404 



GLEANINGS LN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



the patient, is pretty sure to have a benefi- 

 cial effect. If this interest and enthusiasm 

 is also in a line with something good and 

 praiseworthy, I think the chances are much 

 better for success, and we should by no 

 manner of means ignore the fact that a lov- 

 ing faith in the strong arm of the Almighty 

 can never be a mistake. Mrs. Axtell's won- 

 derful recovery was the result of faith in 

 God, her love for the honey-bees, and a new 

 ambition and enthusiasm that helped her as 

 nothing else could, perhaps, to get out into 

 the sunshine and open air. If Miss Cleve- 

 land has not had an account of this through 

 Gleanings, we want you, friend 11., to see 

 that she does get it. — I have often heard 

 that a violin would shake an iron bridge, 

 but I never had an auricular demonstration 

 of the phenomenon until I heard that roar 

 in the Moniteau grand cavern I told you 

 about. 



THE ITCH AND FACE MITES. 



PROF. COOK TELLS US SOME IMPORTANT FACTS 

 ABOUT SOME "INTIMATE ACQUAINTANCES." 



T AM requested by a subscriber to Gleanings to 

 /jjf illustrate and describe these hateful pests. As 

 W these detestable miners practice no nice dis- 

 A crimination that causes them to leave bee- 

 keepers out of question in their quest for 

 forage, every bee-keeper is interested in their 

 structure, natural history, and mode of life. 



Mites belong- to the spider— sub-class Arachnoidea 

 —and so have eight legs, simple eyes, well-develop- 

 ed mouth-organs, but no antenna?. They belong 

 to the mite and tick order, Acwrina, and so area 

 mere sack with legs and mouth-organs appended 

 (see figures). That is, unlike true spiders and scor- 

 pions, they have really only one part to the body- 

 no distinct head or head-thorax. Mites are also 

 peculiar in having six legs at first and eight when 

 mature. All others of this sub-class have eight legs 

 from first to last. 



This mite order is a very extensive one, and the 

 species included are very variable in their habits. 

 Thus we have the cheese-mite and the sugar and 

 flour mite, named from the substances which they 

 infest. These mites are mere specks, though when 

 very numerous they make these important food 

 articles quite lively. As they are small — so small 

 that they are usually overlooked, yet often the 

 sharp-eyed housewife discovers them, and is very 

 much disgusted; for howsoever pleased she may be 

 to see her flour "rise," she is not pleased to see it 

 walking off. 



House-mites are black and red species— mere 

 specks— which often gather on windows and under 

 carpets in such prodigious numbers as to be incal- 

 culable. These are often seen, and I have received 

 inquiries regarding them many times, and from 

 many States. They are harmless, except for the 

 discomfort arising from the presence of such vital 

 specks in our homes. Many mites prey upon in- 

 sects, which they destroy. Thus we are freed by 

 mites from some of our worst insect-enemies. Oth- 

 er mites prey upon poultry, and do great mischief. 

 Free use of an ointment made of kerosene and 

 lard soon frees the poultry-house of these annoying 

 pests. 

 The red spider is another kind of njite which 



works in greenhouses, and, when the atmosphere is 

 dry, on outdoor plants. Plenty of water sprayed 

 upon affected plants quickly puts these vegetable- 

 destroying mites to rout. 



The phytoptus mites are a very minute, long, 

 slim, four-legged species that also attack leaves of 

 trees like maples, bass wood, etc. These form teat- 

 like galls on the top of the leaves, and were de- 

 scribed and illustrated by me in Gleanings two or 

 three years ago. So far as I have observed, they 

 do no very serious harm. A silver-leaf maple in 

 our old apiary was covered with these phytoptus 

 galls for years, yet the tree continued vigorous and 

 healthy, and made exceptionally rapid growth each 

 year. Wood and cattle ticks are gigantic mites that 

 often do serious harm, as horses are sometimes 

 killed by their attacks. I will illustrate and de- 

 scribe these jumbo mites at some future time. 



The itch - mite 

 (Sarcoptes srahei) 

 as seen in Fig. 1 

 is very small, 

 really microsco- 

 pic, and has a 

 disgusting habit 

 of burrowing 

 under the skin 

 in the angles at 

 the bases of the 

 fingers, where it 

 causes disgust- 

 ing pustules. 

 The irritation 

 causes an itch- 

 ing sensation 



FIG. 1. ITCH-MITE GREATLY MAG- which gives rise 

 NIFIED; VENTRAL VIEW. tQ tfae name 



"itch," applied to the disease caused by these mi- 

 croscopic mites. The old name, seven-year itch, 

 shows how hard it was in old times to exterminate 

 this enemy. Nor do I need to say old times, for 

 within a short time a young man came into my lab- 

 oratory with very suspicious - looking hands. He 

 was a nice, neat young man too. I said, "What 

 ails your hands?" He ^replied, " I wish you could 

 tell me. I have had this trouble for four years" — 

 more than one-half of seven— "and have consulted 

 two or three physicians. Not one can tell the trou- 

 ble or help me." I took a scalpel, picked away a 

 moment at one of the pustules, placed my "find " 

 under the microscope, and showed him a plump 

 itch-mite. He was ready to dance with joy when I 

 told him that a little mercurial ointment, or an oint- 

 ment made of lard and kerosene, would at once rid 

 him of this plague. Isn't it a sorry compliment to 

 our physicians that they can not rightly diagnose 

 and cure this itch-plague? Or, rather, is it a com- 

 pliment, perhaps, to our civilization, that itch is so 

 scarce that our "M. D.'s" have no chance to study 

 the malady, and little occasion to examine and 

 treat it? 



The face, or pimple ^JtfUfc&dC 



mite, Demodex falling ^gy^p, ^^.ffl^^^^p) 

 larum (Pig. 3) is a long ~ J ~~~ 2 ~ 1 ~^.QiyQ^& 



slim mite that bores 



.. , . . FIG. 2. PIMPLE OR FACE 



into the skin, causing M1TE GREATLY MAQNI . 

 pimples. This mite is nified; under side. 

 even smaller than the itch mite, - 1 ,, of an inch long, 

 and burrows in the hair-glands. It finds a favorite 

 lurking-place and feeding-ground along the nose. 

 It has been said, that one person in every ten bar- 



