1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPJ'M. 



109' 



ramiiy, so to speak, and are far surpassed 

 by other insects who, not finding any safe 

 Individual to copy among their own near 

 relatives, take a bold step and imitate a 

 member of an entirely different family. 

 There is a moth that has assumed the dis- 

 guise of the belligerent bee quite success- 

 fully. To do this he has himself hatched 

 with the down on his wings so loose that 

 a buzz or two shake it all off and leave 

 his wings transparent and gauzy like the 

 bee's. Then he crawls around with an 

 Imitation of a bee's peculiar glide and 

 does his best to look as if he had a sting. 

 There are other flies that have imitated 

 bees more or less successfully, but none 

 that has gone so far to do so as this one. 



Mark Twain has called the ant a very 

 much overrated bird. But if man has 

 highly estimated this "bird" he has but 

 followed in the footsteps of nature, for the 

 ant is one of nature's favorites. She has 

 made him so dry and hard and indigesti 

 ble that ho requires especially constructed 

 animal to cat him. Hence he lives and 

 Increases in comparative peace and is the 

 envy of all his neighbors. He would doubt- 

 less have many imitators if it were not 

 that ho is so hard to copy. But he has 

 nevertheless found a follower in a certain 

 spider. Now, there is a great diflfereuce 

 between the natural appearance of a spider 

 and an ant, so great that the spider, even 

 if he is a long, thin, black spider, might 

 well be discouraged, for he has eight legs, 

 and an ant has six, and he has two bulbs 

 to his body and an ant three. Yet he is 

 nothing daunted. By some system of 

 tight lacing or other he first manages to 

 divide his abdominal bulb in two. Ho 

 does not get such a waist as an ant has, 

 but he jnakes an apparent division, which 

 is6omethiiig Then he walks on his six 

 hind legs like an ant and waves his two 

 fore legs in tho air like an ant's antenna?, 

 and, it is to he supposed, fancies himself 

 Indigestible. 



But perhaps the most wonderful imita- 

 tion is where an insect copies not the nat- 

 ural appearance of another, but his appear- 

 ance when at work. There is a kind of 

 ant in South America who makes it his 

 business to strip the leaves from the trees 

 and carry them to his nest, and the sight 

 of one of these, struggling and often con- 

 cealed under his leaf, is most common. 

 The ant, as stated before, has few enemies. 

 Now, there is found where this ant is com- 

 mon a kind of fly that has grown upon 

 its back a sort of fln of the general shape 

 of a leaf niid of a bright green color, so 

 that as it crawls around it might well be 

 mistaken for one of these ants under a 

 leaf. Thus in its imitative zeal it has 

 created a feature which is no part of the 

 ant it copies. 



ur ail inese mutation warriors none is 

 BO ambitious as one species of caterpillar. 

 He is large, lizards like to eat him, and 

 he is perfectly defenseless. When he is 

 at rest, he is like any other caterpillar, 

 and no one would notice certain dark 

 spots on his shoulders. But touch him, 

 and at once he draws his head back into 

 his body and presents to view a most ter- 

 rifying dragon face. The spots on his 

 back now look like great saucer eyes, and 

 his dark head forms a beak of most bel- 

 ligerent aspect. The whole effect is ri- 

 diculously fierce and must be seen to be 

 appreciated. An innocent lizard to whom 

 this caterpillar was fed turned tail when 

 he saw the transformation and did not 

 stop until he was well hidden behind a 

 twig. — New York Sun. 



Magical Finger Rings, 



Finger rii'^s have played a more impor- 

 tant part in liistory than any other orna- 

 ments. They were formerly symbols of 

 authority, and subordinates were often in 

 vested with temporary power by the loan 

 of the master's ring. We have examples 

 of this in the case of Pharaoh, Ahasuerus 

 and many others, in both sacred and pro- 

 fane history. Kings were at one time sup- ' 

 posed to posi^iess magical powers, and Plato 

 tells us that Gyges owned a ring that 

 would at his pleasure render him invisi- 

 ble, while from another source we learn 

 of the wonderful ring with which Solomon 

 sealed the jars in which the disobedient 

 jiune were immured before being dropped 

 into the sea. — New York Advertiser. 



Rubber Printing Stamps. 



S li<l ruliber type, self-inking pads, dating 

 sliiinps. supplies, etc., for Bee-keepers; 

 send for catalogue and samples of work, 

 G. W. BEaCA-W, Postoria, Ohio. 



2-t) 



fWrs. Oliver Cole seiis a portico iiivr 



eontainiDg one :2-fraine nuclei with PURE ITAL- 

 I\N QUKEN. YELLOW. BEAUTIFUL, PRO- 

 LIEIC. in June for $2.75 each, 2 for S5.00, Tested. 

 STRAWBERRY PLANTS of the latest vari- 

 ties, for sale cheip. Send for circulars to 



Sherburne, Chenango Co., N. Y. 

 Please mention American Bee-Keeper. 



QUEENS AND BEES. 



Either 3 or S-bandcd at living prici'S ; 

 also S. C. B. Legliorn E^gs at 50e 

 per setting; B. P. Rock Eggs 75c 

 per setting. Give me a trial. Cat- 

 alogue Free. CHA.S. H THIES, 



Steeleville, 111. 



