and its Economic Management. 89 



grumble at the visits of the bees to their fields or gardens, 

 it is a simple matter of fact that if the honey be not 

 gathered it will only evaporate, and none is secreted 

 after the flower begins to fade. 



Fruit growers often complain that the bees damage 

 their fruit crops, and in autumn, when there is nothing 

 else to be obtained, because they see a few bees among 

 the wasps and flies, the former get all the blame ; whereas 

 they have never been known to break through the skin 

 of sound ripe fruit, but simply lick off the moisture that 

 may be present where birds, wasps or other insects have 

 first made an inroad. 



A Disagreeable Feature 



in connection with bee-keeping, when carried out near 

 towns, is that the bees will persist in visiting the fruiterer's 

 stalls. The proprietors have of course every right to 

 defend themselves from what, to them, is a perfect 

 plague, as they dare not expose anything sweet, or fruits 

 with the least sign of broken skins during the autumn. 

 Frequently the bees outnumber wasps by hundreds until 

 the fruit is black with them, and where possibly a wasp 

 only makes a beginning, the bees soon make a finish. 

 Thousands of these innocent pilferers are trapped and 

 destroyed like common wasps and flies, and no doubt in 

 many instances the owners of the bees see their colonies 

 ■dwindling down to sheer uselessness, while helplessly 

 looking on. One cannot persuade the fruit-seller to put 

 all his wares under glass, and the usual netting is of little 

 avail. So die the bees must, unless the apiarist takes 

 active means to prevent these dishonest visits. If he does 

 not, he not only deserves to sufTer, but has no right to 

 keep bees that are a nuisance to his neighbour. 



Possibly in the case of breweries, or jam factories, the 



