1884 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



439 



upon the leaves. If such nectai* is pleasant to the 

 taste, as Mr. Terrell avers. I should have no fear 

 of the bees collecting: it. 



From the middle to the last of June, the egg-s be- 

 gin to hatch, though hatching is not completed for 

 some weeks after it begins, so we may expect young 

 lice to hatch out from late in June till August. 



The young lice are yellow, half as broad as long, 

 tapering slightly toward the posterior. The seven 

 abdominal segments appear very distinctly. The 

 legs and antenna are seen from the other side. As 

 in the young of all such bark lice, the beak, or suck- 

 ing-tube, is long and thread-like, and is bent under 

 the body till the young louse is ready to settle down 

 to earnest work as a sapper. Two hair-like append- 

 ages, or setiB, terminate the body, which soon dis- 

 appear. 



The young, newly born louse, wanders two or 

 three days, then inserts its beak into the leaves 

 where it first locates. It prefers the middle under 

 side of the leaf. In autumn the much-enlarged 

 louse withdraws from the leaves and attaches to the 

 under side of the twigs and branches, while on the 

 leaves they sometimes, though rarely, withdraw 

 their beak, and change their position. In winter, 

 the young lice remain dormant; but with the 

 warmth of spring, as the sap begins to circulate, 

 the lice begin to suck and grow. The increase of 

 size as the eggs begin to develop is very rapid. Now 

 the drops of nectar begin to fall, so that leaves and 

 sidewalks underneath become sweet and sticky. In 

 the last Ohio Farmer, Mr. Singleton states that 

 leaves of the maple do secrete honey-dew. It is on 

 the leaves, and there are no aphides or plant-lice. 

 Mr. Singleton's honey-dew is, without doubt, this 

 same nectar from bark-lice. Had Mr. S. looked on 

 the under side of the branches, instead of on the 

 leaves, he would have found, not aphides, to be sure, 

 but bark-lice. 



If these spring lice are examined closely v/ith a 

 low magnifying power, a marginal row of hairs will 

 be seen. 



MALES. 



Some few of the scales in late July will be noticed 

 to be dimmer, lighter in color, and somewhat more 

 conve.x: above. In these the seta? do not disappear, 

 but may be seen projecting from the posterior end 

 of the scale. In August, the mature males appear. 

 These have the scales, have two wings, and are very 

 active. Although the females are to continue to 

 grow till the next June, coition now takes place. 

 The males are seen for two or three weeks, though 

 probably each individual does not live as many days. 

 It is quite probable that, as in case of production 

 of drone-bees and aphides, the males of these scale- 

 lice are not absolutely necessary to reproduction. 

 We know they are not in some species. 



UEjMEDIES. 



By use of a long-handled broom dipped in strong 

 iye or soapsuds, the thickly gathered lice could 

 be readily removed on the lower side of the branches 

 at any time in the spring. This would kill the lice, 

 and prevent egg-laying, or destroy the eggs already 

 laid. The earlier this is done in the spring the bet- 

 ter. The position of the lice on the under side of 

 the branches makes this more practicable, if not 

 the only practicable remedy at this season. On a 

 few trees, or on small trees, this is no serious task. 

 If this is neglected, or is thought to bo too great a 

 task, the trees may be syringed ii> early July, just 

 when tl)0 young lice are mogt suf3cci>tiblp, with the 



following: One quart soft soap, ten quarts watei", 

 and one quart kerosene oil; stir all well together. 

 This can be thrown on with a fountain pump. As 

 the lice are mostly on the lower side of the leaves, 

 it should be thrown from below upward. This also 

 applies to other species of bark-lice, which are also 

 vei-y common this season. The basswood, the tulip 

 (see my Manual, p. 240), the elm, the hickory, the 

 blue-ash, etc., are all sutferingfrom bark-lice, much 

 like the above, except that the cottony substance 

 is wanting. It is a comforting truth, that all these 

 species are often destroyed by their enemies before 

 they entirely kill our trees, though they often do 

 groat harm. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., June IT, 1884. 



Friend Cook, we are very much obliged in- 

 deed for the light you give on the subject. 

 AVliile reading your remarks it struck me 

 that these insects are not very much differ- 

 ent from those mentioned last fall, which 

 we found principally on beech-trees, the 

 only difference being that the beech-bark 

 louse has that downy or cottony matter in 

 such excess as to " form plumes. Tliese 

 plumes, wlien the insects are disturbed, are 

 waved in the air in concert, in such a way 

 as to form a very singular appearance indeed. 

 I luive never noticed any of these, except 

 rather late in the fall. As you mention that 

 this cottony matter is not always present, 

 may it not "be the same insect at a different 

 season, or under different phases? On an- 

 otlier page will be found some remarks in 

 regard to tlie quality of tlie honey. 



MOKE ABOUT ITALIANS ON RED 

 CLOVER. 



HAVE read several articles in Gleanings, on 

 f the above subject, which seem to indicate that 

 I Italians do not work on red clover; but I know 

 they do vrork on it. I have seen them at various 

 times, when passing red-clover fields. A shoyt 

 time ago, when in a field where red clover bloomed 

 abundantly, I saw hundreds of pure Italians, while 

 but one black was seen, and that ona was on com- 

 mon sorrel, gathering pollen. This plainly shows to 

 me that Italians will gather honey from red clovci' 

 when white clover is in bloom. Another proof: 

 When extracting to-day from a colony of pure Ital- 

 ians, I found that the honey was very v/hite, and of 

 a superior quality. It had a flavor that I never de- 

 tected in white-clover honey. It also tasted very 

 much like bumble-bee honey, which shows plainly 

 that it was gathered from red clover. I next ex- 

 tracted from a colony of hybrids, the honey being 

 dark, and more unpleasant to the palate than the 

 red-f lexer honey. If Italians do not work on red 

 clover, where did they get whiter honey than the 

 hybrids? Why was it superior in (juality? In an- 

 swer to Mr. Smith, I will say that it is unjust and 

 unkind to say it is deceptive to induce people to 

 buy Italians with the expectation of getting surplus 

 j honey from red clovei-. H. W. Simon. 



Youu'istown, Ohio, .luiir 2S, 1S84. 



1 It is (piite likely, friend S., that Italians 

 ' Avork Oil red clover more in some localties 

 thai) in others. When Mr. L;uigstroth lirst 

 advertised Italians as working on red clover, 

 as nnich as twenty years ago, some of us 

 were incredidous ; but 1 supi)os<'d the matter 

 had ])cvu pretty well settled some time ago. 



