9'J^ 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



bugs nor blight troubled them, and the vines re- 

 mained ereen at least a month after those planted 

 in the ordinary way and sprayed were dead. 



I have just seen yoiir note in Gleanings for 

 Feb. 15, about the Florida redbug. Some fifteen or 

 twenty years ;iso I saw published in some paper a 

 preventive wliich has since given me untold benefit. 

 and which has been worth many dollars to me, as I 

 am very sensitive to redbug bites. Stich bites will 

 pive me more trouble than foity l>eestings. I have 

 been getting thera ever since I can remember (when 

 not using a preventive), and haven't become insen- 

 sible to them yet. Take fresh oil of cloves (that 

 which has turned dark with age is little good), and 

 rub a few drops on the ankles every morning before 

 putting on socks or before going where you are 

 liable to get redbiigs. I have gone into blackberry- 

 patches, among old logs, etc., where redbugs are 

 thickest, and not received any at all, or very few, 

 while if I omit the oil of cloves I get dozens of them 

 on lae. When picking berries, it is well to put a 

 little around the waist, on arms, etc. This is not 

 quite as eflicacioiis for women as for men, as their 

 skirts catch them. I suppose. 



May God bless you, and spare you many years to 

 prove my remedy and to continue your fight for the 

 right. 



A saturated solution of kerosene oil and gum 

 camphor is good after the bug gets on, and is picked 

 out with a sharp-pointed knife. 



Areola, N. C, Feb. 25. J. F. Hunter. 



My good friend, I fear from your con- 

 eluding- .sentence that what yo\i call redbugs 

 in your locality are different things from 

 the Florida redbugs. Thei'e are three in- 

 sects that worry humanity down in Flor- 

 ida — fir.st, the sticktight flea. This bothers 

 the poultry by getting on their combs and 

 wattles — especially the Leghorns and Span- 

 i.sh, which have large combs. These stick- 

 tight fleas are well described bj' their name, 

 and you can pick them out with a pair of 

 tweexcrs after they start to burrow in the 

 chickens or on your ankles. The redbug, 

 liowever, is almost microscopic — in fact, I 

 ha^e nexev been able to see one. They 

 trouble us more or less every season with- 

 out fail, while the sticktight fleas have not 

 appeared on oar premises for the last two 

 winters. They live principally in dry sand, 

 under buildings and such places. When 

 there are abundant rains they are seldom 

 found. 



The third insect, I belie^'e, troubles me 

 most of all. Tt is the well-known common 

 chicken mite. To make sure I Avas not mis- 

 taken I sent a sample to Washington. I do 

 not remember that we ever had any on our 

 premises until I bought a pair of guinea 

 fowls of a party in Pennsylvania. I sent 

 for thera with the understanding that they 

 would keep away hawks ; but they did noth- 

 ing of the kind, for they rambled all over 

 our five acres, and might be up in the tops 

 of the highest trees while the hawks were 

 making a swoop for the chickens on the 

 ground. The first season that we got guin- 

 eas I found a sitting hen literally covered 

 with mites — at least the nest-box was 



swarming with mites. We burned up the 

 straw that was in the nest and put the box 

 on top of the fire until it was cliarred in- 

 side and out; then soaked it with moth-balls 

 dissolved in kerosene; and tliis latter rem- 

 edy is cheaper and more effective, according 

 to my experience, than any of the much- 

 advertised chicken-mite remedies. 



Our worst trouble is with sitting hens. 

 It' you are not very careful you will find 

 mites crawling on the eggs from the sitting 

 hens. A galvanized-iron nest-box has been 

 recommended; and I am inclined to think it 

 would be a good thing. When I sent a 

 sample of the mites to Washington they 

 said it was quite unusual for the mites to 

 be found on liuman beings. They do not 

 seem to trouble Mrs. Root; but they get 

 under my arms and under my knees — some- 

 times in my hair, and not only annoy me 

 by their crawling about, but they sometimes 

 bite excruciatingly. I hope it is true that 

 only on rare occasions will they pester and 

 annoy persons as they do myself. 



In regard to mulching potatoes with pine 

 needles I have often wondered whether pine 

 needles were good for anything. I can 

 readily understand that the strong odor 

 from these turpentine pine needles should 

 repel bugs, and they may also possibly 

 repel blight, as you suggest in your letter. 

 I expect to try it soon. 

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" LOOK OUT FOR PICKPOCKETS." 



The following, clipped from the American 

 Poultry Journal, illustrates a plan that is 

 getting to be too much the fashion of late 

 in the way of picking the pockets of good 

 honest hard-working people: 



Charged with using the United States mails to 

 defraud, G. A. l>avcnport, aged 34, of Bi-ookvillc, 

 N. J., has been arrested at Apollo, Pa. According 

 to PostoflSce Inspector J. D. Wardle, of Trenton, N. 

 <r., Davenport operated under the name of the Ce- 

 dar Ridge I'oultry Company at Brookville, and ad- 

 vertised in the daily papers to sell baby chicks at 

 seven cents each. Instead of filling the orders he 

 received -with the cash, he disappeared. Later he 

 was located at Apollo, Pa., where he was operating 

 under the name of the Kiski Poultry Farm. His 

 Uncle Samuel will now take care of him. 



1 have given place to the above, princi- 

 pally to ask our fiiends if they know of 

 anybod}^ in the bee business who has been 

 doing similar work in, say, advertising 

 queens at a low price. If so, give us the 

 information and wc will give him free ad- 

 vertising. And this illustrates what I have 

 mentioned before — be careful about send- 

 ing money in answer to any advertisement 

 that does not have some name signed to it 

 in black and white instead of some high- 

 soundinff title like " Poultry Farm " or 

 " Bee Farm," etc. , 



