TENNESSEE AGRICULTURE 271 



Wasps and yellow jackets do puncture them. The grape is thus 

 opened and damaged, and would either be sucked dry by other insects, 

 or it would shrivel and decay. It is true that after it is opened by the 

 other insects, the honeybee will suck out the sweet juices, but I have 

 tried several times placing bunches of sound and ripe grapes where 

 the honey bees could reach them, and have found them in each case 

 to be entirely uninjured. Thus the bees should not be blamed for the 

 damage to the grapes, as they are not responsible for it. 



"(2) The second error is the intimation that they should be sprayed 

 with white hellebore and sweetened water. Even if this would kill 

 the bees, it would be quite w.rong to destroy creatures which are so 

 beneficial as these are in carrying pollen from flower to flower, and 

 in many cases being the only method of insuring pollinization in the 

 flower, and the setting of the fruit bud. It would also be a decided 

 moral wrong to destroy the bees, as they are not public property, 

 but are the property of individuals, and I am satisfied that a person 

 who. kills or destroys the property of another can be held legally re- 

 sponsible for so doing. 



"(3) A further error, however, is in the implied thought that such 

 spraying will kill the bees. Indeed it will not. It will do no good 

 whatever toward protecting the grapes from insects of anv kind, and 

 will neither kill the bees, nor wasps, nor yellow jackets that are caus- 

 ing the real trouble. An arsenical spray might kill them, but it would 

 also kill the foliage to which applied. There is no known means of 

 protecting" the grapes from the attacks of the original culprits, but b\' 

 all means let us disseminate truthful knowledge, and especially protect 

 the bees for the good they do to the entire community." 



COMBINING BEEKEEPING AND FARMING. 



By Porter C. Ward. 

 re.\d before the tennessee ileekeepers' ass0ci,\ti0n, june 30, 1914. 



General farming and beekeeping, to my mind, make a perfect 

 combination. Beekeeping combined with fruit growing, poultry rais- 

 ing or almost anv specialized farming would work to an advantage. 

 But that about which I wish to speak is general farming and bee- 

 keeping, since I can say without boasting that I have had some suc- 

 cess with the combination. The two can be worked together almost 

 without conflict, and very much to the advantage of the farmer both 

 for pleasure and profit.- 



I am a grower of tobacco, wheat, corn, hogs, and all the products 



