4S2 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Oct. 



Or Enemies of Bees Among Insect Tribes. 



MALLOPHORA BOMBOIDES. 



FUOF. A. J. COOK: —I send an insect for your 

 inspection, respectfully asking that you name 

 ^^ it, &c. I have observed, as well as my pro- 

 fessional duties would permit, the habits of this Bee 

 Dragon. Early in the morning, I find him concealed, 

 —snoozing I suppose,— on the under surface of some 

 broad leaf. As soon as the bees get to flying, these 

 insects are also on the wing. They seize the return- 

 ing, laden bee, in their strong claws, and at once 

 alight on some firm object, as the trunk of a tree, a 

 post, or a stake. They then, with their powerful 

 mandibles, bite a hole fully 1-16 in. in diameter on 

 the upper part of the back of the bee's abdomen, 

 and proceed to empty the victim, under which pro- 

 cess, of course, he dies. This emptying process oc- 

 cupies probably from 3 to 5 minutes. He now re- 

 leases the dead bee, and takes wing to seize another. 

 I must say, however, I never could follow one with 

 my eye so as to be sure that the second depredator 

 was the same rascal I had seen before, or so as to 

 form any idea of how many bees one of them could 

 empty. I do not remember what day they first made 

 their appearance; but, in general terms, it was over 

 a month ago. During rainy weather, I don't see 

 them; and when we have a heavy dew they don't 

 stir much until the sun has dissipated it. 



Geo. H. Waddell, M. D. 



Coronaca P. O., Abbeville Co., S. C, Aug. 20, 1880. 



Prof. Cook replies as follows : 



This is Mallophora bomboidcx described in Glean- 

 ings, 1879, p. 14, and Manual of Apiary, 5th edition, 

 p. 268. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich. 



THE STINGING BUG AGAIN. 



Enclosed in a piece of wood, I send you a dead bee 

 which I found on an artichoke leaf, with the accom- 

 panying insect apparently preying on the lifeless 

 body. Is it an enemy of the honey bee? 



David Strong. 



Lincoln, Lincoln Co., Tenn., June 11, 1880. 



Prof. Cook, to whom we sent the specimen 

 mentioned above, replies as follows : 



The insect is the Phxjmata erosa, which is no in- 

 considerable enemy to our pets of the hive. This 

 pest is fully illustiated and described in my Manual, 

 4th and 5th editions, p. 2:i3. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich. 



A NEAR RELATION TO THE ASILUS MISSOTTRIENSIS. 



Last week, while viewing the bees on the buck- 

 wheat, I saw an insect pounce upon a bee, and then 

 fly away and light; so I watched to see the opera- 

 tions. By the movements, I judged that it punct- 

 ured the bee with its bill, and sucked the honey out 

 of it, as I can not see how it could eat them. I 

 should judge there were a thousand or more of them 

 around that buckwheat patch, and if each of them 

 thinks proper to make a dainty meal out of two or 

 three bees a day, it will be quite a drain on the apia- 

 ry. I will send you by mail three of the depredators. 

 If you know their name, pleise give it in the next 

 Gleanings, with their mmner of breeding if it is 

 known, so that they m ly be destroyed if possible. 



Polo, 111., Aug. 16, 1833. Anthony Stoner. 



Prof. Cook to whom we sent the speci- 

 mens replies : — 



The two flies are Promachus hastardi. These flies 

 look much like their near relatives A?ttus Missouri- 

 ensis, and, like the latter, are great insect destroy- 

 ers, and are found widely distributed. The insects 

 of this entire family are very predacious, and are 

 nothing loth to take bees. I have been absent one 

 week, and upon my return And five different species 

 of them from different states, sent me for name. 



Lansing, Mich., Sept. 3, 1880. A. J. Cook. 



THE ABC CHILD THAT GREW SO FAST. 



something about the great flow of honey in 

 wisconsin. 



AM satisfied that my bees were too warm in the 

 cellar, and had not enough ventilation. They 

 bred up all winter, and consumed all the honey 

 in doing so. I am satisfied further that it injures 

 bees to be confined 5 months without a fly. 



You seem to think it a besetting sin that I should 

 say my bees worked out fdn. in 8 hours. I wrote 

 you of it Aug. 5th, '80. That was in an upper story 

 where I was having fdn. drawn out for new swarms. 

 Four days later, the same thing was done in 2 hours, 

 in a lower story of a strong nucleus, the facts of 

 which I reported to the American Bee Journal. I 

 know it is a big story, but I find many things are be- 

 ing performed in a great honey flow, that are never 

 attempted at other times. There has been one con- 

 tinuous flow of honey from May until the present 

 time, and still it continues. It might seem large to 

 tell you that a swarm hived July 13th, and weighed 

 July 31st, showed a gain of 79 lbs., but it is neverthe- 

 less true. This is not in my apiary alone, but go 

 anywhere in this county, and you will find black 

 swarms outside the hives building comb, and, in 

 some instances, I have helped take 25 lbs. of honey 

 from under projections of the hive. You speak of 

 my reports of a year or two ago, etc. Well, I am 

 satisfied with my figures, and with the amount of 

 honey I have taken, and with the price I am selling 

 for; but when I read of people raising plants for 

 bees to work on, it surprises me; and then that they 

 get 30 or 40 lbs. of honey in a season, when I can take 

 that amount every 15 days. If you think I jump at 

 conclusions too quick, please come up and help 

 weigh up what I have on hand, and help take off 

 what is ready to take off; and, if you come before 

 frost, I will insert a sheet of fdn. in some young 

 swarm, and you may see it pulled out in 2 hours. I 

 should be pleased to have some one else report to 

 you from this vicinity if they will. E. A. Morgan. 

 Arcadia, Wis., Sept. 3, 1880. 



You have rather misquoted the substance 

 of mv comments on your last month : s arti- 

 cle, friend M. You will see, if you look at 

 it again, that it was your decision in regard 

 to the L. frame I thought hasty, and not 

 what you said about the flow of honey. I 

 should enjoy it most rarely, to make you a 

 visit while the honey was being built on the 

 outside of the hives. Seventy-nine lbs. in 

 18 days is not a very unusual yield; you 

 know I mention in the A B C 43 lbs. in 3 

 days in our locality. I know that our yield 

 is small, even with the plants we raise ; but 

 as the plants keep things lively at a season 

 when we should otherwise have next to 

 nothing, I think the plants pay. If you had 

 300 stocks in your yard as we have, you prob- 

 ably would not get so much per colony. 



