April, 1913. 



11' 



American Hee Journal 



^^'^mm^rnm 



^-• 





An Orchard of Almond Trees- 



rather the unchanging quality of honey, 

 that makes it so popular with the best 

 confectioners. — Exchanf/e. 



The Bij-Vanger or Bee-Pirate of Africa. 



— In our September and November 

 numbers for 11112, we made mention of 

 the bee-eating philanthus of Europe, 

 and of the experiments carried on by 



the celebrated entomologist Fabre. 

 The South African Poultry Magazine, 

 published in Johannesburg, in its De- 

 cember number, contains an article by 

 G. B. Oettel on these insects : 



This season the dry weather has 

 brought along the familiar yellow- 

 bodied *<y-;'««4't/-, now more commonly 

 known as the "Pirate." This insect 

 haunts the watering places of bees and 



entrances of hives, especially those 

 which are not provided with a fairly 

 wide porch for shade, and seizes the 

 bees which are unwary enough to be 

 about at the time. Her depredations — 

 for it is only the female of the species 

 that commits these raids and onslaughts 

 on the inmates of the hive — are serious, 

 and often demoralize the whole apiary. 



I have seen whole colonies listless 

 and "at home," fearful of the attacks 

 of these horrid insects which hover, 

 sometimes a dozen at a time, in front 

 of the entrances, awaiting, the incom- 

 ing heavily-laden-with-stores-bee, as 

 she drops over-burdened upon the 

 alighting-board, preparatory to crawl- 

 ing inside to disgorge her supplies of 

 nectar, or to get rid of the huge loads 

 of pollen collected for the steadily in- 

 creasing patches of brood which should 

 now be filling every available space 

 within the hive. 



For the town bee-keeper the only 

 really effective way to get rid of these 

 insects is to catch them by means of a 

 butterfly-net. This is readily accom- 

 plished by choosing a sunny day for 

 the time of our operations. Half an 

 hour spent in this way several morn- 

 ings or afternoons will soon effect 

 a clearance. My experience has been 

 that the pirates quickly find out the 

 danger zones, and leave them for other 

 centers wliere their depredations are 

 not distnrljed. In this connection 

 several informed me that poultry are 

 excellent catchers of these pests, par- 



An Apiary in California in the Midst ok Almond Blossoms. 



