AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



423 



Spraying: Fruit is again being 

 discussed, but from another standpoint. 

 In New York, on Sept. 24, a lot of 

 grapes showed signs of poison on the 

 stems, and tons of them were destroyed 

 by the Health Board. It subsequently 

 developed that the poison with which 

 the grapes had been sprayed was not 

 Paris green or London purple, but what 

 was called the Bordeaux mixture, a 

 milder form of poison. The following is 

 from the telegraphic report in the daily 

 papers : 



The Health Board experts do not un- 

 dertake to say that the Bordeaux 

 mixture is dangerous if properly used. 

 It is supposed to be all right if used at 

 the right time, which is when the grapes 

 are just beginning to form, for the 

 destruction of phylloxera and other 

 insects which attack young and growing 

 tendrils when they are very soft. But it 

 seems probable that the farmers who 

 have used it supposed that if it was a 

 good thing once, in small quantities, it 

 would be a better thing twice, in large 

 doses. It is a mixture of sulphate of 

 copper and lime. The inspection of the 

 fruit already on the market will be con- 

 tinued, and all that is found to be 

 coppered will be destroyed. 



Fruit-growers should be warned by 

 this incident. It is a criminal act to 

 jeopardize the public health or life ; and 

 because they may lightly spray grape 

 vines, just as the fruit begins to form, 

 when it is soft and tender ; they should 

 not presume to douse the fruit with 

 larger doses just before sending it to 

 market — endangering human health and 

 life! 



We will add — because they may 

 lightly spray fruit treses in the Spring 

 when the fruit is forming, to prevent 

 the ravages of the curculio — they must 

 not presume to spray the blossoms with 

 poison, thereby endangering the lives 

 of millions of bees, and at the same time 

 doing no good whatever ! The curculio 

 works on the fruit — not on the blossoms! 



Should the bees deposit some of the 

 nectar from the poisoned trees in the 

 surplus combs, and these combs find 

 their way to consumers, the law would 



hold the fruit-growers responsible for 

 the damages ! 



Let the tons of grapes destroyed last 

 week in New York be a warning to all. 



It is Interesting: to see the im- 

 plements used by apiarists in different 

 countries. The engraving presented 

 herewith is copied from VAuxiliai7x de 

 Apiculteur for last month, and shows 



the honey extractor now in use in 

 France and Italy, invented by Prof. 

 Sartori. It is very primitive in appear- 

 ance, but it is substantial and practical. 



Xlie Sllortag:e in the honey crop 

 is very pronounced in the Western 

 States, from whence usually comes the 

 bulk of the honey crop. A leading 

 apiarist of Iowa was asked by a reporter 

 for the cause of the failure, and this was 

 his reply: 



We cannot explain it. It is inexplica- 

 ble. Last year, dry weather and a 

 scarcity of flowers had something to do 

 with it, but this year there is an abun- 

 dant flora. Bees usually draw pounds 

 of sweetness from white clover, but 

 although the fields were white with the 

 blossoms, there was no honey in it. This 

 is the story that comes from all parts of 

 the country. 



There have, occasionally in the past, 

 been years when there was but little 

 honey in the flowers, and when the bees 

 had little surplus honey, but I have 

 never known two successive years in 



