526 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



ed with orang-e or yellow, and is found very common 

 at this season on plants in 

 company with ants and 

 plant - lice. The ants are 

 there to sip up the nectar 

 from the lice, the lady-bird 

 beetles to take lice, nectar, 

 and all. Both the grubs and 

 the mature beetles feed extensively on the lice, 

 and thus prevail mightily against this small but 

 terrible pest. When the box arrived, one of the 

 grubs had assumed the mature form. I hope you 

 did or will box one or two, feed them liberally 

 with lice, and thus get a better introduction than 

 any description can give jou; for you may well 

 say, " I wish to give them a hearty thank-you." 



Some of these beetles— indeed, nearly all— are yel- 

 low or orange (Fig. 1), spotted with black; hence 

 such signiflcant names as maculata, 9-notata, 13- 

 punctata, etc. Others (Fig. 2) are plain yellow on 

 the wing-covers, while one small 

 species, very common here and 

 very useful, is black, with two 

 orange spots, one on each wing- 

 cover (Fig. 3). All are short and 



broad, or rounded, in outline. Fig. 

 1 shows the larva, pupa, and imago, 

 or mature beetle. As will be seen, 

 the pupa is very small compared 

 to the larva and beetle. Tliis is 

 true of all the lady-birds. The 

 short lines beside the figures give the true eizp. 

 Hardly a day passes that I do not see these insects 

 feasting on plant-lice. They eat as though they 

 greatly relished the food. I almost fancy that I 

 can hear them smack their lips as they suck dry 

 the fat, full-fed lice. 



You may well feel to thank these and thousands 

 of other insects that work in a similar way for us, 

 asking no wages, and truly boarding themselves. 

 Without these helpers, our injurious insects would 

 prevail. Agriculture would be a hopeless industry, 

 and our earth soon a desert waste. How wonder- 

 ful is this balance in nature: Everywhere there is 

 a limit set to accomplishment; everywhere the 

 "fittest succeed." Everywhere success comes on- 

 ly with struggle and etfort. How can any one 

 study in this grand book of nature, without be- 

 coming charmed with the grand scheme of crea- 

 tion, and reverent as he contemplates the great 

 Planner? Though his "ways are past finding out," 

 we see enough to thrill us with admiration and 

 lo'^e- A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich , July 3. 



Friend C, I really be? pardon. I knew 

 the lady bug, as we call it, but I did not rec- 

 ognize the larva. As the blue aphis has en- 

 tirely disappeared from our cabbages, I pre- 

 sume it has come about through tlie agency 

 of these insects. A couple of \ears ago we 

 tried every thing for the blue "aphis on our 

 cabbages and turnips that has been recom- 

 mended through the papers. Some of the 

 remedies disturbed them a little if we took 

 pains enough ; but even then, the remedy 

 injured the cabbage more or less; and 

 even if it had been a jterfect cure, the time 

 spent and the cost of the material amounted 

 to somewhat more than the value of the cab- 

 bages. Perhaps a little iustiuction in the 

 matter might help us to do better. 



HIVE-COVEBS. 



AFICULTUBAL NOMENCLATCRE. 



I SHOULD like to add ray experience to the hive- 

 cover controversy. My hives are a simple box 

 nailed together to hold the frames, cleated at the 

 ends. Covers and bottoms are alike— simply a 

 plain board cleated at the ends similar to Dr. Mil- 

 ler's, only the cleats are made of lJ4-in. stuff, and 

 lahhctcd Xx'a in., and nailed both ways— that is, 

 through the cleat into the end of cover and through 

 the cover into the cleat. 1 have used such hives 

 and covers for about 13 years, and I am well pleased 

 with them. I paint tjoth sides of covers and bot- 

 toms. The cause of a cover warping is the swell- 

 ing of the under side from absorption of moisture 

 and the shrinking of the top through evaporation. 

 Painting does away with a good deal of this, and the 

 rahlietcd cleat the remainder. 



I was much interested in Dr. Miller's article on 

 the above caption; but your answer to the ques- 

 tion, " What is an apiary? " though it may be good 

 Webster, does not seem to me to cover the ground, 

 or, rather, it covers too much ground. If an apiary 

 is a place where bees are kept, then what is an 

 apiarian? A man who takes care of a place where 

 bees are kept? Again, we often hear the expres- 

 sion, "Moving an apiary." Now, we can not move 

 the place where bees are kept unless they are kept 

 in a house and the house is moved. And in con- 

 nection with this I should I'ke to call attention to 

 the fact that the names of some of our forest-trees 

 that produce honey are often misquoted. For In- 

 stance, the poplar is often called by the names of 

 " whitewood." "tulip-tree." etc , and you, Mr. Edit- 

 or, seem to think that poplar and quaking aspen are 

 one and the same. Again, t-he cottonwood is often 

 called whitewood, which would lead some to think 

 it the same as poplar. Now, my experience is that 

 these are all different trees except the tulip-tree, 

 which I believe to be the same as poplar, and so 

 called on account of the blossom resembling a tu- 

 lip. The name whitewood bas simply been used 

 because that is the color of the wood of all these 

 different trees. The cottonwood, balm of Gilead, 

 and quaking aspen, are all different trees, though 

 very nearly allied to each other. The poplar is of 

 another and distinct type. It yields honey in great 

 profusion some seasons, while the other three yield 

 nothing, to my knowledge, but propolis and pollen. 



BRACE-COMBS. 



Dr. Miller suggests that, in experimenting with 

 thick top - bars, tin strips be tacked on each side 

 of the top-bars to increase the thickness. Now, may 

 it not be possible that the doctor's suggestion will 

 bring forth fruit not dreamed of? Is it not a fact 

 that bees are a great deal more inclined to stick 

 wax to wood than they are to tin? Again, what 

 harm (or good either) would it do if these same 

 strips of tin were raised up ,V in. above the frame 

 (instead of even) and perforated same as the ex- 

 cluders? This is merely a suggestion. No charge 

 for postage and packing. I give it free. 



Santa Paula, Cal., Feb. 19. R. Touchton. 



Friend T., I did not mean to say that the 

 poplar and tlie quaking aspen r<;e7f one and 

 the same thing, but that in our locality the 

 tree is called by both names, while in the 

 South our whitewood. or tulip, is called pop- 

 lar. I do not know how we can straighten 

 up this confusion in the names of trees. 



