May. 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



335 



the burden with me. We use all the labor- 

 saving devices possible, iiicludiiiii' a tractor, 

 two automobiles, five gasoline-engines, two 

 compressed-air spraying outfits, storage bat- 

 leries, and electric light, the old two-story 

 Root chaff hive, and enough hired help to 

 get all the work done in season." 



Mr. Baldridge is a firm believer in 

 " Gleanings " as an advertising medium. 

 lie sold ninety thousand pounds of honey 



in six months thru a small ad that ran six 

 or seven moutiis. lie says, " The past two 

 years I have had quite a demand for the 

 best grades of clover and basswood honey 

 in family-size packages. I have met this 

 demand with the five-pound friction-lop 

 pail." He attributes this demand to the 

 A. I. Root Co.'s honey-advertising cam- 

 paign and the higher prices of sugar and 

 syrup. 



I 



DESTRUCTIVE SPRAYING 



Ho^ it Both Kills the ^ees 

 Sterilizes the Pollen 



By Lewis P. Tanton 



F we could get 

 a reliable es- 

 timate of the 

 annual crop de- 

 struction caused 

 by reckless 

 methods in 

 spraying, i t 

 would, in these 



times of high-prioed and scarce commodi- 

 ties, prove a wholesome eye-opener. In 

 J 913 my whole yard of twenty-five hives, 

 and nearly all the bees in this province 

 mysteriously died. The following year, I 

 and some others imported fresh colonies, 

 with the same results. The next year I 

 tried again, upon a smaller scale, but be- 

 fore doing so I attacked most vigorously, 

 in the press, the educational fruit-spray- 

 ing methods then being taught. The 

 " Fruit Inspector " replied, sarcastically at 

 first, but later pulled in his horns. Since 

 then our bees have had a chance for 

 tlieir lives. 



Since 1913 our fruit crops have been 

 bad, and in some cases, such as in cherries, 

 almost a total failure. The decimation of 

 the wild as well as the domestic bees, and 

 other fertilizing insects, is no doubt largely 

 responsible for this, for our bumble-bees met 

 the same fate. Another factor — ^which I 

 have never seen referred to in print — is 

 the sterilization of the pollen by the 

 arsenate or other spraying solution, so that 

 even if cari-ying agents were available the 

 poisoned and killed pollen would not fructi- 

 fy the fruit ovules. These two conditions 

 have produced crop reductions and losses 

 which statistics has never yet portrayed. 



On tie question of spraying, are the old 

 rut, frequently recommended methods, logi- 

 cal and sensibly scientific? We are told to 

 " spray while the calyx cup is open." Is 

 this as wise as it is made to appear? At 

 this time the fruit is upright in position. 



am 



and the rain al- 

 lowed free scope 

 to deluge the cup 

 and dilute or 

 completely wash 

 out the spray so- 

 lution. Both 

 the leaves and 

 the fruit are 

 small, 'with little area to catch and 

 retain the poison, and much falls to the 

 gi-ound as waste. Moreover as the fruits 

 grow larger the calyx cup expands, creating 

 a new unpoisoned surface which the codling- 

 worm will surely select for its point of 

 entrance. It is usually three to six weeks 

 after early spraying before the maggot ap- 

 pears, giving ample time for rain and 

 weather to wash out or neutralize the mix- 

 ture. 



Now if we spray when the fruit has 

 developed into form, say about ten days 

 before the worm is due, the conditions 

 should make the process more effective. 

 The calyx, which is always more or less 

 spongy and absorbent, would soak up the 

 liquid at the very point of attack. The 

 fruit being heavier at this stage droops 

 downward. In rain the calyx being under- 

 neath is protected from the shower. The 

 poison washings from the larger surface 

 of the fruit, as well as from the leaves 

 above it, would tend downward, allowing 

 the calyx to absorb an additional supply of 

 the mixture from the passing drops. The 

 solution at this period would be fresher, 

 stronger, less injured by weather, and decid- 

 edly more deadly and effective. The larger 

 leaf and fruit area carries a greater supply 

 of the mixture which is further disseminat- 

 ed by later showers. You want to kill the 

 worm. It is the outside of the fruit Avhich 

 he attacks first. To poison his gateway as 

 above, appears to me the common - sense 

 way. 



Charlottetown, P. E. I., March 6, 



