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CiLEANlNGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



May 



or wheu we see the little crescent cuts thus, (• , 

 on the plums. These little curved cuts are made 

 by the little weevils as they lay the eg-^s in the 

 plums. This fact drives rise to the name "little 

 Turk." For j'ears now I have seen these crescent 

 marks just as the blossoms -calices— were falling' 

 from the plums. The jarring should be done very 

 early in the morning', or as late in the evening as 

 we can see well. To avoid the dew, not to speak 

 of early rising, the evening battle is generally pre- 

 ferred at our house. In the middle of the day, es- 

 pecially before the days get warm, the curculio are 

 hid beneath the trees, hence the necessity of jar- 

 ring as early or late as daylight will permit. 



We spread the sheet under the ti-ee and then 

 strike the trunk, or, in case the tree is large, each 

 main branch. A sharp blow is required, as only a 

 sudden jar will surely fell all the weevils to the 

 sheet. The spike or padded mallet permits this 

 without injury to the tree. 



As soon as the jarring has been thoroughly done, 

 we examine for the insects on the sheet. These 

 little beetles look so like the little bugs that will be 

 dislodged by the same blow, that only shai-p looking, 

 especially at first, will detect them. Each year I 

 jierform this before my thirty or forty students, and 

 often they will declare the first night that there is 

 not an insect, when perhaps there ai-e a score on 

 the sheet. At first, pick up every thing that looks 

 like a little bug, and learn bj' close scrutiny wheth- 

 er it be bug or insect. If the latter, it will soon 

 move when taken in the warm hand; we soon get so 

 we see the weevils very quickly. Bertie and Katie 

 are a great aid to me in. catching the weevils, as 

 well as in moving the sh' et. It is great fun for 

 them, as they eclipse their father in the number 

 caught. To kill the insects we crush them between 

 the thumb and finger. This is quick, sure, and not 

 disagreeable, as the insects are so small. Often we 

 may omit the jarring for two or three nights. If we 

 get no curculio, or only two or three at a tree, we 

 can safely wait a day or two before we try again. 

 It is often safe to omit jarring for two or three 

 days. I have found that I have to work more or 

 less'all through .June. This is for central Mich- 

 igan; and taking the years together, I have not had 

 to jar more than fifteen times in a season. This 

 seems little [labor when we consider the results— 

 jilenty of luscious plums to sell and to keep, or, 

 best of all, to give away to our good neighbors. 



It is a good idea, though I have never done it, to 

 gather all the plums that fall, and burn them. 

 This prevents the development of the insect— -now 

 a grub, feeding on the pulp of the plum— and so 

 makes the insect more scarce the next season. 



The reason Judge Romsdell, Michigan's great 

 plum-grower, thinks the cii-culio an advantage, is 

 that it can lie kept under, and the plum ci'op saved. 

 Most people, through ignorance or neglect, will 

 not do this, and so plums will always be scare", and 

 always bring a high pvwv in the market. Again, 

 when the trees set very full, the plums should be 

 thinned; by allowing the curculio to sting a portion 

 of thv friill, t'.ie thinning costs nothing. 



A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural Colk-ge, L'lnsing, Michigan. 



Last fall, just about pluui time, I visited 

 one of our bee-men, friend J. Mattoon, of At- 

 water, Portage Co.. and anionp; other things 

 I took a look at his plum-yard. This yard 

 was not very larw, but it was lilled witli the 



most luxuriant, thrifty-looking plum-trees I 

 ever saw before in my life ; and if I remem- 

 ber correctly, he said he had just sold fifty 



' bushels of plums out of that " chicken-yard,'" 

 and that he received for them an even S2(M». 



i The trees were got into bearing shape by un- 



' dei-draining, subsoiling. use of fertilizers. 



, and all modern improvements. Then chick- 



I ens enough were kept in the yard to keep the 

 ground as liard and l)are of vegetation as it 

 usually is for a few rods around the front of 

 a country schoolliouse. Tiie trees were jar- 



' red in the way Prof. Cook menti(»ns, but tlie 

 chickens gobbled the curculios. rendering the 

 use of a sheet unnecessary. Friend .Mattoon 



i succeeds with bees, plums, pears, strawber- 



j ries, and everything of the kind. Do you 



I know why V 



, After the above article was in type, we re- 

 ceived the following letter from Prof. Cook, 

 touching on another subject: 



POLLEN AND WINTERINCJ, AC..\1N. 



We have just had a bad mishap with our bees; 



I but it gives foi-th clear evidence on the pollen 



I question. Our bees were in fine condition March 



j 1st. Our cellar has si.x inches of water in it, and 



keeps a uniform temperature from 38° F. to 45° F. 



By an accident, mice got into the cellar, and so 



worried the bees in three hives that they ate all 



their stores, what the mice did not eat, and starved. 



Of the remaining colonies, six had much i>ollen. 



Four of these have diarrha?a very badly, the other 



two considerably, but not seriously. The colonies 



having no pollen have no diarrhea, and arc in fair 



I condition, though their combs and hives ai-e badly 



j knawed by the mice. 



] I think I can say truly, then, that bees are safer in 

 I an atmosphere that is too cold or too warm, with- 

 out pollen, and also decidedly safer in case of an 

 invasion of mice. March 1st there was no sign of 

 diarrhoea. Whatever disturbs bees will endanger 

 them in case pollen is present, and confinement 

 necessai'y. Keep the bees quiet, and the pollen is 

 harmless— so I think, as the result of several win- 

 ters' close observation and experiment. 

 April 25, 1885. A. J. CoOK. 



APIS DOHSATA. 



FRIEND BUNKER TELLS US ABOUT HOW THESE 

 BEES BEHAVE IN THEIR HOME IN BURMAH. 



EAR BROTHER ROOT:-! have just returned 

 from the hills, and while traveling I have 

 been studying Apis dorsata, and now make 

 a report of progress. There seems to be two 

 i kinds of this bee in Burmah, each quite dis- 



j tinct, though I have not yet secured specimens for 

 comparison. One kind is yellowish in color, and 

 usually builds nests on the limbs of very high trees, 

 I or in rocky clitfs, while the other is nearly black, 

 hairy, and builds in thickets, on limbs of trees, or 

 ' on creei>ers, often near the ground. Both are 

 unieomb bees. The former is often vicious, the 

 I latter kind is very gentle, according to all reports, 

 , and the natives have no fear of it at all. They 

 of ten approach the nest of the latter by daylight, 

 and take off pieces of comb, without smoking or 

 protection of any kind ^Yhatever, and without often 

 j being attacked by the bees. The former kind de- 

 fends its nest with great vigor; and if they once set 



