they are in bloom. 

 The expetiment .stations have persistently advised 

 against spraying when the trees are in bloom. They 

 have held the opinion that the diseases and injurious 

 insects may be held under control effectuiJly by spray- 

 ing immediately before and immediately after bloom- 

 ing, wherens it has been shown that spraying trees 

 when in full bloom kills the bees. It has also been 

 shown that the brood in the hive may be killed by 

 poison brought by the bees from sprayed trees. Since 

 bees are killed in this way it is reasonable to believe 

 that many insects whirh visit the trees when in bloom 

 may also be likewi e poisoned. 



Your correspondent says that in the grape growing 

 section of Nauvoo, almost every acre will be sprayed 

 in full bloom this year. Investigations which have 

 been made at this station show that there are many 

 varieties of grapes which are absolutely self-sterile. 

 They can set fruit only as pollen is brought to them 

 from other varieties. Some varieties of grapes are 

 strongly self-fertile, and need no assistance from other 

 varieties in setting fruit. Still other kinds are still 

 more or less imperfectly self-fertile, and are benefited 

 by cros.s-pollination. The results of this investigation 

 are reported in bulletins 169 and 157 of the Geneva, N. 

 Y'., experiment station. Other investigators have 

 shown that a similar condition exists among pears 

 and plums, and it is probably true that some varieties 

 of apples are imperfectlv self-fertile, if not complete- 

 ly self-sttrile. It is also"e.stahlished that insects assist 

 in cros.s-pollination. Therefore the fr\iit-grower who 

 persists in spraying trees when in bloom may not only 

 kill bees and thus destroy the property of bee-keepers, 

 but he may also injure himself by de.stroying insects 

 which assist in cross-pollinating the flowers. 



At the request of some of the fruit-growers the last 

 legislature amended the New York law so as to per- 

 mit orchards to be sprayed when in blossom, under 



