1884.] BEES. 59 



make inquiries in regard to a species of red mite, very much 

 like the small hen-louse, and informed me that within three 

 miles of her there was an apiary of twenty colonies that had 

 been very profitable, which was destroyed by that mite last 

 winter. She noticed them herself this spring, and- they appar- 

 ently disappeared about the middle of June. On the 20th of 

 October they again made their appearance, and to such an 

 extent that some ten days before she wrote to me the hives 

 were literally covered with them, as thick as ever the inside 

 of a hen-house was covered with hen-lice. She sent speci- 

 mens of these insects to Prof. Sherlock, of Lansing, Mich., 

 and after a pretty thorough examination he sent word that 

 he should advise the use of fresh meat, or something similar, 

 that would entice any carnivorous insect from acting upon 

 the bees. After he had tried several experiments himself, he 

 wrote to her again, and advertised in the publications relating 

 to bees for information on the subject. I find that this insect 

 is causing trouble in two or three other places, and threatens 

 to sweep away, in part at any rate, the hoiiey-gatherers from 

 this State. 



We have not only that pest to trouble us, but we have a 

 disease called " foul brood." This is a disease of the imper- 

 fect form of bees — what is called by entomologists the pupa — 

 while it is in its chrysalis state. Should that sweep through 

 this State, as there is a fair prospect that it will, not only our 

 friend Mr. Hale, but all who are engaged in the business of 

 raising small fruits, will have to suffer. Our honey-bee is 

 the strongest fertilizer that I know of, and I guess nobody 

 else watches them more closely than I do. There is no other 

 insect that works on the raspberry-blossom as thoroughly as 

 does the honey-bee. You will find that the honey-bee is the 

 main fertilizer of the raspberry-bloom. 



After hearing from Mrs. Squires on this subject, I wrote to 

 Mr. Gold to know if he would make a call on the bee-keepers 

 of the State to investigate the trouble. The parasite can be 

 carried from apiary to apiary by bees visiting the flowers and 

 coming in contact with each other. Twenty of these small 



