Jan. 24; 1907 



American ^ee Journal j^ ^^ 



left the swarm where he hived it until 

 evening, and often found a dead queen 

 before it. 



An old way of keeping colonies from 

 robbing is one used by my father long 

 ago. One of his colonies was being 

 robbed by his neighbor's bees. He told 

 him to destroy some of the honey in the 

 brood-frames; that is, cause it to run 

 out. This prevented the robbing, and 

 saved my father's colony. 



Joining the National. 



My property here consists of 7 lots, 

 nearly 400 feet long. My bees are no 

 trouble to the neighbors, and I don't 

 expect to need help from the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, but I joined 

 it for the benefit of others, thus helping 

 to make it stronger. 



Reports for 1905 and 1906. 



In the spring of 1906 I brought my 

 36 colonies of bees out of the cellar, all 

 alive. One colony had a very poor 

 queen, which left me 35. I had only 6 

 first and one second swarm. There was 

 not so much clover as in 1905, as the 

 ice in the spring froze out most of it. 

 Nevertheless, I got 70 pounds of comb- 

 honey per colony, spring count. In 1905 

 I got 80 pounds per colony, spring 

 count, and so many swarms that I got 

 sick of hiving them and let many go. 



On Dec. i, 1906, I put 34 colonies 

 into the cellar. 



Wrightstown, Wis., Jan. 7. 



Some Bee-Enemies in New 

 England— Spiders, Etc. 



BY ALLEN L.\THAM. 



Much has appeared of late about ants 

 and their destructiveness to bee-pros- 

 perity, and we not infrequently read of 

 the actions of toads, kingbirds, etc., but 

 seldom have I ever read in our bee- 

 periodicals of the worst enemy which 

 our bees have in New England. 



Here in New England, except for an 

 occasional toad or "bee-martin," our 

 bees are little molested during the spring 

 and early summer. During those months 

 the colonies hold their own in num- 

 bers, and, though the work may be se- 

 vere, the full force keeps very constant 

 The reason for this is not difficult to 

 find, for most of the enemies of the 

 bee have lived through the preceding 

 winter in the egg form, or else in such 

 small numbers as adults to make small 

 showing. It is when the pests from the 

 eggs have begun to get their growth, 

 or the few adults have become mothers 

 of full-fledged offspring that our bees 

 in New England begin to suffer. 



Among these bee-enemies may be 

 mentioned robber-flies, dragon-flies, 

 various bugs, and spiders. 



The robber-flies and dragon-flies are 

 not a serious menace to bees in Nor- 

 wich, though there is no question ^at 

 many a honey-laden worker falls prey 

 to these insect-tigers. 



Among bugs, I know of two sorts that 

 delight over a meal of honey-bee. One 

 is vulgarly known as the "stink-bug" — 

 the well-known bug which frequents ripe 

 berries, and which affords a revelation 

 when taken into the mouth unseen on 



a luscious raspberry. This true bug, of 

 the genus Capsus, when mature, frequents 

 flowers, and with its powerful beak will 

 pierce the body of the honey-bee which 

 alights near it; and unless the bee is 

 vigorous the bug will suck out the vital 

 juices and leave the dry carcass. 



Another bug, of the genus Phymata, 

 is even more serious. This bug is of a 

 peculiar shape, suggestive of the black 

 squash-bug, but more irregular in out- 

 line, and it has a wonderfully developed 

 pair of anterior limbs. With these 

 powerful limbs this bug will seize and 

 hold its victim, even though the victim 

 be larger, and suck out its very life. 

 These bugs are very numerous on our 

 fall flowers, and earlier can be found 

 on the thistle blooms. 



On our thistles will also be found a 

 spider — so-called crab-spider, family 

 name Thomisidae — which pushes its 

 body into the blossoms and with its in- 

 conspicuous legs extended lies in wait for 

 its prey — a honey-bee. This spider of 

 numerous species is usually colored like 

 the blossom on which it rests. 



If this were the only spider which 

 preyed upon the bee we should have 

 occasion for joy, but it happens to be 

 only one of the many sorts which fatten 

 upon bees. Some of these I will briefly 

 mention, and state the amount of their 

 destructiveness. 



About the hive there are three kinds 

 to be found at almost any time of the 

 year. One is the ugly, slim-legged, 

 brown-bodied beast hanging in its ir- 

 regular web along with several (pos- 

 sibly) of its egg-cases. The spider is 

 one of the Theridiidae, the most nu- 

 merous of all spider families. This spid- 

 er is not serious, because its nest is usu- 

 ally in some out-of-the-way corner 

 where only inquisitive robber-bees are 

 likely to become entangled. 



But one of the Attidae unquestionably 

 kills many, many bees, and though I 

 have seen one consuming a bee-moth I 

 have little liking for the beast. This 

 jumping spider builds no web in which 

 to catch her prey, but stalks towards her 

 victim and when within a few inches 

 gives a deadly spring. I once saw a 

 bee spring for the spider at the same 

 instant that the spider sprang for the 

 bee ; at any rate, spider killed bee, and 

 bee killed spider. Bite and sting proved 

 equally fatal. The spider is black and 

 white, chunky of body, short of limbs, 

 and moves with quick, jerky motions. 

 Though I love it not, this spider com- 

 mands my respect, for it is a brave and 

 powerful little huntress. Respect her 

 though I do, I nevertheless crush every 

 one I find about the hives. 



The third spider which is common 

 about our hives is, or rather are, for 

 there are two or three species at least 

 which delight to live about the hives — 

 the common, long-legged, hairy spider 

 which builds a flat nest with a tubular 

 den. Doubtless these spiders are of the 

 family Agalenida;. The female, as is 

 generally true of spiders, is the rapac- 

 ious one, and the back of her den will 

 show the fragments of many a doomed 

 bee. Sometimes this spider will suc- 

 ceed in spinning her web in the very hive 

 and thus live entirely upon bees. As 

 it is harmful to bees only about the 

 hives it is a rather simple matter to 



overcome this enemy by tearing down 

 its web and keeping as few nooks and 

 crannies as possible about the hives, es- 

 pecially keeping down all weeds. 



During my 5 years of bee-keeping here 

 in Norwich I have wondered at the 

 great loss of field-force after the open- 

 ing of the fall flow. At first I laid it 

 to the fact that breeding had fallen off 

 during August, and that the bees were 

 simply dying of old age. I still think 

 this to be partly the cause, but only a 

 part, and a small part at that. My sus- 

 picions fell upon certain spiders two 

 years ago, and are no longer suspicions 

 but certainties. Two of the round-web 

 spiders, sometimes called geometrical 

 spiders, are beyond any doubt, in my 

 opinion, the cause of immense destruc- 

 tion to bee-life in this vicinity. 



Species of Epeiras, the typical genus 

 of the family Epeiridae, and Argiope, 

 the black and yellow spider so com- 

 mon about bushes in the fall of the 

 year, are the members of the innumer- 

 able spider-life which do untold harm 

 to the prosperity of the bee-hive. It 

 is hardly necessary to describe these 

 spiders, as doubtless they are already 

 recognized. The first, Epeira Vulgaris, 

 and her variously colored sisters, is a 

 huge-bodied, clumsy insect when fully 

 grown. Her round web is known to 

 every one. She stays at home in the 

 center of the web while young, but later 

 builds a den above at one side, by draw- 

 ing together two or three leaves and 

 binding the same with silk. Here she 

 stays till a victim gets entangled. 

 Down she runs to the center of the web 

 and by means of a telephone developed 

 by her ages before man devised his, 

 she determines where the victim is, and 

 rushes out upon the helpless fly, grass- 

 hopper, or bee. Shrouding the prey in 

 silk she cuts it loose from the web, 

 hangs it to one hind foot and "shins 

 up" to her nest to eat it at leisure. This 

 spider is either variously colored, or 

 else there are innumerable species all 

 alike except in color. It is difficult to 

 find two colored exactly alike. Beauties 

 as far as coloring is concerned, they 

 ever attract attention, 



Argiope is the long-bodied (abdomen 

 not round as in Epeira) black and yel- 

 low spider of the garden. While at rest 

 in her web she brings her legs together 

 into four pairs, two on a side, so that 

 to a near-sighted person she appears to 

 have but four legs. She is always to 

 be found in the center of her circular 

 web, often partly hidden by a peculiar 

 wavy ribbon of silk, which is run across 

 the middle of the web up and down. 

 This spider catches her prey just as 

 does the preceding, but leaves it shroud- 

 ed where it is caught till hunger calls 

 for it. Thus more than one victim will 

 be seen in the web at once. A favorite 

 locality with these spiders is a clump 

 of goldenrod. 



I firmly believe that these two spiders, 

 especially the last-described one, cause 

 the death of two-thirds of the field- 

 force of all the colonies about here dur- 

 ing the fall flow. 



One has only to walk through the 

 fields in mid-September and see what is 

 to be seen. I have noted no less than 

 25 of these circular webs about the 

 goldenrod on a plot of ground which 



