392 THK BEE-KKEPBR'S GUIDE ; 



branches of our willows, which they often entirely cover, and 

 thus greatly damage another tree valuable for both honey and 

 pollen. Were it not that they are seldom numerous two years 

 in succession, they would certainly banish from among us one 

 of our most ornamental and valuable honey-producing trees. 

 These are fairly thronged in September and October, and not 

 infrequently in spring and summer, if the lice are abundant, 

 by bees, wasps, ants, and various two-winged flies, all eager 

 to lap up the oozing sweets. This louse is the Lachnus den- 

 tatus of Le Baron, and the Aphis salicti of Harris. 



I have received from apiarists of Indiana and Ohio a large, 

 dark-gray plant-louse, which worked on the sycamore, and is 

 reported from both States as keeping the bees actively em- 

 ployed for some weeks. This louse is one-fourth of an inch 

 long. The winged lice measure three-eighths of an inch to 

 the tips of their wings. The veins of the wings, as also the 

 short nectaries — the tubes at the posterior part of the abdomen 

 — show that this louse (Fig. 197) belongs to the genus Lachnus. 

 The lice of the genus Aphis — of which there are innumerable 

 species — have longer nectaries (Fig. 198), from which ooze 

 large drops of nectar. This is much relished by the ants, 

 which often care for these lice as tenderly as for their own 

 young. 



Doubtless many have supposed that the bees were gather- 

 ing secretion from the plants, when closer inspection would 

 have shown that some species of plant-lice was wholly re- 

 sponsible. Honey-dew may not always be a secretion from 

 insects ; but that it is almost always is certainly true. We 

 can see how it serves the insects. It attracts the bees and 

 wasps, which repel the birds, which else would devour the 

 insects. If plants do secrete nectar (?) from their leaves, it 

 surely serves them some valuable purpose. It would seem, in 

 attracting the black fungus — smut— that it harmed the foliage. 

 Is hone3--dew ever a product of the foliage ? This nectar from 

 plant-lice is very often entirely wholesome and unobjection- 

 able. I would, however, never consider it a safe food for bees 

 in winter, unless it was agreeable to my taste, and fit for my 

 own table. 



