860 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



brood and by the first of September many of tlie larvse are fuA grown. Some 

 of the larv« may continue to feed for 4 weeks longer and tben pupate. 



" Some of the larvJB which mature early in September may pass through a 

 short larval stage and soon emerge as moths. This accounts for the appearance 

 of a number of moths about the first of October. This brood is usually small 

 and scattered and many of the larvae which result from the eggs of these moths 

 seldom reach full size." It is stated that 1,128 is the largest number of eggs 

 found in the ovaries of a single female, the average number being 1,014. 



Under the discussion of natural enemies the author reports that a small red 

 ant (Solenopsis sp.) has been found to be an enemy of the bee moth, in cage 

 experiments many of the pests, both moths and larvae, having been destroyed by 

 it. Fumigation experiments with infested combs indicate that sulphur fumes 

 are not ordinarily penetrating enough to affect the eggs and that only when 

 the larvae are young and not well protected will the gas affect them. In experi- 

 ments with carbon bisulphid eggs of the bee moth were uninjured but the larvje 

 were destroyed and the pupje and moths found to be quite susceptible, although 

 a long exposure of the pupae to the fumes is necessary. "All fumigation should 

 be allowed to continue for at least 12 hours, for those larvse which are best 

 protected by webs and refuse will not be killed unless plenty of time is given 

 for the gas to penetrate the material." 



III. A statistical study of Texas hee keeping, W. H. Dean (pp. 31-43).— This 

 paper is based upon a questionnaire in which 2,733 reports for the year 1911 

 were received. Detailed tables are given which show by counties a total of 

 90,770 hives with a value of $434,124, and an average production of 26 lbs. The 

 opinions of bee keepers as to the most profitable scale on which apiculture may 

 be pursued were in general accordance with their own practices. Data are also 

 summarized as to wax production, prices, etc. 



Mendelian methods applied to apiculture, F. W. L. Sladen {Canad. Bee 

 Jour., 20 {1912), No. 12, pp. 357-367, flg. 1; ahs. in Internat. Inst. Agr. IRome], 



Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, Jf (1913), No. 2, pp. 276-279). This is 



a study of the color patterns of bees, explaining the evident segregation of 

 golden, intermediate, and black characters as an evidence of Mendelian iti- 

 heritance. 



The proportion of the 3 forms varied in different cases but the intermediates 

 were usually in excess of golden and black. A conclusion of practical value is 

 that the union of a golden queen and a black drone (both homozygous) produces 

 a greater proportion of intermediates than where intermediates (heterozygous) 

 are united. These intermediates possess desirable qualities. The workers are 

 more vigorous, hardy, and industrious; they are larger, and their temper is 

 usually good. 



The question is raised as to whether all drones are produced parthenogeneti- 

 cally. It is believed that this is not always the case. The case is cited in 

 which golden queens produced golden and intermediate drones. Had the drones 

 been produced parthenogenetically, they would have received only the pure 

 gametes for the golden character from the queen, and hence the intermediates 

 would have been impossible. 



Biological and embryological studies on Formicidje, M. C. Tanquaby (Bui 

 III. State Lab. Nat. Hist., 9 (1913), Art. 9, pp. J,17-Jt79, pis. 8, fig. i).— Three 

 papers are here presented, the first dealing with the life history of the corn 

 field ant (Lasius niger americanus) (pp. 417-443) ; the second with experiments 

 on the trail formation and orientation of the common house ant, Monomorium 

 pharaonis (pp. 443-453) ; and the third with studies on the embryology of 

 Camponotus herculeanus ferrugineus and Myrmlca scahrinodis salmleti (pp. 



