4! tO 



GLEANINGS IN LEE CULTURE. 



June 



least it is to me; for transferring larvse or eggs to 

 artificial or old <iueen-eells, starters just cut from 

 the hives are a very tedious job. I let the bees do 

 all the starting of cells; and when I go to manip- 

 ulating them the egg or larva is in its proper 

 place. I would advise looking after the cells often- 

 er than under other circumstances; and as soon as 

 they are capped they might lie transferred, and 

 other cells just started given to them. They will 

 workout and cap several batches. I find they are 

 willing to work out all that a queenless hive will 

 start for them; and all that I have had worked out 

 by this process are large and fine; fully as much 

 difference as cells raised under the swarming im- 

 pulse, as if the frame of eggs fixed as above should 

 remain in queenless colony, where they were start- 

 ed and completed. 1 suppose most queen breeders 

 will understand all about how to fix strips of comb 

 on an inverted frame. There is nothing new in 

 this plan, that I know of, except letting the bees 

 merely start queen-cells and then transferring the 

 frame to a strong upper story. Auy of my bees in 

 an upper story will work them out. 1 think friend 

 Doolittle deserves credit for this process, as it was 

 suggested to me from his plan. J. D. Fooshe. 



Coronaca, S. C, May 27, 1889. 



You have given us not only an important 

 fact, but one that, so fat' as 1 know, is en- 

 tirely new. It any such thing has appeared 

 in our bee-journals I must have missed it. 

 Had the question been asked me, " What 

 will become of queen-cells just started in a 

 queenless colony, if they are moved to the 

 upper story of some colony having a 

 queen?" I should have said at once, " The 

 cells will either be torn down or allowed to 

 remain where they are without any further 

 care,*' and 1 can't help feeling a little doubt 

 about its working every time with every col- 

 ony of bees. You say any of the bees in 

 the upper story will finish them out. Now, 

 did you not test it while the bees had the 

 swarming fever? If so, I can readily ac- 

 cept it ; but at any other season, it seems to 

 me very strange, if it proves to be true. No 

 doubt, however, it may be in any case quite 

 valuable during the swarming season. 



CURRANT SAW-FLY. 



HELLEBORE AND THE CUKRANT-WOKM. 



R. GEORGE THOMPSON, Geneva, III., sends 

 me the larva of the currant, or gooseberry 

 saw-fly— the currant- slug. "Would it be 

 asking too much," he writes, "that you 

 give its habits and the remedies in Glean- 

 ings, that we may be fortified another spring':"' 



These yellow and black Hies, about the size of the 

 common house-fly, which they somewhat resemble 

 in a general way, though these have four wings, 

 come forth very soon after the leaves open in 

 spring. They pair, and the female lays her small 

 white eggs along the veins of the leaves, on the 

 underside. The name saw-Hy comes from the fact 

 that this insect has a curious saw-like attachment 

 to its ovipositor. Thut it sawsaslijrht groove to 

 receive its eggs. This saw, consisting often of a 

 douhle blade, is of exquisite finish. We often boast, 

 and with no slight reason, of the advancement in 

 mechanical inventions of this century; yet when 

 we study the matter closely we are not wholly 



pleased. Thus if we magnify highly a knife or 

 needle of finest finish we discover that it is rough 

 and nicked, and looks like a sorry piece of work. 

 Not so these insect-saws. They are elegant in fin- 

 ish and polish, and lo6e none of their perfection, no 

 matter how greatly magnified. Nature shows lis 

 that we have room for great improvement, even in 

 our best accomplishments. 



The currant-slug, as it comes forth from the egg, 

 is light green. Soon it 6heds its skin, and becomes 

 darker green, dotted with rows of black dots. With 

 each molt, or shedding of skin, it increases in size, 

 and after the last is again light green. It is aston- 

 ishing how some of these larva 1 eat. Sometimes we 

 think, when we have mush and milk, or buckwheat 

 cakes and maple syrup, that we have no inconsider- 

 able gastronomic capabilities; yet when compared 

 with these insects in their growing period we fairly 

 sink into nothingness. When the slugs first com- 

 mence to eat, small holes will be seen in the lower 

 leaves of the bushes. Later, when they near matu- 

 rity, the leaves seem fairly to melt away. The mi- 

 nute holes, the eaten leaves, and the devastated 

 bushes, as well as the faeces of the larva?, tell where 

 these devourers are at work. 



When fully developed, the larva 3 , now nearly an 

 inch long, pass to the ground; and just at or be- 

 neath the surface they spin gray or dark cocoons 

 in which they pupate. In a few days the flies come 

 forth again, and we have the second round of mis- 

 chief. These insects have few enemies, and in- 

 crease so fast that, unless we fight them, we must 

 give up our currants, and the delicious jelly and 

 l>ur excellence jelly-cake. When once a currant or- 

 chard is attacked, it soon vanishes away unless we 

 see that the slugs are put to rout. 



The best remedy for this scourge is white helle- 

 bore. 1 have used this now for years, and always 

 with the most evident success. Though this is a 

 vegetable poison, it is not dangerous. 1 have 

 known of its use for years, and yet I never heard of 

 any harm coming from it. 



To apply this remedy, use one ounce of hellebore 

 to two or three gallons of water. Stir well and 

 spray the plants by use of a good force pump, like 

 the Whitman, or a good syringe like the Lewis. It 

 is best to throw with force so as to scatter the poi- 

 son on all the leaves. So, Bro. Thompson, just get 

 and use some of this hellebore, and still rejoice in 

 your jelly and jell-cake. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



If we had insecticides that would work as 

 surely and as easily in killing other insects 

 as hellebore does for the currant-worm, I 

 should feel quite happy. I have, however, 

 never taken the trouble to make it in solu- 

 tion. All that we do is to get live or ten 

 cents' worth of hellebore. Just take the 

 paper right out into the field, make a little 

 hole so the dust will sift out, then thump 

 the package, or snap it, so as to raise a little 

 cloud of dust. Let this dust drop or float 

 on the worms or foliage, and that is the end 

 of them. We always, however, keep a close 

 watch ; and just as soon as the smallest col- 

 ony of currant-worms gets a going, they are 

 dusted with hellebore. It works so effectu- 

 ally and surely that I rather enjoy seeing 

 these worms make their appearance, that I 

 may teach them that A. I. Root is '" bogs of 

 this 'ere currant-ranch •'' 



