1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



553 



THE INSECTS OF COMMERCE 



There are forms of life, insignificant as to the 

 outward appearance, whicli are not only indirectly 

 sernceable to mankind, but of great direct commer- 

 cial value, either in themselves or in their products, 

 to some of which we may refer with interest, as il- 

 lustrating the frequent connection of the beneficial 

 with the lowly in the scheme of creation. 



The honey Avhich the bee elaborates from the 

 nectar of flowers is in many countries an important 

 article of food, and the base of a vinous beverage, 

 though its value has much abated to ourselves since 

 the discovery of sug-ar. The wax which the insect 

 occasionally secretes is also an extensive demand 

 among civilized nations for various domestic pur- 1 

 poses, polishing furniture, and hghting up the sa- 

 loons of the great. | 



At Narbonne, the chief trade is in honey, which j 

 is said to be the finest in France, remarkable for its , 

 whiteness, and highly aromatic flavor. This pecu- 

 liar excellence is owing to the number of fragrant 

 plants in the neighborhood, and the variety in the 

 nourishment of the bees secured by the system of 

 management. From the gardens of the city, the i 

 hives are regularly carried to the surrounding mead- 

 ows, and afterwards conveyed 30 or 40 miles dis- 

 tant, as far as the Low Pyrenees. By this arrange- 

 ment, the cultivated vegetation, with that of the 

 meadows and the mountains, is put into requisition 

 to produce the honey of Narbonne. The tending 

 of bees is, perhaps, the oldest of all industrial oc- 

 cupations, after tilling the soil and keeping flocks 

 and herds. It is also one of the most stable as to 

 its locality. Milton speaks of the 



"Flowery hill Hymettus, with the sound 

 Of bees, industiious murmuv." 



Hymettus, memorable from its connection with the 

 name of Plato, extends to the east and south of 

 Athens. From the summit, the ancient city was 

 seen in its glory near the base while beyond it, 

 westward, lay the Gulf of Salamis, the scene of the 

 naval triumph of the Greeks over Xerxes. At that 

 time the hill was a "flowery" one, and swarmed with 

 bees, from whose liives the best of the Attic honey 

 was obtained. The hill is now where it Avas, and as 

 it was when Themistocles fought the Persians, cov- 

 ered with wild thyme, giving emplojinent to those 

 humble laborers, who in uninterrupted succession, 

 have occupied the spot, from the most prosperous 

 days of Athens to the present hour. They are kept 

 in hives of willow or osier, ])lastered Avith clay or 

 loam within and without. ]''or u])ward of two thou- 

 sand years the Hymettian bees have been on rec- 

 ord, surviving the revolutions which have changed 

 the features and uprooted the population of Attica, 

 according to the poetical saying, 



"Their race remains immortal, ever stands 



Their house unmoved, and sires of sires are born.'' 



Ne.xt to these pleasant caterers for the healthy, 

 mention may be made of a class extensively used in 

 medicine. In former times, odd ideas prevailed re- 

 specting the medicinal value of insects, wliich if true, 

 would certainly diminish exi)enditure with the apoth- 

 ecary ; for lacly-l)irds have been recommended in 

 cases of measles, carwigsin nervous afl'ections, cock- 

 chafers for the bites of mad dogs, ticks for erysipe- 

 las, and woodifice as aperients. But, passing by 

 such vagaries, the Spanish fly, or bhster-beetle, 

 caniharis vesicatoria, is an insect of commerce in- 

 dispensable to allopathic matcrin vicdica. It is 



found sometimes in England, but this is a rare oc- 

 currence, though it ajjpeared in great numbers in 

 Essex, Suftblk, and tlie Isle of Wight, in the sum- 

 mer of 1837, frequenting ash trees, on the leaves of 

 which it feeds It is more common in France, 

 abundant in Spain and Italy, though, notwithstand- 

 ing the name, the greatest quantity is obtained from 

 Astrachan, in Russia. The Russian insects are con- 

 sidered superior to those from other quarters. — 

 When alive they exhale a pungent volatile principle. 

 Persons employed in collecting them have the face 

 and hands protected by coverings, from contact. 

 This is usually done mornhig and evening, when the 

 insects are somewhat torjjid, by shaking or beating 

 the boughs of the trees they infest with poles, and 

 receiving them on cloths spread upon the ground. 

 They are then killed by exposure to the vapor of 

 hot vinegar, dried in ovens, or on hurdles in the 

 sun, and packed for the market in casks and small 

 chests. Filly of tl;ie dried carcasses scarcely Aveigh 

 a drachm. The cantharis is about three-quarters of 

 an inch in length, of a light shining gi-een color, 

 Avith bluish-black legs and antennae. When touched 

 the insect feigns death. 



Aiter the luxurious and healing insects, we come 

 to a much more tiny and numerous class to which 

 the name of djers may be applied. Cochineal, used 

 to produce our bi'illiant scarlet, crimson and car- 

 mine dyes, is the dried carcase of an insect, coccus 

 cacti, found in Mexico, Georgia, South Carolina, 

 and some of the West India Islands, Avhere it lives 

 and proj)agates upon the cactus cochinillifera. The 

 plant produces a fruit, Avhich is also of a purple col- 

 or, and is supposed to contain the coloring matter. 

 The insect is of small size, seldom exceetling that of 

 a grain of barley, and Avas generally considered a 

 regetable substance for some time alter it began to 

 be imported into Europe. It is on record that a 

 ship being Avrccked in Carmarthen Ba}', of Avhich 

 cochineal formed a part of the cargo, the article was 

 turned into the sea as damaged grain, and the bags 

 alone preserved. In Mexico, the principal seat of 

 production, Avhere the insect is reared Avith care, 

 there are two varieties ; the best, or domesticated, 

 called gran a fina, or fine grain ; and the wild, 

 named grana sjjtvcstra. The former is nearly tAvice 

 as large as the latter, probably because the size has 

 been improved by the favorable efl'ects of human 

 cultui-e. The insects are detached from the plants 

 on Avhich they feed by blunt knives, and killed by 

 being dipped in boiling Avater, then dried in the 

 sun, and placed in bags for exportation. In 1851, 

 our imports included 22,451 CAvts. of cochineal, 

 someAvhat more than half of Avhich quantity Avas re- 

 tained for home consumption. As each pound is 

 supposed to contain 70,000 insects, the enormous 

 annual sacrifice of insect life to supply the markets 

 of the Avorld may be readily imagined. The insect 

 has been introduced into Spain, Alalia, Algeria, JaA'a, 

 and India, but the valuable article of commerce is 

 still the produce of Mexico. 



Kermes-grains, another dye-stuft", consists like- 

 wise of the dried bodies of an insect belonging to 

 the old Avorld, coccus ilicis, of kindred sj)ecies to 

 the true Mexican cochineal. It is found upon a 

 small kind of oak Avhich grows aijundantly in the 

 south of I'urope." The tree clothes the declivities 

 of the Sierra Morena, in Spain ; and many of the 

 inhabitants of the province of Murcia have no other 

 mode of obtaining a livelihood tiian by g;ithering 

 its animal tenants. There are several other species, 



