FRUIT BLOSSOMS 
387 
Apple blossoms. 
flavor with age. It granulates about as 
quickly as basswood. 
A surplus of pear honey is obtained in 
California if the weather is warm. At 
times the flowers of the pear secrete nectar 
so freely that it falls in drops to the 
ground. A surplus is also obtained in Cali¬ 
fornia from plums, peaches, and probably 
from cultivated cherries. In Florida wild 
black cherry (Prunus serotina) yields a 
surplus of dark-red, bitter honey rvith the 
flavor of the cherry pit. 
SPRAYING DURING BLOOM DESTRUCTIVE TO 
BEES AND BROOD. 
The spraying of fruit trees for the con¬ 
trol of injurious insects and fungi is so 
profitable that the practice has become al¬ 
most universal among commercial fruit¬ 
growers and farmers. The quantity of 
fruit obtained is larger and the quality is 
better. But unless the fruit-grower is ac¬ 
quainted with the habits of the injurious 
insects affecting his crops the results of 
spraying are likely to be very unsatisfac¬ 
tory. Spraying during bloom not only in¬ 
jures the flowers, but destroys in large 
numbers the bees, which are indispensable 
for their pollination. Large orchardists, 
with a spraying equipment too small to 
care for the acreage, often begin operations 
before their frees are out of bloom. An¬ 
other class of offenders are those who make 
a business of spraying; and, seeking to 
