658 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 2. — Close view of eggs. Notice the pell in the lower left-hand corner contains two eggs, while that 



at the right-hand corner has a larva. 



experimented. I opened the hive about 

 ten hours after the cage was put in, and 

 discovered that the bees had nearly eaten 

 out the cardboard and candy in order to 

 release her. I thought that, as every thing 

 was progressing so well, I would leave the 

 arrangements undisturbed for two days 

 more. Imagine my surjirise upon opening 

 the hive to find a large piece of honeycomb 

 hanging to the queen-cage, with almost 

 every cell containing an egg. The queen 

 had completed her task on this newly con- 

 structed comb, and had made good head- 

 way on a comb foundation of the regular 

 size that the bees had drawn out. Such dili- 

 gence is a joy, and that queen and her 

 adopted daughters are the pride of this 

 apiary. 



Arcadia, Sound Beach, Ct. 



[The two engravings and the cover for 

 this issue show the eggs that this queen laid 

 so quickly. In Fig. 2 a larva is shown in 

 the upper left-hand corner. This photo- 

 graph was probably taken at least three 

 days after the eggs were laid, else there 

 would not have been time for this par- 

 ticular egg to hatch. See editorial. — Ed.] 



BEETLES THAT MADE THE BEES CROSS 



BY J. M. FRANCIS 



We amateurs are constantly meeting 

 with wonderful experiences which are quite 

 familiar to the older beekeepers. Neverthe- 



less, as I am looking for information I 

 beg to say that, though I have been asso- 

 ciated with bees more or less since I was 

 a barefoot boy, and have commenced with- 

 in the last year and a half beekeeping in 

 a modest way, I am up against a ijroposi- 

 tion at the present time which has jDuzzled 

 me not a little. I have three stands of 

 Italian bees which, up to within the last 

 thirty days, have been exceedingly gentle 

 and tractable. I have never hesitated to 

 pull the hives all to pieces, under pi'oper 

 weather conditions, without using any pro- 

 tection for the hands or face, and some- 

 times I do not find it necessary to resort to 

 smoking. Imagine my surprise during the 

 past three or four weeks to find my bees 

 so ill-natured that one can hardly apjDroach 

 within twenty feet of them without meeting 

 a hostile reception. I was much j^uzzled 

 by this until I noticed that there were two 

 or three balls of angry bees in the front 

 of eacli hive, and on further investigation 

 found that the center of these balls was 

 composed of a beetle. 



Our entomologist has informed me that 

 this is the insect ordinarily known as the 

 "bumble-flower beetle," or "June beetle" 

 (Euphora Inda), which is quite common in 

 all of the Northern States. It usually 

 feeds on the pollen of flowers, and, later 

 in the season, upon ripened fruit. Un- 

 doubtedly the odor of the honey attracts 

 these beetles, and they attemjjt to force 

 their way into the hives. It then becomes 



