474 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULT LT RE. 



.llJNS 



BEETLES. 



THE MAY, OR .JUNE BEETLE, AND THEIK NEAR RE- 

 LATIONS. 



f^ \V. C()STELL(>W, Wateiboro, Mfiine, sends me 

 If^ two heetles, which, as he says, " Come forth 



111 .lust before night or dark, and are as nu- 

 ^^ • nierous as Ijees in an apiary of thirty colo- 

 nies. Their hum is like that of a swarm of 

 bees— so much so that my little g'irl, noticing- it, 

 said, ' The bees are mad,' and called her little broth- 

 er away, that he might not be stung. Please tell 

 us about them in Gleanings." 



These beetles, were they twice as larg-c, and 

 brown instead of yellow, would be quite like the 

 common Mayor June beetle, which is so common 

 all over our country. Indeed, they belong to the 

 same genus. This is Laclmosterna tristU, and the 

 June beetle is L. fusca. The May beetle is very 

 destructive to g-rass, corn, etc., while in the grub 

 or larval state. This one may also do similar dam- 

 age, but I do 7iot think it has attracted attention by 

 such ravages. The May beetle has a similar habit 

 of swarming in trees just at nightfall. Both do 

 some mischief at such times by eating foliag:e. 

 This one {L. trialis) sometimes eats grape foliage. 

 These both belong to the same family as the terribly 

 destructive rose-chafer, which has the same habit 

 of swarming on foliage, and devouring it in such a 

 wholesale fashion as to make it one of our most 

 dreaded pests. Tt comes upon grapevines, rose- 

 bushes, peach-trees, etc., in such overwhelming 

 numbers as to do tremendous damage. It is well 

 that none other of this very numerous family of 

 insects has a like propensity. 



All of these beetles lay their eggs in the ground. 

 It is likely that all the grubs feed upon grass or 

 other plant roots. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., May 30, 1888. 



Friend Cook, that reminds me that, in 

 hoeing potatoes, our boys found quite a 

 number ot large round hugs. I suppose 

 they are beetles of some kind. Well, the 

 boys wanted to know if I wish them to stop 

 and kill these bugs. 1 told them I would 

 not kill any bug or worm until I had evi- 

 dence that it did harm. From what you 

 said, however, it just occurs to me that 

 these big bugs may be the parents of the 

 white grub that eats the corn and potatoes. 

 Can you tell me, from tliis brief description, 

 if I had better let the boys kill the bugs, or 

 shall I mail you one of the bugs first? 



IMBRICATED SNOUT WEEVIL. 



I wish to know, through your paper, what the 

 name of these bugs is. They are being blamed for 

 a good deal of damage that is being done to the 

 young corn. They are found right around the hill 

 under the surface; and when you find one of these 

 in a hill of corn it is completely ruined, being cut 

 off right under the surface of the ground, so it will 

 not sprout again. They seem to work at it the 

 worst just as it comes through the ground. 



Plainview, 111., May 14, 1888. John L. Cox. 



Prof. Cook replies as follows : 



The beetle sent by John L. Co.x, Plainview, 111., is 

 the imbricated snout-weevil— BpicfPrus imhricatim. 

 Say. Like all the weevils or snout-beetles it has a 

 long snout. The slim wheat-weevil and the plum- 

 curculio are other examples. Kiloy, in his M Mis- 

 Bouri Report, says that this weevil cuts off the 



twigs of apple, cherry, and gooseberry, and does no 

 little harm. It seems to be confined to the West- 

 ern States in its mischief-making. Prof. Comstock, 

 in Report of Commissioner of Agriculture, 1879, re- 

 ports this beetle as injurious to onions, radishes, 

 cabbages, beans, melons, cucumbers, squashes, 

 coin, and beets. It seems from the account of Mr. 

 Co.x that it is no longer confined to the country 

 west of the Mississippi, but also works in Illinois. 

 Prof. Comstock reports it as a serious pest in the 

 gardens of Tennessee. Mr. Co.x says it destroys the 

 corn, cutting it otf just under ground. 



This little beetle is covered by imbricated scales, 

 hence the specific name. It is three-tenths of an 

 inch long, and varies in color from gray to dusky 

 brown. There are white spots on its wing-covers. 



I see no way to fight this enemy except to catch 

 and kill. This seems tedious, but might pay well. 



A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., May 31, 1888. 



FARM V\rORK VS. BEE-KEEPING. 



MRS. CHADDOCK CONTROVERTED. 



fN page 349 I read an article from the pen of 

 Mrs. Chaddock, reviewing Question 41 of a 

 previous issue, and taking sides against the 

 majority of the answers as returned; and I 

 confess that I am astonished that so practi- 

 cal a person as Mrs. C. appears to be should decide 

 that bee-keeping is harder work than is farming. 



Mrs. C. asks, " How can anybody think bee-keep- 

 ing easier than farming?" Because the majority 

 of people not only f/n>i/f. but also frHotr, that it is. 

 " Holdiiig two leather straps " and pulling a team 

 "gee" and "haw "goes but a short way toward 

 making a living on a farm. Did Mrs. C. ever hold 

 the handles of a heavy bi-eaking-up plow in a rocky 

 field all day? or did she ever pick and load stones 

 upon as tone sled, and, after they were hauled where 

 thej' were needed, build those same large stones in- 

 to a wall? or build i-od after rod of a five-rail fence, 

 handling the heavy timber all day long? If she can 

 answer yes to all of these questions, and still per- 

 sist that she would rather do such work than han- 

 dle bees, then 1 should say that bee-keeping is not 

 her forte. 



"Holding two leather straps "is all right as to 

 cutting down and raking up the grass; but when 

 this grass has to be made into hay, and stowed 

 away in barns, and then fed to stock, and the stock 

 tended and cared for as it should be, there is more 

 work connected with the business than the mere 

 act of driving the team. 



If Mrs. C. should work for me, and load and un- 

 load as much manure in a day as I should e.xpect a 

 man to do, I think she would not find that " hauling 

 manure is as easy as any thing." 



I have not written this in any spirit of controver- 

 sy, but simply to give my views on the subject, as 1 

 understand it. I know what it is to work a farm, 

 and I also know what it is to handle bees; and my 

 opinion is just this: If you keep a large amount of 

 bees, and have no help, you may be just as busy as 

 any one on a farm ever is; but as to this work be- 

 ing as /(eain/, or as calculated to make a person as 

 sore O!' thoronghly " fagged out " as will holding a 

 heavy plow, picking stones, or making fence of 

 heavy stutt', I do deny; and I have done enough of 

 all this to kTirw what I am talking about. 

 Smyrna, Me., May 7, 1888. R. E. Timoney. 



