FEBRUARY 1, 1914 



91 



General Correspondence 



HELP! WHOLESALE SPRAYING OF BLOSSOMS CAUSING WIDE- 

 SPREAD DISASTER IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS 



BY A NEW ENGLAND VETERAN 



It was with great pleasure and satisfac- 

 tion that the writer read of the forthcoming 

 " bee and fruit " number of Gleanings — 

 not only from the anticipation of the enjoy- 

 ment of reading something good — we have 

 learned to expect that — but there comes the 

 belief that the powerful influence of this 

 widely read magazine may relieve the pres- 

 ent situation in Eastern Massachusetts which 

 has already gone far to destroy the beekeep- 

 ing industry and interest of Essex, and, to 

 a considerable extent, of other counties. 

 That the matter is of vital and immediate 

 importance to the gardener and horticultur- 

 ist is obvious. 



In the matter of disease, while realizing 

 fully the seriousness and the difficulties 

 which beset both inspector and owner, the 

 writer is optimistic, and from experience 

 believes that in time it may not only be con- 

 trolled, but, by eliminating the careless and 

 ignorant beekeeper, raise tlie gentle craft to 

 a higher and more satisfactory plane. 



For some thirty years bees have been to 

 me at first a study and recreation, then my 

 occupation, and have brought very satisfac- 

 tory returns. 



Although surrounded by salt meadows 

 and hard-wood forest-land, the fact that we 

 are in the " apple belt," and that our farms 

 are well tilled, has made the flow of nectar 

 sufficient to give reasonable profits, and the 

 aroma and flavor of our honey is such that 

 there is no difficulty in selling locally all we 

 can produce. In my home yard a sale of 25 

 swarms and a trifle over half a ton of comb 

 honey has been a fair summer's work; but 

 it is neither unfair nor exaggerated to say 

 that, for several years, the authorities have 

 taxed my bees in April and destroyed them 

 in May. My crop last year was 42 lbs. of 

 honey — no swarms ; and after heavy feeding, 

 and the purchase of many queens, the api- 

 ary is reduced in value one half below spring 

 count and appraisal. 



With the advent of the gypsy and brown- 

 tail moths there came the covering of the 

 face of nature with, first, Paris gTeen, of 

 which two-edged-tool people had a whole- 

 some and well-grounded fear ; but later, with 

 the arsenate of lead, of which they seem to 

 have no fear at all; probably because, al- 

 though it is quite as dangerous, and in some 



ways even more deadly, it was free from the 

 evil reputation of Paris green, and was to 

 most people a new substance — merely an 

 " insecticide." It now sells at five cents a 

 pound, and is to be found in the barns and 

 sheds of most people who own trees or cul- 

 tivate gardens. 



Frankly admitting, as I do, the absolute 

 necessity of its use, it is still a good thing 

 re remember that it is a very powerful 

 cumulative metallic poison, but very imjDer- 

 fectly soluble in the water with which it is 

 applied; and, once exposed, is practically 

 indestructible as a poison, although it may 

 undergo some unimportant chemical changes ' 

 bv oxidation. Its value is in its ability to 

 kill ! 



Let me be plainly understood that the 

 beekeeper is, or should be, the first to ac- 

 knowledge that, where these pests have 

 appeared in any considerable number, the 

 only course is to spray ; but unless done at 

 the proper time, and intelligently, it will 

 defeat its own purpose. In this I find the 

 men at the head, " the men higher up," are 

 entirely with me. The ignorant employer, 

 the farmer who does not know what he is 

 doing, or, worse yet, does not care, or who 

 i^ working on the absurd theory that filling 

 the blossom with poison will kill the codling 

 moth, not knowing that this moth takes no 

 food of any kind, are the ones who have 

 practically destroyed beekeeping and the 

 wild bees in this locality. 



You may have more patience to listen to 

 my sermon if I set down here something of 

 the damage done last spring to the bees 

 under my personal care and observation, 

 other than my own. 



One yard of ten colonies in excellent con- 

 dition, just beginning work in the supers, 

 reduced by the second week in July to two 

 nuclei. These were inspected, and pro- 

 nounced free from disease. They had dur- 

 ing the summer a loss of thirteen queens. 

 Neither care nor expense was spared in the 

 effort to save them. 



Another apiary of six strong colonies was 

 reduced to five weak; no swarms nor har- 

 vest. Two small apiaries were entirely 

 wiped out. A market gardener, reduced 

 from five to two ; an apiary of three reduced 

 to one nucleus. A yard of five reduced to 



