508 BEES AND FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 
centimes per litre.* When my grapes are gathered, I spread 
them on mats of reed or straw in a sunny place in front of my 
Apiary, where they remain about two weeks. For the first two 
or three days the mats are covered with bees, but I pay no atten- 
tion to this, for I have ascertained that they gather only the 
juice of the berries that are damaged. As soon as the injured 
berries are sucked dry, the bees cease visiting the mats, for they 
cannot open sound berries. Instead of doing me any damage, 
they help me greatly, as they take away from my grapes the 
otherwise souring juices, which would give a bad taste to my 
wine.— GaEraNno Tax1nI, Coriano, Italy, February 1874. 
876. Those who handle grapes, apples, etc., in times of 
honey-dearth, should avoid attracting the bees, by unneces- 
sarily exposing the crushed fruit, in warm weather, as the 
presence of bees in press-houses and sheds, where fruit is 
either made into wine, or otherwise prepared for use, is the 
greatest annoyance that they can cause the horticulturist. 
With a little care, a wine-grower may escape all trouble, 
even if his press-house is in reach of a large Apiary. But 
let him not imitate the grocer who had an open box of 
comb-honey at his door ‘‘for show,’’ and tried to ‘‘shoo”’ 
the bees off, when they, in turn, deputized a few of their 
number to ‘‘shoo’’ him off, with great success. 
877. In these depredations, the wine-growers who do 
not own bees are often very much incensed, because they 
believe that the Apiarist is making a profit out of their 
loss. But such is not the case. The Apiarist loses more 
than the wine-grower, for many of the bees are destroyed. 
and the juice which the others bring home is worse than use- 
less, as itis bad Winter food (627). 
It is therefore, to the interest of the Apiarist, as well as 
of the fruit-grower, to prevent the bees, in all possible 
ways, from getting a taste of the forbidden juices, in sea- 
sons, — luckily scarce, — when there is a dearth of honey 
during wine-making time. 
* This is about one dollar and forty cents per gallon, a high price for Italy. 
