804 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. 



THE BUMBLE BEE AND LAPHRIA THORACICA. 



^njg»jROF. COOK:— I mail you to-day two insects 

 J8|f* found preying on bees. The larger was sent 

 *=*J me by a friend, who states that he finds them 

 inside his hives. I pronounced it a bumble bee; 

 but, as others do not agree, I send it to you. The 

 smaller one I just caught with a bee in his clutches. 

 I think they may both belong to the family AsilidcB, 

 but am not certain. F. L. Wright. 



Plainfleld, Mich., June 23, 1879. 



The larger insect is a bumble-bee, which, having 

 been caught in the hive, was stripped of its hair by 

 the bees, and left not half but fully dead. The bee 

 hive is no uncommon trap for unthinking bumble- 

 bees. The latter enters the hive while the apiarist 

 is working with the bees, and soon finds that he has 

 run into the jaws of death. 



The other insect is the Laphria thoracica of Fahri- 

 cius, which is mentioned on page 300 of the 4th edi- 

 tion of my "Manual." It is nearly one inch long, 

 and so mimics the bumble-bee that few would dis- 

 tinguish them apart. But examination, even by the 

 novice in entomological science, will soon note the 

 mistake, as two wings instead of four, with other 

 marked differences, are revealed. 



The L. thoracica is usually black, except the back 

 of the thorax. The specimen sent has a yellow 

 band embracing three segments at the base of the 

 abdomen. This is a variety, and has been mentioned 

 by Osten Sacken, our greatest authority on Dipter- 

 ous insects. As stated in the "Manual," this species 

 is common north. This is the first time, however, 

 that we learn of its destroying bees in the northern 

 states. I have long known it as a very rapacious 

 insect. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., June 24, 1879. 



Please tell me the names of 2 plants, which I send 

 you by this mail. No. 1 is a vine and runs on fences 

 and to the tops of small trees. No. 2 grows about 

 two feet high in swamps and on the margin of shad- 

 ed streams. Bees are working on both now. I have 

 now nearly a complete list of Louisiana honey 

 plants. J. D. Bedell. 



Franklin, St. Mary Parish, La., May 11, 1879. 



Plant, No. 1, was so much injured in tran- 

 sit to us, that it could not be identified. No. 

 2 belongs to the order, Myricaccre, and the 

 species Myrica c&rifera. The common name 

 is candleberry myrtle, or bayberry. 



THE APATHUS. 



I send you a large bee. Examine it and forward 

 to Prof. Cook. This villain entered a hive and killed 

 quite a number of bees, and was finally killed by 

 them. How it did it, I can't say. They are vei - y de- 

 structive to the bees. Give his photo in Gleanings, 

 if you please. J. F. Michael. 



German, O., June 19, 1879. 



MR. ROOT:— I send an insect resembling a bee. 

 It is black, has a sting, can bite also. What is it? 



Raceland, La. Chas. S. Larkin. 



Reply by Prof. Cook to both the above. 



The insect from Larkin, Louisiana, is a species of 

 Apathus (see "Manual of the Apiary," p. 37). The 

 body is black, the abdomen short, much like the 

 same in the toisor-bee, mentioned on p. 3(5 of "Man- 

 ual." The posterior legs have no pollen baskets. 

 The general appearance is that of a bumble-bee, but 

 the structure of the mouth parts is quite different. 

 I have never before heard of one of these in a hive, 

 so it is an interesting case. Whether it sought to 

 pilfer a little honey, a la the bumble bees, or was 

 stealing in to lay its eggs, and have its young cared 

 for by others' labor, I can nut say. Let our Louis- 

 iana apiarists watch to see if other than bee-larva' 

 are reared in the hives. 



Strange to say, the bee from J. F. Michael, which 

 is very like a common bumble-bee in form, is a re- 

 lation of the one mentioned above, as shown by its 

 triangular jaws, which have two teeth, and its con- 

 vex posterior tibia. Very likely, they are attacked 

 by the bees, and wishing to die game, kill several 

 bees before they are dispatched. I do not believe 

 they will do much harm; they will meet too warm a 

 reception. But, should they become troublesome, 



we can easily preclude them from entering the 

 hives by narrowing the entrance. A. J. Cook. 



THE MILK WEED BEE-TRAP. 



I send you to-day a package containing a honey 

 bee, moth, and fly, that have been on a milkweed 

 and become disabled by something that adheres to 

 the foot. J. F. Liston. 



Marengo, 111., July 4, 1879. 



The insects sent by Mr. Liston were two bees, one 

 noctuid moth, and one blue bottle fly, each of which 

 had a pair of Asclepius pollen dust saddle bags on its 

 feet. All of these insects are lovers of sweet, and 

 so visit flowers. The pollen masses of the milkweed 

 adhere to insect visitors, and are so carried from the 

 parent flower, to fructify other flowers. For figures 

 of these pollen masses see A B C, p. 129; or "Manual 

 of the Apiary," p. 233. I do not think that the mor- 

 tality to bees, caused by these little burdens, is so 

 great as to make the plants undesirable near our 

 apiaries, especially, as the flowers furnish much 

 beautiful honey. We have many of these plants 

 near our apiary, and I would willingly have more. 



Mr. Editor, you may well append your excellent 

 figure, A B C, p. 129, so that all may see this strange 

 arrangement of Nature's to effect cross fertilization. 



A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., July 8, 1879. 



POLLEN OF THE MILKWEED, ATTACHED TO A BEE'S 

 FOOT. 



OUR CARTOONS, QUEENS STRAYING 

 AWAY FROM HOITIE, ETC. 



M'AVING just concluded quite a round of trans- 

 ferring, I am of the opinion that you will not 

 be able to advertise many bees for sale at a 

 dollar per quart, from this part of Mich., as I find 

 but about one third of the swarms strong enough to 

 divide, while quite a large part have only about a 

 quart of bees in a hive. I have 17 left, out of 22; two 

 were sold, giving a loss of thi-ee during the winter, 

 which I think is pretty good, considering my igno- 

 rance. 



By the way. the May No. of Gleanings has come 

 to hand, and I had a hearty laugh at the cartoon. 

 I thought I recognized his model, but was not cer- 

 tain; so I examined the back Nos. of Gleanings, 

 and, sure enough, in No. 11, Vol. (5. page 373, there 

 he stands, hat in hand, in all his glory, with every 

 thing needful, if his heart is right, to make a man 

 happy. Then when I looked back into the May No., 

 didn't I laugh though ? I thought, surely circum- 

 stances alter cases; yes, and faces too. But never 

 mind, Novice, we will all turn in and help you up, 

 so that you need not go west. Kansas is too far, 

 and not a good place for bees. 



Well now, my queens are as much demoralized as 

 Novice's, or any other man's. I don't know where 

 they are half the time. About three weeks ago, 

 my Italian was missing, and I felt as if 1 would have 

 to start for Kansas, or— another queen, and now 

 the young Italian bees are hatching out of a hive 

 that stood just twelve feet from the one she was in, 

 and I have two nice young queens hatched from the 

 cells which I found in her hive. I have three other 

 queens that have left and entered some other hive, 

 while their bees remained and built cells. I lost, in 

 that way, one of the Italian queens I bought of you. 



But I sat down to write for a cold blast smoker, 

 and see what a lot of nonsense I have written; but 

 send along the smoker and I will try and do better 

 next time, though I would like to know what the 

 mischief has got into the queens, to act so unlady 

 like. Wm. L. King. 



Benton Harbor, Mich., May 30, 1879. 



