soms are injured, killing the embryo 
fruit; to the beekeeper because the 
bees will be poisoned in countless thou¬ 
sands. It means killing the goose that 
lays the golden eggs. 
Perhaps it should be explained to 
those who are not familiar with the 
general spraying proposition that two 
kinds of sprays are used by the fruit 
growers—one known as the dormant 
spray, such as lime sulphur or oil to 
destroy the San Jose scale, and the 
other a poison to kill the codling moth 
and other chewing insects that develop 
during the growth of the fruit. Lime 
sulphur and oil are mainly applied to 
the trees during the dormant state, be¬ 
fore they are in leaf or bloom, and are 
never harmful to bees. Indeed, they 
act as a repellant. The other spray, 
usually arsenate of lead solution or 
Bordeaux mixture, or generally both, 
should be applied after the trees are 
out of bloom, or just as the last petals 
of the flowers are falling. If sprayed 
or dusted into the blossom when the 
bees are gathering nectar, they will be 
poisoned. 
One of the best authorities in the 
United States on fruit growing, no less 
a person than F. A. Waugh, author of 
the “American Apple Orchard,” and in 
no way interested in bees or beekeep¬ 
ing, in Chapter III of that work says: 
“Special attention should be called 
to the fact that apple trees should not 
be sprayed while in blossom. Spraying 
at this time is not always totally with¬ 
out value, but in many cases it is not 
only unnecessary, but even highly dan¬ 
gerous to the crop. Under all circum¬ 
stances it is very likely to poison the 
bees working on the apple blossoms 
[91 
