Epidemics Among Insects. 



Dr. Hazen of Boston, in a paper read in 

 that city a few days ago, gave the following 

 information about epidemics among insects: 

 That excellent apiarist, Dr. Parmly, of New 

 York, remarks, " We have far more need to 

 study carefully these innumerable little foes 

 than we have done." Dr. Hazen says : 



A really pestilential epizootic of the com- 

 mon barnyard fly was observed in 1867. Not 

 only those, but many other insects, died in 

 the same locality and in the same manner ; 

 also other species of flies and gnats, the cat- 

 erpillars of moths and of phalsenids, and 

 the common hairy caterpillars. Of some 

 species the destruction was so complete that 

 the next year they were very rare. During 

 recent years the caterpillars of two species 

 of moths had destroyed pine forests belong- 

 ing to the State valued at several millions of 

 dollars, and a larger calamity was imminent, 

 when suddenly all caterpillars died from 

 the same fungus. Similar observations have 

 been made in other places in Europe and 

 here. 



Mr. Trouvelot formerly began in Medford, 

 Mass., the raising of the polyphemus moth 

 for silk, and was successful enough to get a 

 prize in the Paris Exhibition of 1864. Un- 

 fortunately he brought home eggs from 

 Paris of another species from China, which 

 purported to be superior for silk-raising in 

 the open air. These eggs proved to be in- 

 fested by fungus, and the caterpillars 

 hatched from them died, but not those alone, 

 all caterpillars of the polyphemus moth be- 

 came infested, and even most of the other 

 indigenous species living on the twelve 

 acres of shrub land, which Mr. Trouvelot 

 utilized for this purpose, died rapidly. After 

 two years of a similar calamity, Mr. Trouve- 

 lot was obliged to stop his experiments, 

 which might have developed, perhaps, a 

 new source of wealth for this country. 



A similar pest of an indigenous species of 

 moth stopped only last year the interesting 

 observations of Mr. Tiemers, in Newport, 

 Kentucky. 



The common silk-worm in Europe has 

 been in recent time extensively affected by 

 a sickness which is also the consequence of 

 a fungus. Similar fatal epizootics have 

 been observed on the hnney-bee and one 

 several years ago, in Brazil, destroyed near- 

 ly all the bees. In entomological journals 

 are reported fatal epizootics of leaf lice, of 

 grasshoppers, of the cabbage butterfly and 

 of the currant worm, both imported here 

 only a few years ago, and both very obnox- 

 ious. 



During the past winter the mortality 

 among the bees has been very great, similar 

 to the disasters of 1S73-4. May it not be 

 attributable to causes similar to those men- 

 tioned above ? This seems the more prob- 

 able from the fact that no matter how the 

 bees were prepared for winter— whether 

 packed with chaff or not— whether they 

 were buried in clamps or kept on their sum- 



mer stands— no particular mode of prepara- 

 tion was successful in all cases ! some of 

 our most experienced apiarists having suf- 

 fered losses as well as the inexperienced ! 

 " Our Letter Box " gives abundant proof of 

 this. We may blame the honey stored for 

 winter use, the kind of hive used, the man- 

 ner of ventilation adopted, the severe 

 weather, the long winter, the unfavorably 

 cold spring, the manner of preparation, the 

 winter repository, or the locality of the api- 

 ary—but none of these present us, as yet, 

 the solution of the problem ! If it has been 

 a "pestilential epizootic." it certainly has 

 been one in the most malignant form. 



The machine for fastening starters as 

 noticed on page 150 of our last issue, is a 

 neat little implement. The accompanying 

 engraving shows it " caught in the act " of 



fastening the starter to the top-bar of the 

 section. It is gotten up by Mr. W. D. 

 Parker, of Defiance, Ohio. 



QUPWe have agreed to attend the conven- 

 tion of the Western Illinois and Eastern 

 Iowa Bee-keepers' Society, to be held at 

 Hamilton on the 6th and 7th of May. Ham- 

 ilton is the home of our friends Dadant, and 

 is situated on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw 

 Railway, which is the great east and west 

 thoroughfare from Keokuk or Burlington to 

 Lafayette, Fort Wayne, Toledo, and the 

 great eastern cities, making only one change 

 of cars necessary to Washington, Baltimore, 

 Philadelphia, New York or Boston. Ele- 

 gant reclining chair sleeping cars are run 

 through to Lafayette and Indianapolis, and 

 palace day coaches to Fort Wayne and To- 

 ledo. Connections are made at each of 

 these points with through sleeping cars to 

 the East. Boston and New England pas- 

 sengers can step into Boston sleeping car 

 without leaving the train, making virtually 

 no change to Boston, and arrive at destina- 

 tion one train in advance of Chicago routes. 



