1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



373 



densely cover it. On the wing-covers are longitudi- 

 nal stripes of darker, lighter color alternating with 

 each other. These bands are separated by a nar- 

 row black line of punctures, which looks very much 

 like a seam on a garment. There are ten of these 

 bands on each wing-cover. The head and thorax 

 are quite uniformly yellowish gray over the entire 

 surface. The eyes are black. The antenna^ are 

 brown at the base and at tip. These horn-like or- 

 gans slightly enlarge toward 

 the end. The enlarged club is 

 black, except the last joint, 

 which is brown. Beneath, the 

 color is gray, with a tendency 

 to brown, which is marked at 

 the tip of the abdomen and 

 the outer half of the legs. 

 The wing-covers appear short- 

 ened, and the abdomen is 

 truncated, or cut off at the 

 end. It docs not run to a point, as seen in most 

 beetles. 



This beetle passes the winter in the beans. Like 

 most weevils it comes forth some time before it can 

 lay its eggs. It may often be seen flying as we 

 plant or sow our beans, yet waits till the pods are 

 formed before it lays its eggs, when it lays several, 

 often, opposite each bean. The eggs hatch, and the 

 footless, maggot-like grubs, feed upon the rich sub- 

 stance of the beans. They usually leave the germ, 

 so that the bean, though hollowed out by the in- 

 sects, may grow if planted. In the beans the grubs 

 grow and mature unless eaten by man or beast: 

 and, snugly packed in the tunnel which they have 

 formed by their own food-taking, they pass the 

 winter, and the round of life is completed. We see 

 that these beetles much resemble the pea weevil, 

 except that the latter are much larger, and but 

 one weevil is found in a single pea. 



HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 



Bisulphide of carbon, one of the best and most 

 powerful of insecticides, is the best remedy for 

 these pests of the gardener. la Northern New 

 York the growers of peas and beans have special 

 houses in which to use this liquid in killing the 

 weevils. D. M. Ferry & Co., of Detroit, use tight 

 boxes or casks for the same purpose. The beans 

 are put into the box or barrel; some of the liquid— 

 a little goes a long way — is poured in and all closely 

 covered, with an oil cloth or buffalo robe. The liq- 

 uid volatilizes; and as it is much heavier than air it 

 penetrates to every insect and kills all. The only 

 caution to be observed is to be careful of flre. The 

 vaporis very iaflammablo, and, when mixed with air, 

 very explosive; so in using, all flre, like alighted 

 cigar or a lighted match, must be kept away till 

 ventilation disperses the vapors. As the vapor is 

 very odorous, it is easy to know when danger is 

 past. If no odor is observed, no danger need be 

 feared. This bisulphide of carbon is much used. 

 It is a solvent of rubber, and so is used in shoe- 

 shops to patch boots. Itismueh used to extract 

 oils from seeds; and on the western prairies it is 

 used by the farmers to destroy the prairie-dogs. A 

 cotton ball saturated with it is thrown into the hole, 

 and the latter stopped air-tight by use of earth. I 

 have used it, as before explained in Gleanings, to 

 kill ants. 



There has been much discusf'ion as to whether 

 beans and peas hollowed out by weevils would 

 sprout 8nd grow. The truth is, that some will and 



some will not. It is certainly true, that all would 

 do better if sound; but some varieties will germi- 

 nate and make a fair growth, even if eaten by the 

 weevils, while other varieties will utterly fail if 

 they have been tunneled by the insects. So here is 

 another case of the shield. Our impression will 

 depend upon the side seen. If one has grown cer- 

 tain varieties, he knows that buggy peas are ruined 

 for planting; another planted a different variety, 

 and is just as sure that the exact reverse is true. 



After writing the foregoiag, Prof. Cook 

 writes again, which we append below: 



Well, friend Root, this is curious. I have just 

 looked over Gleanings for April 1, p. 257, and note 

 your request to write up the bean-weevil, after I 

 have sent you an article with its illustration. I do 

 not need to tell you that life keeps getting busier. 

 With my large regular classes— two lectures a day 

 —laboratory work, experiment station, museum, 

 correspondence, and reading, I find little time, at 

 least for mischief . Thus it is that Gleanings did 

 not receive attention till this morning. 



The late D. B. Walsh said that a good way to save 

 wormy apples is to make cider of them. A noted 

 horticulturalist of Wisconsin said he did not mind 

 the second brood of cabbage-worms— the ones that 

 tunnel away into the bead. "'Cause why?" says 

 he: "I use the cabbages for saurr kraut." So there 

 is a way to prevent damage from bean and pea 

 weevils that I did not mention; that is, to eat the 

 vegetables while green. This method gives a dou- 

 ble advantage: It saves the beans and gives us a 

 mixed diet. 



You are quite right in your suggestion. As I 

 state in my article, most weevils come before the 

 vegetables, fruit, or grain, which they attack, so 

 they await its appearance; but they are not likely 

 to remain long after the nidus for the eggs comes 

 to hand. The plum curculio is usually gone before 

 July; so the pea and bean weevils attack only the 

 early beans and peas, and the late sown are gener- 

 ally free. If all were sown late, the escape would 

 not come. The danger of late-sown beans not ma- 

 turing makes this remedy less practical. 



You are also quite right in your suggestion that 

 the insects will not harm the mature beans. They 

 have done all direct damage when they leave the 

 hollowed-out beans. Their further mischief is 

 wholly prospective, and can take effect only upon 

 the green vegetables— the pods where they lay 

 their eggs. 



I will send you our Experimental Station Bul- 

 letin No. 58, which gives quite fully the method 

 of killing such insects by use of bisulphide of car- 

 bon. This bulletin describes ail our important in- 

 secticides, and tells how, when, and where to use 

 them. A. J.Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., April 8. 



Your remedy, friend C, I think will an- 

 swer our purpose. We have been killing 

 the bugs, as fast as they got out of the 

 beans, with Persian insect-powder ; but I 

 did not know that any thing could be used 

 to kill theni before they get out. We have 

 picked our beans over, again and again, un- 

 til the labor seemed to be more than they 

 were worth. I then told the women to look 

 at them every day, for a couple of weeks, 

 and see if the bugs continued to come out; 

 so, picking beans over by hand is hardly a 

 practical remedy. Neither would it do to 



