THE AT^IEllICAN BEE JOURNxVL. 



ST 



World reports from I'rof. Riloy, dosoribiiiff 

 what sociiis to be the same iiiseet. Let all 

 bee-keepers study tliese descriptions. T. 



BKE ENEMY. 



Editors Rukal Would: Please find 

 enclosed an insect of the canibal species, 

 subsisting on tlie tlesii of the common honey 

 bee. 1 liave no name for it, neitiier can I 

 tell from wlienee it came nor liow long its 

 visit will last. It appears to be confined to 

 localities. 1 have not as yet seen any feed- 

 ing on my bees, yet one mile from me they 

 are eonniiitting a fearful devastation. Tlieir 

 mode of catclang the bee is, by alighting on 

 the back of tiie bee and carrynig it to some 

 prominence, and if left alone soon destroy 

 It vitality. Tliey are very swift on tlie wing, 

 but easily caught, and less wary when feed- 

 ing on a bee. Any information concerning 

 its habits and general character will be 

 thankfully received. A. Stckgili.. 



Pickering, Mo. 



Your letter was kept for some time in the 

 Blind World ollice and was finally handed 

 to me \vithout the specimem. Yet 1 have 

 little doubt from your description, that the 

 insect which destroyed your bees, is a large 

 two-winged fiy, which I haye called the 

 Missouri Bee Killer (described in my second 

 report as AsU us Missourlcnsis, hut ascer- 

 tained by subsequent comparison, by our 

 dipterist. Baron Osten Sacken, to be the 

 Proctacanthus Milbertl, Macq.). These 

 flies " capture the bee on the wing, pounc- 

 ing upun it with lightening-like rapidity ; 

 tlien grasping it securely with his fore-legs, 

 they alight upon some plant or even upon 

 tlie ground, and rapidly ^Ul•k out the inside 

 of tlie bee, with the stout probo.sris, leaving 

 the empty shell when tliey get through. Mr. 

 Thompson says that beneath some favorable 

 perch that is near the apiary, hundreds of 

 these bee shells may be touncl accumulated 

 in a single day ; wiiile he has watched and 

 found that a single fly on one of these perch- 

 es destroyed no less than 141 bees in that 

 period of time." — 1st Report, p. 168. 



There are several other species of these 

 rapacious flies, which have the bad habit of 

 killing bees, but tlie apiarian will care little 

 about their specific ditt'erences. They 

 should all be destroyed, " and though very 

 strong and rapid flyers, tliey may be easily 

 caught settled on any little prominence with 

 a bee in their grasp ; for they are so greedy 

 of the bee's juices that they are at this time 

 less wary, and even when disturbed will fly 

 but a few yards away before settling again." 

 A net, such as is used by entomologists, and 

 as is described in my otli Report, will be 

 found useful in catching them, and there is 

 no other way of preventing the mischief 

 they do. 



"The habits and preparatory stages of our 

 Asilus flies are not very well known. They 

 are all canibal s in the fly state, sucking out 

 the juices of their victims with the strong 

 proboscis with which they are furnished, 

 and by which they are capable of inflicting 

 a sharp sting on the human hand. The lar- 

 vfe are footless, and live in the ground, such 

 as are known in state are strangely enough, 

 vegetable feeders."— 2d Report, p. 1'2S. 



A box 6i inches high, and 15 inches 

 square, in the clear, will contain 2U lbs. 

 of honey in the comb. 



For tnc Ainorican Roe .Toiirnal. 



Answer to H. W. S. 



Messrs. Editors: — Permit me to an- 

 swer a few points us briefly as possible, 

 in an article written by II. W,. S., of Cin- 

 cinnati, in the Journai. for January. 



He says in the second paragraph, "That 

 a few facts are observed, but they are 

 supposed to be connected together in a 

 very illogical manner." One of which is 

 the collection of moisture in the mats- 

 and on the insides of the hives and the 

 errors of attributing it to aqueous vapor 

 emanating from the bees themselves, 

 Avhile "his experience is tha^t the moisture 

 comes through leaky roofs." 



While this is nodoubtthe case when the 

 roofs are defective, still there is no fact 

 better established in apiculture — however 

 "illogical" it may seem to some — than.' 

 this one ; that bees confined to the hive 

 during cold weather consume a vast 

 amount of oxygen from the atmosphere 

 to keep up combustion, in order to main- 

 tain the requisite degree of heat, exhaling 

 carbonic-acid gas and w^ater in the form 

 of vapor. In all animal life it is seen, 

 that combustion is carried on more vig- 

 orously in cold than in warm tempera- 

 tures. The temperature of the body un- 

 dergoes no change in passing from the 

 torrid to the frigid zone, the increased 

 combustion compensating ina great meas- 

 ure the more rapid loss of animal heat in 

 low temperature. The same power to. 

 adapt itseif to diflerent degrees of temper- 

 ature no doubt exists though to a less de- 

 gree in the honey-bee. If we expose a 

 bee suddenly in the heat of summer to a 

 temperature not lower than one in which, 

 it would fly briskly in the winter, it w^ould 

 soon perish ; showing that the combus- 

 tion then going on is not sufflcient to re- 

 sist as low a degree of temperature, as in 

 the winter. 



Now, the products of combustion 

 whether from fuel in tlie grate, or that 

 Constantly taking place in animal life, is 

 invariably the same; carbonic-acid and 

 water, and the quantity produced — other 

 things being equal— is always in propor- 

 tion to the fuel consumed, and if egress- 

 is not given it in some way, the vapor- 

 will be condensed on the first cold surface 

 with which it comes in contact. 



He says "he covers his blankets with 

 tarred paper which excludes the exieruaL 

 moisture, and therefore his blankets are 

 dry." 



I suppose the tarred paper is laid 

 loosely on the blankets with the tarred 

 side up, allowing the air to pass between 

 them, and evaporate the moisture. 



