39 



emerged, and the bees from it were shaken into a third hive filled with 

 frames with foundations of artificial wax and to the table of which a 

 frame with empty wax cells was fixed. Into this, bees from one or more 

 hives can be concentrated, and treated in the above manner, a queen 

 being added if necessary. In this second new hive, the frame with the 

 wax cells must be removed next day and the bees sprinkled as above 

 described. No foul brood was noticed in the new hives treated in this 

 way. The incubation period of the disease is three weeks and the 

 author warns beekeepers not to delay in taking measures against it 

 immediately it has been noticed. 



Perez (T. de S.). Cavallette, loro invasioni e la lotla contro di esse In 

 Sicilia. [Locusts, their invasions of and the fight against them 

 in Sicily.] — Giorn. Sci. Nat. ed Econ., Palermo, xxx, 1914. 

 pp. 117-199, 16 figs. 



The author was delegated by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1910-11 

 to direct the operations against locusts in the province of Palermo, 

 where they had greatly increased for several years and had become 

 an important pest of agriculture. The area covered by Dociostaurus 

 niaroccanus amounted to about 10,000 acres, but the locusts appeared 

 to concentrate chiefly in the district of Petralia. They destroyed even 

 the hard leaves of Eryngiwn campestre, Carolina gummifera, Scolimus 

 esculentiim and other wild plants. The use of locusticides, hopper- 

 dozers and trenches was precluded by the character of the country, 

 but the insects were sprayed with a mixture of 2 parts benzine and 

 1 part of petroleum and burned. Under the local conditions, destruction 

 of the eggs in autumn, winter and spring is considered the method of 

 most value. Ploughing or hoeing the soil to the depth of 1|— 2 inches 

 in the localities where the eggs are deposited is sufficient to expose 

 them to the air, and they may either be collected and destroyed or 

 left to the weather, which will kill most of them. If the work be 

 delayed until spring, they must be collected, otherwise exposure to 

 sun and air will accelerate the hatching. One of the best methods 

 for local use consists of driving the locusts into cloths, 6 yards by 

 5 yards, with a hole in the middle 12 inches to 14 inches in diameter, 

 to which a sugar bag is attached. One such cloth with bag attached 

 caught from 5 to 8 cwt. of larvae or nymphs in a day. If used from 

 4 to 9 a.m. and 4.30 to 7.30 p.m. the full-grown insects could also be 

 caught before they had oviposited, but the method is useless during 

 the hot hours of the day. Twelve women and children are required 

 to work each cloth and bag, and two men to carry the full sacks and 

 dig holes for burying the insects, besides one to direct operations, the 

 whole cost being a little more than £1 per diem. This method is 

 satisfactory against small invasions, but when the attack is serious 

 and occurs in broken, rocky country, it cannot be properly carried 

 out. The invasions vary greatly in gra\aty, which is attributed to 

 the efficient work of natural enemies. One of the chief obstacles to 

 the successful destruction of the pests is the fact that the vineyards 

 on the slopes of the Madonian mountains are under the forest laws, 

 and spade cultivation of the soil is not permitted, as in this case the 

 melting snows would carry it down the slopes into the valleys below, 



Oviposition goes on undistuibed in these vineyards, and the peasants 



