BEE KEEPING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 101 



all of these colonies are totally ruined while in the greenhouses and 

 that the demand for bees is on the increase each year, it may be 

 readily seen what excellent opportunity there is of producing bees 

 for greenhouse use. Considering the recorded sale of bees in 1906, 

 which amounted to 1,027 colonies, it is probable that these sales 

 must have been largely a result of the demand for greenhouse use. 

 In illustration of the extent to which bees are used for this purpose 

 it may be mentioned that one grower who picks 10,000 bushels 

 annually requires 80 colonies of bees ; another having 40 acres under 

 glass requires 35 to 40 colonies; a great many of the smaller growers 

 use from 5 to 20 colonies. Cucumber growers, as a class, know little 

 of bee-keeping methods, but they are anxious to learn. They feel 

 that they must, in the stress of competition and high expenses, reduce 

 the cost and loss in bees. 



Bees are introduced into the greenhouses as soon as the cucumber 

 vines begin to bloom. If the houses are large, two or more hives, 

 according to the area of the house, are placed on boxes on the beds or 

 hung in the gables of the house. Various other methods of intro- 

 ducing the hives are also employed. Not being able to secure suffi- 

 cient stores in the winter, the colonies dwindle or become depleted in 

 seven or eight weeks or less. It is a common practice among the 

 growers to feed their bees sugar sirup or other sweets. Besides not 

 being able to secure nectar to any extent from the cucumber blos- 

 soms, the bees are also unable to gather much pollen, which is prob- 

 ably a factor in the rapid depletion of the colonies. During the 

 spring and summer, however, bees in the houses fare better, because 

 they are able to escape, through ventilators and lights of glass re- 

 moved for their exit, to the fields, where they secure nectar and 

 pollen. Even under these circumstances the writer has seen colonies 

 with no stores, with only a handful of bees and with scattered and 

 half -starved brood. It is not surprising under such conditions that 

 bee moths are such a great annoyance. To an experienced bee 

 keeper the reason for their presence is obvious; when a colony be- 

 comes weakened the moth gains headway on the combs. No remedy 

 for the moth in dwindled colonies can be suggested save killing the 

 larvae as they appear in the hive. A means of keeping the colonies 

 strong must first be looked for, which will relieve the bee-moth 

 nuisance. Without doubt, however, the pest could be reduced if the 

 greenhouse men would be more careful in disposing of hives in which 

 the bees have died. The moths breed by thousands in discarded 

 hives, and later are at hand to infest fresh material. Under no 

 circumstance should discarded combs be cast outside on the rubbish 

 heap to be devoured by the bee moths. Such a practice is a menace 

 to bee keepers for miles around. 



