640 



GLEANINGS IN BE£ CULTtJRE. 



May i 



us sample ruetals to test, which we did. 

 The width of perforation that he adopted 

 was very close to jijjVij wide. Fearing that 

 jig'y^) might be too narrow, we made some 

 zinc rV^'V and t'tfA: but occasionally we got 

 reports of queens going through it. When 

 we bought the Tinker machine we adopted 

 his size, but we have since made zinc j^t^%\ to 

 -[^3%%, thinking that, perhaps, the average pro- 

 ducer would prefer to have an occasional 

 small queen pass through than to have some 

 workers hindered when heavily laden with 

 honey. 



Dr. Tinker brings out one point in his 

 article above, which, if he ever mentioned it 

 before in his public writings, has never been 

 really grasped by the bee-keeping public. 

 If he is right (and we feel very certain he is) 

 then -^\j%% width of perforation in the wood- 

 zinc Tinker board would give the same fa- 

 cilities for the passage of tnebees that a solid 

 zinc board would without any slats, with 

 perforations ^\%% wide. It seems reasonable 

 to suppose that, when the bees have a wooden 

 slat on each side of the perforation, or a 

 foot-hold, they can pull themselves through 

 easier than when there is but little for them 

 to get hold of as in the plain metal. 



In this connection it is proper to state that 

 Dr. Tinker was the inventor of the wood- 

 zinc slat honey-board. Mr. Heddon first 

 brought out the slat board, and Dr. Tinker 

 conceived the idea of inserting the perforated 

 zinc strips between the slats. — Ed.] 



BEES AND ORCHARDS. 



What is to Blame for Poorer Fruit ? Bees 

 as Pollinators ; How to Prevent Spray- 

 ing Trees in Bloom. 



BY BURTON GATES. 



New England has long held honors in the 

 production of fruits Many of the now fa- 

 mous varieties were originated in these 

 States, especially Massachusetts; but it was 

 only I'ecently that I heard a prominent hor- 

 ticulturist here say that this State must "get 

 a move on " if she retains her long honored 

 reputation. A new problem now confronts 

 the fruit-producer. The San Jos^ scale has 

 gained such a hold that the farmer is mak- 

 ing every effort to save and protect his trees. 

 At first thought, this may appear to have 

 little bearing upon bees; but indirectly, as I 

 will try to show, the scale problem may 

 have its resulting effect on bee-keeping. 



It is common knowledge that, in our 

 grandfathers' days, bees were kept in nearly 

 every farmyard. This reminds me that I 

 have often heard my father say, "We don't 

 jt-seem to have such fruit now as we used to 

 ,;.,have on my father's old place." Record 

 shows that my grandfather, as did many 

 another in those days, raised tine apples and 

 pears. Now when I see the misei'able apol- 

 ogy for native fruits displayed on the coun- 

 ters and on the street peddlers' wagon, I 

 feel sure my father's remark is not far from 

 right. But what is the matter ? Probably 



not one thing nor two— lots of things; and 

 the lack of bees in the orchards comes well 

 toward the head of the list. 



In this connection there is one fundamen- 

 tal and often totally unconsidered factor, 

 which is as vital for a successful fruit crop 

 as is water in the soil or trees free from in- 

 jurious insect and fungus pests. It is the 

 agency of the bee in the fertilization of the 

 bloom. Thei'e is an abundance of proof on 

 all sides of the great value of bees as pollen- 

 carriers; but, unfortunately, the orchardist 

 seldom thinks of stocking his orchai'ds with 

 bees. He usually trusts ta luck. If it is a 

 fine day when his trees are in bloom, bees 

 may come from several miles away and 

 "set" a good crop of fruit. Let it, on the 

 other hand, be a day of sunshine and shadow, 

 with occasional showers, as is often the case 

 in April and May, and the trees will not be 

 "half set." But suppose a farmer has bees 

 at hand in his yard, and there comes a lowery 

 day when they can not fly far from home, 

 but can fly between showers. The result is 

 evident — trees nearby will be "set." You 

 may reason for yourself. Would it pay to 

 keep bees in the orchard ? 



The amount of honey produced in Massa- 

 chusetts falls short by tons of the amount of 

 honey consumed in the State. If it is as the 

 horticulturists say, that there is a need of im- 

 proving the fruit product of the State, as is 

 the case for certain, and of increasing the 

 product, then why not combine natural forces 

 — let the bees and the trees act upon each 

 other reciprocally? 



The equations might well be, the more 

 trees, the more bees; the more bees, the more 

 honey; the more honey, the more money. 

 This equals pi'osperity. 



A very pertinent observation on the value of 

 bees as pollen gatherers I just now note in the 

 Twenty-sixth Annual Report of the Ontario 

 Bee-keepers' Association. Gentlemen speak- 

 ing on a petition to the Board of Agriculture 

 to investigate the value of bees as agents 

 of fertilization of blossoms of fruits, clovers, 

 and buckwheat, said, "There is a man in our 

 neighborhood who is supposed to have as 

 much brains as any one around there, and 

 who says the bees just suck the life out of 

 alsike clover." The next speaker offered 

 proof to the contrary, and said, "I grow 

 some alsike clover. I spoke to a man who 

 owned a thrashing-machine, and told him that 

 I thought 1 would thrash my clover. "Oh!" 

 he said, "there isn't any seed in alsike this 

 year." I told him there would be in my case, 

 as I had bees. When they came to thrash it 

 they were surprised at the amount of seed I 

 got out of it. Plenty of bees in orchards and 

 in fields will, i believe, prove a surprise to 

 many. 



Returning to the San Jos^ scale problem, 

 which has now emphasized the necessity for 

 spraying orchards, let us consider the possi- 

 ble results on bee-keeping, for which we must 

 look out. Spraying as generally recommend- 

 ed for the scale, when the trees are dormant, 

 of course will never injure bees. But there 

 are always a few who will not follow the di- 



