1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1331 



middle of the large twelve-frame colonies. 

 In each case I get a much stronger colony 

 than the ones with the single queen, brood- 

 frames to be packed in every cell; but, un- 

 fortunately, in this locality, the method does 

 not completely control swarming. I am 

 anxious to hear Mr. Alexander's account of 

 keeping two or more laying queens at large 

 in one hive; and if he is successful at all 

 times of the season, without cutting their 

 stings, he has succeeded in an experiment 

 where I utterly failed. 

 Sierra Madre, Cal. Harold Davenes. 



DO BEES "sting" UNRIPE PEACHES SO AS 

 TO MAKE THEM ROT, ETC. ? 



Mr. Root: — I write to call your attention to 

 a question asked of the editor of the Country 

 Gentleman, in its issue of Sept. 19. This 

 question is asked by Amateur, how to pro- 

 tect his peaches "from bees and other per- 

 nicious insects." Amateur, of course, can 

 be excused for his ignorance in regard to 

 honey-bees; but a paper so old and popu- 

 lar, and edited by such highly efficient and 

 widely known authority on agriculture, 

 should certainly be called to time for their 

 weak and ignorant answer to their subscrib- 

 er. T. J. Cross. 



Campbell Hill, 111. 



[Below we give the entire query and reply 

 taken from the Country Oentltman:] 



How can I protect my peaches, which I am fast los- 

 ing, from bees and such-like pernicious insects? The 

 peaches are stuntr while unripe, and directly besin to 

 rot. Amateur. Detroit, Mich. [Perhaps the best way 

 to preserve peaches will be found in picking them be- 

 fore they are ripe enough to be molested They will 

 ripen, even if picked rather green. Otherwise the on- 

 ly sure preventive would be found in covering the 

 tre- s with netting. The expense of this method would 

 render it unadvisable except with very choice fruit. 

 A mixture of honey and sugar or glucose might be 

 tried to see if the bees and wasps would take it instead 

 of attacking the fruit. Is the writer positive that the 

 bees attack sound fruit? It is possible that the birds 

 break the skin, and that the insects then feed on the 

 sweets exuding from the wounds. We should be glad 

 to hear the results of observations to determine this 

 • point from any one troubled in this manner. — Ed.] 



[My good friend, are you not a little severe 

 on the Country OentU'tnan''} The main blun- 

 der is in failmg to assure Amateur and others 

 that he is entirely mistaken in thinking that 

 bees sting peaches while green, or ripe either, 

 for that matter. I judge from some experi- 

 ence of my own, that, in their answer, they 

 failed by omission to touch on this point. 

 Amateur's mistake is right along in line with 

 that of many other people who know noth- 

 ing about bees. They seem to think that 

 bees have no mission in this world but to 

 sting and destroy, whereas the sting is never 

 used except to protect themselves and their 

 stores from enemies. The Country Oentle- 

 man should remember the famous Utter law- 

 suit about bees and peaches that occurred in 

 their locality. This man Utter would have 

 it that the bees not only made the peaches 

 rot, but killed the trees outright by the poi- 

 son of their sting. I can not think that it is 

 ever necessary to use netting, as suggested, 

 to keep away the bees. If all the overripe 



and rotting peaches are taken fi'om the trees, 

 as they should be, there will be nothing in 

 the peach-orchard to attract the bees, and 

 that is the proper way to handle the fruit 

 crop, even if no bees or other insects were 

 anywhere about. 



Our stenographer suggests that the man 

 who writes to the Country Oentleman had 

 somehow got it into his head that bees sting 

 fruit something in the way the curculio 

 "stings" plums, cherries, and even apples. 

 Now this latter insect does the stinging in 

 order to deposit the egg that produces the 

 worm in the fruit. The writer fails to rec- 

 ognize the fact that bees do not lay eggs in 

 unripe fruit, and that they are an insect of 

 an entirely different order, etc. — A. I. R.] 



BOX-ELDER AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



The box-elder has given the bees a treat in 

 its time. It is earlier than other maples. 

 One near the door was fairly alive with bees 

 merrily humming. Nellie M. Reek. 



Neenah, Wis. 



IN THE A. I. ROOT CO.'S APIARY. 



BY JOHN THURMAN GRAVES. 



I love to while an hour away 



Among the vines and trees, 

 Where healthful breezes freely play, 



And watch the honey-bees. 



They seem too busy with their work 



To even think of fun. 

 And they can start an idle shirk 



Into a lively run. 



All day the little fellows toil, 



Regardless of the hours. 

 And ask no owners of the soil 



About the fragrant flowers. 



O'er boundary linps they boldly pass — 



No ownership they know; 

 All blossoms are in one free class, 



To which they quickly go. 



No deed nor mortgage they require. 

 No contract, weak or strong. 



But, straight away, each busy flyer 

 Goes, humming a sweet song. 



They know no difference in the taste 

 Of flowers that gently wave 



On well-kept lawns or weedy waste 

 Or decorated grave. 



We see them in the shady woods, 

 We meet them in each field. 



And in the stores, where sugared goods 

 An easy harvest yield. 



They gather up the wealth of one 

 Hard-working human brother. 



And, e'er you know what they have done. 

 They've given it to another. 



They seem to hum a warning call, 

 And do such curious things 



That I admire them, love them all- 

 Well, all— except their stings. 



But we shall have to let those pass, 

 As we do " tainted money," 



And wish that people, as a class, 

 Were like pure clover honey. 



All well ones, then, would work and live 



Without a fear or sorrow. 

 And save to-day, and freely give 



To needy ones to-morrow. 



Medina, O., May 1. 



