BENEFICIAL INSECTS 



619 



the work constituting the preliminary 

 scouting. 



Whenever a colony is located, we dig 

 into the pine-needles, moss, leaves, etc., 

 and through past experience we are en- 

 abled to estimate about how many pounds 

 the said colony will yield. A little map 

 is then roughly drawn on a card, a tree 

 is blazed marking this spot, and the col- 

 ony numbered with a notation on the back 

 of card, giving conditions, probable 

 amount obtainable, together with any in- 

 formation the collector thinks would be 

 useful. 



It will be understood that the work 

 above described is but the beginning of 

 the real work of collecting, which starts 

 the last of December and continues until 

 the last of February. Our field men at 

 that time again go into the mountains and 

 establish a camp as a center of opera- 

 tions, and proceed to make collections 

 from colonies previously located. 



When practicable a mule is taken along 

 from the camp to carry the ladybirds, two 

 men usually working together, and with 

 fairly good luck they will collect from 

 50 to 100 pounds of the beetles in a day. 



Fig. 9. Collecting Ladybirds. Showing metliod 

 of using sieve. Note tlie masses of lady- 

 birds upon the rocljs and rubbish. 



Various methods of separating the 

 ladybirds from the pine needles and 

 debris have been tried out and discarded. 

 The most successful arrangement, and the 

 one now in use, has been a canvas sack, 

 open at both ends, with a coarse mesh 

 sieve sewed in one end of the sack, com- 

 posed entirel.v of wire, the bottom of the 

 sack being tied with a drawstring and 

 securely fastened. The use of this is 

 quickly seen when the men get to work, 

 for the beetles are found in clustered 

 masses, often as big as one's two fists, 

 under the leaves and pine needles on the 

 ground. Two men usually work together; 

 one man scoops them up and throws them 

 into the sieve, while the other man passes 

 them through, rejecting as much of the 

 vegetable and other debris as he can pos- 

 sibly get rid of. 



When the sieve-sack is full they are 



Fig. 10. A Single Shipment of Ladybirds. 

 The crate holds 33.000 individuals and con- 

 stitutes a colon.v for live acres of melons or 

 orchard infested with aphids (plant lice). 



transferred to ordinary flour sacks, se- 

 curely fastened at the end, and laid out 

 on the snow, later to be taken out via 

 the mule pack train to the railroad. 



Inasmuch as the colonies in December 

 and January are usually buried beneath 

 several feet of snow, it would not be pos- 



Fig. 11. The Ladybirds (HU'Poflamia rnn- 

 vergens) are Measured in a Chute-like grain. 

 The machine is operated with slides and 

 counts .'13.000 at each operation. They are 

 packed in excelsior. 



