92 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



two, and here every thing was done to save 

 them, expense not being considered. A yard 

 of seven was cut to three, this being an espe- 

 cially interesting case, as they developed 

 two mild cases of European foul brood, 

 giving positive evidence that a case of foul 

 brood properly treated is of less injury than 

 " spraying in bloom." This list could be 

 extended, covering my work in both Essex 

 and Norfolk counties. Of all the bees under 

 my care or advice, only two lots did any 

 satisfactory work. One colony was kept in 

 ;i cucumber-house until the spraying in 

 bloom had passed, returned a very handsome 

 profit, and gave two swarms which went 

 into the winter nearly as strong as the par- 

 ent colony. Another yard of four, on a 

 large estate where tiie spraying was con- 

 trolled, and both bees and fruit protected, 

 increased to six and gave some 200 lbs. of 

 fancy comb honey. Under normal condi- 

 tions this is a good locality, and not greatly 

 troubled by disease. 



To consider this question fairly and from 

 'all sides, one should bear in mind that the 

 cutting out and killing of most of the wil- 

 lows under the belief that they promote the 

 increase of the gypsy moth has deprived 

 the bees of their early pollen ; and hence, 

 unless artificial pollen or pollen substitutes 

 are supplied, the bees do not build up early 

 enough to get the apple-bloom honey into 

 the supers. This works out as of much 

 greater importance than one would think. 

 Also the cutting and burning of all roadside 

 shrubs and bushes to destroy the moths sup- 

 posed to be distributed by automobiles takes 

 away in the aggregate a large amount of 

 nectar, miles of elderberry, sumac, golden- 

 rod, asters, etc. 



The filling of a " ripe " apple-blossom 

 with a solution of arsenic may not be the 

 most healthful treatment for the blossom; 

 but I am a beekeeper, and will not attempt 

 to discuss botanical matters. 



To say nothing of the money loss, it is 

 not pleasant to see the yard covered with 

 little bunches of bees quivering in the agony 

 of arsenical poison, for arsenate of lead is 

 " slow and sure," and the torture may con- 

 tinue for hours. A neighbor came in haste 

 to ask what was the matter, for his onion- 

 bed was, as he expressed it, " covered " with 

 dead and dying bees. 



The loss is not by the beekeeper alone, 

 but the entire community is damaged, as 

 shown by the fact that a large strawberi-y- 

 field a short half-mile from my yard failed 

 to fruit, although blossoming freely. The 

 owner, an expert at the business, declares 

 that, as my bees were practically the only 

 ones available, their destruction caused his 



loss, which he estimates at $200, and it was 

 to liim a very serious matter. 



Many who have enjoyed cultivating gar- 

 dens are giving them up, as they depend on 

 the bee for their early cucumbers and squasli. 

 Tlie practical extermination of tlie bumble- 

 bee has been the ciiief factor in raising the 

 price of red clover from I2V2 to 45 cents 

 per lb., and farmers no longer buy. Surely 

 the loss of this valuable forage plant is not 

 to be ignored. In spraying, especially with 

 an engine of five to ten horse power (town 

 machine), and in reaching tall elms and 

 ether shade trees, a wide area is covered, 

 both around and beneath the tree; therefore 

 much clover, both white and red, is filled, 

 iis the blossom is well adapted to receive and 

 liold the poison. In this ease the nectar 

 serves to carry the poison; but my observa- 

 tion and experience convince me that the 

 chief damage is by pollen, which soaks up 

 and retains the arsenic; hence the slow 

 ijuilding-up of a j^oisoned colony. The ni- 

 ti-ogeneous foqi as stored up in the cells 

 Idlls both old and young. 



Of this very serious aspect of the case I 

 have observations and experiments, but will 

 not take space to give them here. A thing 

 difficult to prove is that queens receive 

 poison directly from the honey-sac of the 

 worker, either as food or drink; but I am 

 convinced the very great mortality among 

 <iueens following spraying in bloom can best 

 be explained that way. 



Do not think the writer wishes to mini- 

 mize the danger or damage of the moth pest. 

 Eight wood lots lying in four towns, and 

 all, so far as any future profit is concerned, 

 absolutely ruined by the moths, are quite 

 enough to convince him that we face a " con- 

 dition and not a theory," but if we are to 

 use a powerful poison by the ton — and three 

 tons per year will hardly supply this small 

 town to spray its highways and a part only 

 of its orchards — let us use it intelligently : 

 and as that is enough to kill all the inhabi- 

 tants in the State, with a ton or two left 

 over, why not use it carefully? 



Is there need to say this? Well, judge 

 for yourself. A year or two ago the person 

 in charge of the spraying in this section 

 assured me that arsenate of lead, which he 

 termed, with a considerable degree of accu- 

 racy, " arsenic of lead," would " not hurt 

 any thing that breathed through the mouth." 

 This might be a valuable bit of information 

 for the doctoi's who condemn "mouth breath- 

 ing," and at any rate it showed his pro- 

 found knowledge of respiratory processes. 



Last spring the owner of a valuable horse 

 which was drawing a part of the spraying 

 outfit offered, if I would, as he expressed it, 



