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and visits the small apples — never the 

 Howei's — and deposits one egg only in 

 the calyx of the embryo fruit. In a 

 few days the eggs hatch, and the little 

 worm — the merest mite — commences 

 to eat its way into the fruit. 



Spraying the tree with the poisoned 

 water even as soon as the eggs of the 

 moth are laid, if no rain intervenes, 

 will prove efficacious in destroying the 

 larv;v, as at this stage of the growth 

 of the fruit, the calyx is upward, and 

 oft'ers the best possible means of de- 

 stroj'ing the worms, as the liquid ap- 

 plied with a fine spraying nozzle — and 

 no other should be used — is sure to 

 drop into the upturned cup of the 

 fruit, so wlien the worms commence to 

 eat, it is to their death. 



To be most effectual, the spraying 

 should be done once in ten days after 

 the first application until the fruit tips 

 and turns the calyx down. The first 

 brood of worms which infest the apples 

 before they turn downwards, proves 

 l)y far the most destructive. However, 

 later spraying of the trees to destroy 

 a second brood of worms, which, prob- 

 ahl}- appear in Missouri, say in July 

 and the Ui'st of August, would un- 

 doubtedly destro}' many of these later 

 larvw, and I should certainly recom- 

 mend its trial. 



Great care should be exercised in 

 mixing the poison, not to get it too 

 strong, and thus injure the foliage. A 

 jjurc article of Paris-green or Loudon 

 purple, using one pound to 200 gallons 

 of water, is of sufficient strength. In 

 using Paris-green, means should be 

 used to keep the water thoroughly agi- 

 tated while applying, as the poison is 

 not dissolved b}" water, but only held 

 in suspension, and ijuickly settles to 

 the bottom of the vessel, if not stirred. 

 With the common brands of the article 

 as usually bought for killing of potato- 

 bugs, 150 to 175 gallons of water to 

 tlie pound may be safely used. 



THE CURCULIO. 



The plum curculio is a very different 

 insect fn^m the codling-moth. The 

 latter Cnr/iocapsa poinanella belongs to 

 the order of Lepidopte.ra, which in- 

 cludes all the butterllies and moths. 

 The curculio is one of the snout beetles, 

 order Caleoptera, genus Conolrachelus 

 ne?iuphnr Herljst, and is not depend- 

 ent by any means upon his legs alone 

 for means to get at the young fruit of 

 the plum-trees, which it punctures and 

 deposits an egg therein ; in fact, it is 

 doubtful if these little beetles ever 

 crawl up the trunks of the trees they 

 infest at all ; the wings forming a 

 much more speedy and effectual means 

 of accomplishing their object. Hence, 

 Mr. Brickey's kerosene-saturated bands 

 are entirely useless for the purpose of 

 preventing the ravages of the curculio. 



There are certain caterijillars, and 

 the female of the canker-worm moth, 

 which is wingless, which might be 

 partially hindered from ascending the 

 trees by such bands, but they would 

 need to be quite broad and frequently 

 saturated with kerosene at the risk of 

 injuring the trees. 



In no case do the beetles infest the 

 flowers to their damage, nor would it 

 be of the slightest use to spray the 

 fruit trees while the blossoms in any 

 stage remained. It is after the fruit 

 sets that these little snout beetles be- 

 gin to sting the plums. It first makes 

 a small, crescent^shaped incision, with 

 its snout,in the skin of the plum, then, 

 turning around, inserts an egg in the 

 wound. 



These insects begin their depreda- 

 tions as soon as the fruit is set, and 

 continue until the middle or last of 

 July. Thus it would seem to be nec- 

 essar}' to spray the fruit at intervals 

 from the time it sets until the latter 

 period, which, in fairly diy seasons, 

 might be three or four times. 



From the foregoing, it will be seen 

 that it is worse than useless to spray 

 the trees of either orchard or garden 

 fruits while the blossoms are yet seen ; 

 and, also, that the insect most dam- 

 aging to the apple crop and the cur- 

 culio, are veiy distinct species, al- 

 though the latter does frequently infest 

 the apple to some extent. 



Lewiston, Maine. 



SUPERS. 



Super Question, and Sug^gestions 

 Concerning It. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY M. M. BALDKIDGE. 



The following interesting letter is 

 froiu a Wisconsin bee-keeper of 32 

 years experience, and an expert in the 

 production of comb honey : 



"In regard to supers, this has been 

 a topic oi' much thought and study 

 with me, and yet I am as much in the 

 dark as ever. As you say, we need a 

 super that will hold the sections close 

 together, and expose as little as pos- 

 sible of their outside surface to the 

 bees. 



" I have tried the old style Heddon 

 super, and use it some now. M3' ob- 

 jection to it is, that the bees glue in 

 the sections at times so tight as to in- 

 juie the lionej' to remove them. I got 

 the T super of Dr. Miller, and dis- 

 carded that after one year's trial. 

 When one section is out, the others are 

 liable to tumble out. I sent also to 

 Frank Eaton for one of his supers. 

 This has slats on the bottom, and the 

 same shape as the open-sided section, 



on which the section rests. It has also 

 a drop-leaf side. I have sold all the 

 supers on this plan but one. 



" I aim to have as little machinery 

 about my apiary as possible, and, 

 therefore, I do not like the wide- 

 frame supers, nor the separators. By 

 using sections seven to the foot, I sel- 

 dom have any bulged ones, even with- 

 out separators. I want a super that 

 will permit me to take out any section 

 from the outside and place it in the 

 middle, and vice versa, in case I so 

 desire. 



"Geo. E. Hilton makes a T super 

 with the tins stationary, in which, on 

 one side, is a follower, and bj- means 

 of two thumb-screws the sections are 

 pressed sidewise close together. This 

 super can be turned upside down, and 

 the sections will remain in place, but 

 by a slight turn of the thumb-screws 

 the sections will drop down | of au 

 inch, and theft the super may be lifted 

 upward and removed. But here comes 

 the trouble with propolis. As the T 

 tins separate the rows of sections a 

 trifle, the bees will fill the openings 

 with propolis unless another set of tins 

 is used on top also. But I have sent 

 for one of these supers, and shall give 

 it a thorough trial, if I live long 

 enough. 



■' Very few bee-keepers have given 

 the super question the proper atten- 

 tion it deserves. The subject is by no 

 means exhausted. 



"Asa rule, I sell ni)' comb honey 

 here at home, cash down, to a commis- 

 sion man, at 15 cents per pound ; put 

 u]) in crates holding 28 sections each. 

 My extracted honey I sell at 12J cents 

 per pound, in lots of from 12 to 50 

 pounds, to my customers here. 



" I have used the difl'erent kinds of 

 sections, but prefer the rl-piece dove- 

 tailed. I glue the corners usually, 

 but it is a deal of work. I can ar- 

 range the 4-pieoe sections so that they 

 will remain perfectly square. My ob- 

 jection to the one-piece is, that it is 

 seldom square when folded — being 

 diamond in shape." 



The foregoing shows that the super 

 question is by no means settled, and 

 that others, aside from myself, are on 

 the hunt for something better than 

 what we have been using. And that 

 what we want will yet be found there 

 is no doubt whatever ; for the necessity 

 will secure it, she still being as much 

 the " mother of invention " as she ever 

 was. The super I want, and must 

 have, is one that will keep the sections 

 in close contact with each other, both 

 endwise and sidewise, and which will 

 enable me to secure the outer surface 

 of the tops and bottoms, as well as the 

 sides, when filled with honey, as clean 

 and bright as when first given to the 

 bees. And we must be able to do this 



