thousand answers 221 
ger of smothering. But look out not to let the entrance become 
filled with damp snow and then freeze solid. 
Spider-plant.— Q. I notice in reading that there is a plant 
called spider-plant. Will it grow here? What time in the year 
should it be planted? (N. Carolina.) 
A. The spider-plant will probably grow with you if sown in 
the spring, but you will hardly find it worth the trouble. 
Spiders. — Q. Do spiders ever injure bees? 
A. Not to any great extent. If their webs are allowed at the 
entrance of a hive, a few bees will be caught and killed. 
Spraying. — Q. A man living a mile from me is going to spray 
his apple trees with Paris green this spring. Will my bees bring 
it home to their hives? 
A. If fruit trees are abundant, your bees may not go so far. If 
scarce, they will be likely to visit those trees when in bloom, and 
if he should spray during bloom it would mean death to the bees. 
But if he is an up-to-date fruit-grower he will spray only before 
and after bloom. The experiment stations have clearly settled 
that spraying during bloom is a damage to the fruit crop, and in 
several states it is against the law to spray during bloom. 
Q. Have you ever had any serious loss from poison being used 
to spray apple trees? (Illinois.) 
A. I think not; but I have some trouble with spraying in time 
of cherry bloom. The owner of a large cherry orchard is one of 
the best and straightest men in the community; but somehow he 
can’t get it through his Wad that he is hurting himself by spray- 
ing when trees are in bloom, and he says if he doesn’t begin 
spraying a little before the bloom falls, that he can’t get through 
the whole in time. When as good a man as he is cannot see any 
wrong in subjecting me to serious loss for the sake of a little in- 
convenience to himself, it shows that no effort should be spared 
to have Illinois come to the front like some other states, with a 
strict spraying law. If I understand the matter rightly, a man 
lays himself liable to penalty if he puts out poison purposely to 
kill my bees, but if he poisons them accidentally while spraying 
fruit bloom he goes scot-free. 
Q. I am a beekeeper in a small way, having 64 colonies; but I 
am going to have a hard struggle, as people here spray when the 
bloom is on as well as when there is none. Spraying fruit trees 
is the thing, but not when the bloom is on. It doesn’t do any 
good to talk to people. If we haven’t any law in the state, why 
don’t the beekeepers go together and get a bill before our legis- 
