THOUSAND ANSWERS 221 



ger of smothering. But look out not to let the entrance become 

 filled with damp snow and then freeze solid. 



Spider-plant. — Q. I notice in reading that there is a plant 

 called spider-plant. Will it grow here? What time in the year 

 should it be planted? (N. Carolina.) 



A. The spider-plant will probably grow with you if sown in 

 the spring, but you will hardly find it worth the trouble. 



Spiders. — Q. Do spiders ever injure bees? 



A. Not to any great extent. If their webs are allowed at the 

 entrance of a hive, a few bees will be caught and killed. 



Spraying. — Q. A man living a mile from me is going to spray 

 his apple trees with Paris green this spring. Will my bees bring 

 it home to their hives? 



A. If fruit trees are abundant, your bees may not go so far. If 

 scarce, they will be likely to visit those trees when in bloom, and 

 if he should spray during bloom it would mean death to the bees. 

 But if he is an up-to-date fruit-grower he will spray only before 

 and after bloom. The experiment stations have clearly settled 

 that spraying during bloom is a damage to the fruit crop, and in 

 several states it is against the law to spray during bloom. 



Q. Have you ever had any serious loss from poison being used 

 to spray apple trees? (Illinois.) 



A. I think not; but I have some trouble with spraying in time 

 of cherry bloom. The owner of a large cherry orchard is one of 

 the best and straightest men in the community; but somehow he 

 can't get it through his head that he is hurting himself by spray- 

 ing when trees are in bloom, and he says if he doesn't begin 

 spraying a little before the bloom falls, that he can't get through 

 the whole in time. When as good a man as he is cannot see any 

 wrong in subjecting me to serious loss for the sake of a little in- 

 convenience to himself, it shows that no effort should be spared 

 to have Illinois come to the front like some other states, with a 

 strict spraying law. If I understand the matter rightly, a man 

 lays himself liable to penalty if he puts out poison purposely to 

 kill my bees, but if he poisons them accidentally while spraying 

 fruit bloom he goes scot-free. 



Q. I am a beekeeper in a small way, having 64 colonies; but I 

 am going to have a hard struggle, as people here spray when the 

 bloom is on as well as when there is none. Spraying fruit trees 

 is the thing, but not when the bloom is on. It doesn't do any 

 good to talk to people. If we haven't any law in the state, why 

 don't the beekeepers go together and get a bill before our legis- 



