472 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ing more for the bees as pollenizers than 

 the facts will warrant — not that bees are 

 not necessary in some cases, but it must be 

 admitted that there are eases and seasons 

 when bees are absolutely not needed to in- 

 sure good crops of f )"uit ; but as it is im- 

 possible to foretell the seasons when the 

 wild pollenizers will be scarce, and the 

 weather unfavorable for their flight, it i? 

 necessai->' to keep bees as an insurance, and 

 tliis should be dwelt upon when presenting 

 the subject. 



In regard to whether bees or other pollen- 

 carriers are needed to insure a crop of 

 grapes, page 82, if the editor will stop in 

 some gi'eenhouse where grapes are grown 

 under glass, and ask the attendant how he 

 secures fertilization of the blossoms, he will 



find that grape pollen floats in the air, as 

 does corn pollen, and no carrier except the 

 air is needed. 



New Egypt, N. J. 



[It is true, as our correspondent says, 

 that bees are not necessary in the work of 

 pollinating all kinds of plants or shrubbery. 

 He is also probably correct in saying that 

 grapevines are very largely if not altogeth- 

 er self-pollinating. But this does not prove 

 that bees will not be of considerable assist- 

 ance some seasons. On the other hand, evi- 

 dence is piling up more and more, showing 

 they are a positive necessity in pollinating 

 fruit-trees of all kinds. See what the Repp 

 Brothers have to say on this subject in the 

 May 1st issue. — Ed.] 



TWENTY YEARS AMONG GRAPES 



BY FRED COLE 



I have made many observations in the 

 Lake Keuka grape-belt, where there are 

 hundreds of acres of grapes within the 

 flight of bees from a yard. As to whether 

 bees bite the skins of grapes that have not 

 been previously bitten by birds or some 

 other insect, I would oifer as an argument 

 that they do not, the fact that the Concord, 

 which has the tenderest skin of any gi'ape 

 of which I have any knowledge, but which 

 is a large grape, and which the birds do 

 not attempt to eat. are never visited by 

 the bees except when the grapes become 

 cracked in handling during picking, while 

 on the other hand the Delaware, which is a 

 small grape that the birds eat more or less, 

 but which contains a much thicker skin 

 than the Concord, is visited by the bees, and 

 they may be found eating away the skin 



where tlie birds have injured them. I could 

 never find where the bees eat into the skins 

 of even the fendei'est-skinned varieties 

 where the birds had not first been. 



In regard to the bee as an agent in cross- 

 poUenizing the grape, I would say that in 

 working in the vineyards while they are in 

 bloom I have seldom seen a bee on the 

 blossoms — not a dozen times in my life, I 

 think, and I have been in vineyards more 

 or less for twenty years. 



There are quite a few bees kept in this 

 section. There is a yard of about 80 colo- 

 nies one mile and a half or two miles north 

 of me, and I have a yard myself of twenty 

 colonies, surrounded on three sides by vine- 

 yards. 



Pulteney, N. Y. 



ANNUAL MEETING OF THE EASTERN NEW YORK BEEKEEPERS' 



BY S. DAVENPORT^ SEC. 



The sixth annual convention of the East- 

 ern New York Beekeepers' Association was 

 held Dec. 16, 1913, at the City Hall, Albany, 

 The president, W. D. Wright, presided. 

 There was a much larger attendance than at 

 the annual meeting in 1912, and deep inter- 

 est was manifested throughout both sessions. 



Following the reading of the minutes of 

 the previous meeting, and the secretary's 

 annual report, the president stated that the 

 treasurer, Mr. A. Kingman, having retired 

 from the beekeeping business, had sent in 

 his resignation. The treasurer's report 



showed a handsome balance in the treasury. 

 The i3resident delivered his annual address, 

 covering a review of the season for honey 

 j)roduction, the current prices of honey at 

 retail and wholesale, and other topics of 

 interest. 



The secretary, having served in that ca- 

 pacity for several years, expressed a desire 

 to be relieved from the office. With the 

 retirement from office of the treasurer and 

 the secretary, the annual election of the 

 board of officers stood as follows : 



President, W. D. Wright, Altamont; 1st 



