508 BEES AND FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 



centimes per litre.* When my grapes are gathered, 1 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. — G-ABTANO Taxini, 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 it is 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. 



