April, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE f!UI. TURE 



211 



queoiis arc also affeeted; one observer re- 

 porting, however, that in some colonies 

 everything was killed but the queens, so that 

 he had a dozen lone queens surviving. The 

 brood in all stages is destroyed. Sometimes 

 only unhatched eggs remain after the plague 

 has swept thru, the helpless new brood ap- 

 pearing but to perish unattended. In case of 

 incomplete destruction of the colony, pois- 

 oned honey is stored away to be drawn on 

 later, when symptoms of arsenic poisoning 

 reappear. Such after-effects are common 

 when bees are removed from the orchard 

 region. Thus it is also that bees may show 

 symptoms of poisoning early in the spring 

 liet'oie the spray season opens. 

 Financial Loss to Beekeepers from Spray 

 Poisoning of Bees. 



Questionnaires sent the past two seasons 

 to beekeei)ers in the fruit-growing districts 

 of Washington reveal the widespread and 

 serious nature of spray poisoning. By tens 

 of thousands colonies of bees are being so 

 depleted as to become non-productive, and 

 by thousands c(donies of bees are being 

 completely wiped out. The money loss for 

 a season has been computed to be more 

 than $50,000. 



Aside from financial considerations there 

 enters the question of fair play and moral 

 and legal rights. Why should one group of 

 people be permitted to put poison in the 

 path of so industrious a benefactor of hu- 

 manity as the honeybee? When it is fur- 

 ther realized that bees are all-important to 

 fruit-growing the question becomes even 

 more pertinent, for it becomes suicidal to 

 best orchard interests to drive away the 

 honeybee and to destroy year after year 

 the native insect pollenizers. 



To avoid actual extermination beekeep- 

 ers are forsaking the orchard districts. It 

 is their silent protest but best retaliation 

 to thejr neighbors who manifest so little 

 regard for the rights of others. Bees are 

 gradually becoming a rarity in those dis- 

 tricts where they are most needed'. 



Correction of the Trouble Involves No 

 Actual Hardships. 



If bees are to be won back and propa- 

 gated in the fruit-producing districts the 

 following conditions must be met. 



a. The calyx spray must not be begun 

 until fully 80 per cent of the blossoms have 

 dropped. This is consistent with best spray- 

 ing practice. At that time the nectar flow 

 has ceased. 



b. Cover spraying should not be overdone. 

 A tree will drink up a definite amount of 

 spray without dripping and nothing is to 

 be gained by spraying beyond that point. A 

 careful operator can spray an orchard with 

 utmost efficiency and yet have scarcely a 

 ilrop fall on the cover crop. 



c. Cover crops should not be permitted to 

 bloom at the time of spraying. Practically 

 this is usually accomplished by cutting be- 

 fore driving thru with the spray outfits. 

 This avoids the poisoning of nectar and re- 



moves the inducement to the bees to visit 

 the orchard while spraying is in progress. 



d. Aphids must be kept in check on such 

 varieties of fruit as receive summer appli- 

 cations of arsenicals. This would avoid the 

 production of honeydew to become contami- 

 nated. 



It is the overzealous fruit-grower who, 

 whitening his apples and his alfalfa, should 

 be made to understand that it is his desire 

 to best the codling moth that is giving 

 Washington apples the reputation of being 

 poisonous to eat, that is responsible for the 

 impression that orchard-grown hay is dead- 

 ly to liorses and cattle, and that is driving 

 away the best supporter of his industry — 

 the beekeeper. 



It may prove that some suitable material 

 will be discovered that can be added to the 

 spray as a repellent to bees, thus enabling 

 the fruit-grower who wishes to keep bees 

 to grow his alfalfa and do his spraying 

 without further regard for his little friends. 

 Lime-sulphur, nicotine, lime, and creosote 

 have each been suggested for this purpose, 

 but information is too meager to give out a 

 general recommendation as yet. In some pre- 

 liminary experiments we have conducted we 

 have found that bees react in unexpected 

 ways to substances nauseating to ourselves. 

 Lime-sulphur, carbon disulphide, and naph- 

 tlialene were preceptibly avoided by bees; 

 while ill-smelling butyric and pyroligneous 

 acids were unnoticed. It may be that cal- 

 cium arsenate will be less destructive than 

 the lead arsenate; it may be that dry dust- 

 ing will be better than liquid spraying. 



Corrective Legislation Will Afford the 

 Quickest Benefits to All. 



While it is inconceivable that any fruit- 

 grower conversant with the facts would wil- 

 fully place poison in the path of his neigh- 

 bor 's honeybees, yet we all appreciate how 

 slow is the directing of reforms thru appeals 

 for sympathy. In the meantime the beekeep- 

 er must live by the lives of his bees. His 

 part is not to beg for humane consideration 

 of his troubles; he cannot wait on educa- 

 tional propaganda; he cannot take chances 

 on losing his all; and so he moves away 

 until fruit-men come to realize that they 

 need the bees more than the beemen need 

 the orchard flowers. 



Many States in the interest of beekeeping 

 have enacted laws prohibiting the spraying 

 of trees in blossom. This alone would not 

 meet the situation in the Northwest, be- 

 cause the custom here of growing a cover 

 crop is responsible for most of the trouble. 



For the ultimate good of fruit-growing, as 

 well as of beekeeping, Washington should 

 enact a law to forbid the placing of poison 

 inadvertently or deliberately, where bees or 

 other insect pollenizers will unavoidably se- 

 cure it. Such a law would apply only to the 

 careless orchardist, who would either have 

 to cut his alfalfa before spraying or else 

 hereafter use care in spraying not to overdo 

 the application. 



