DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 208 



nets will be continued. The special new investigations which it is 

 proposed to undertake are a study of the insect enemies of Eastern, 

 Southern, and Western pine forests, to determine if possible the pri- 

 mary causes of the serious insect damage now being done to pine tim- 

 ber of the western sections of North Carolina and South Carolina, 

 northern Georgia, southern Florida, the white pine or silver pine of 

 northern Idaho, the Monterey pine of California, and the pines of 

 Arizona and Colorado. It is proposed to have the regions designated 

 given a preliminary survey to determine existing conditions and then 

 to establish in favorable sections assistants to carry on experiments 

 and make special observations. This work will be done in coopera- 

 tion with the Bureau of Forestry. It is expected that by the close of 

 this year it will be possible to have a report ready for publication on 

 the principal pine insects of North America, which will include brief 

 popular descriptions of the more important insects, with illustrations 

 and recommendations for preventing losses. 



The shade-tree insects which have been mentioned in the portion of 

 this report on the work conducted during the fiscal year 1002 will 

 undoubtedly increase tlieir range in coming years as they have in the 

 past, and we anticipate great trouble from them. These species are 

 the gipsy moth, brown-tail moth, and perhaps the elm leaf- beetle, which 

 is gradualh^ spreading westward and southward, the European leop- 

 ard moth, the bronze birch borer, and the willow and poplar curculio. 

 Some of these boring insects can be treated successfull}^ but others 

 are difiicult to combat and can not be reached by means of insecti- 

 cides. Such being the case, experiments will be necessary for new 

 methods of controlling them. 



Among insects which affect ornamental plants, those which injure 

 roses grown out of doors and under glass will be made the subject of 

 special study, and a popular publication on these pests is in course of 

 preparation. 



Such thorough investigations have already been conducted on insects 

 which affect stored cereals and similar food products that it is not 

 anticipated much study will be necessitated in this line; but there is 

 one pest, the Mediterranean flour moth, which may sooner or later 

 demand further attention, as it is rapidly spreading. It is perhaps 

 onl}^ a matter of a few years when it will be found in all of the prin- 

 cipal cereal-producing States in this country, if indeed it has not 

 already reached them. 



It is proposed the next year to endeavor, in cooperation with the 

 Division of Statistics, to collect statistics regarding the yield of honey 

 in sections, in order to furnish crop reports which shall aid in steadj^- 

 ing j)rices of apiarian products. Further importations of valuable 

 races for testing will be made. An experiment in the mating of queen 

 bees in confinement has been devised and will be carried on. The 

 rapid extraction of honey from combs is a great desideratum in 

 large commercial apiaries, and it is thought that experiments may 

 develop a method of facilitating this. In former years artificial queen 

 cells readily removable for insertion in queenless colonies have been 

 devised and experimented with. It is proposed to determine by a 

 final test the best material to be used as a commercial aid to queen 

 breeders. The extra early rearing of qiieens and drones will be made 

 the subject of careful experiment. 



The silk investigations authorized b}' the last Congress have already 

 been commenced. Miss Henrietta A. Kelly has been emploj'ed as 

 special agent in silk culture in the South, and is charged with the 



