1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



871 



TH^- SASSAFBAS CATERPILLAR. 



ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT SWALLOW-TAIT.ED BUT- 

 TERFLIES. 



T HAVE just received from David Sti-ang-, Lin- 

 1^ coin. Tennessee, four larvje, or caterpillars, of 

 W one of the most common butterflies of the 

 ■*■ United States— Papf./io troilus. He asks if this 

 is the same that feeds on parsnips, fennel, etc. 

 He says he reads with great interest the articles on 

 insects, and would be g-rateful if 1 would write of 

 this one for GLEANiNfiS. 



I am glad to write up this species, as I am sure I 

 can make it «peak out a good lesson, that I hope 

 may lead some parent to encourag-e the children to 

 observe and study these gems of the animal world. 



The sassafras butterfly is one of the swallow-tails. 

 These all belong to Ihe genus Papilio, and all have 

 long tail-like prolongations to the posterior or sec- 

 ondary wings. This one is large, though not quite 

 as large as the turnus, or yellow swallow-tail, lately 

 described in Gleanings. It is one of the blackest 

 —or, rather, it is blue-black or all of these. It is 

 not the one that feeds on parsnips, carrots, etc. 

 That one is about the same size in the butterfly 

 state, but has more yellow. It is Papilio asterias. 

 The troilus butterfly comes in June, and lays its 

 eggs on the sassafras. The caterpillars are gray at 

 first. They then cast their skin, or molt, when they 

 are green. After the last molt, or casting the skin, 

 when they become one and one-half inches long, 

 they are brown. Now, how interesting is all this, 

 and how it will delight any child to watch these 

 changes! It is as if a negro should go to bed some 

 night and wake up the next morning a white man, 

 and, two weeks later, should in like way change to 

 a copper color, and later to a yellow hue; though 

 these changes in molting of this and other caterpil- 

 lars are even more marked than would be the 

 changes from one human race to another. The 

 lesson I have to urge is, that parents encourage 

 their children to observe and study all these won- 

 derful processes and evolutions; they will be far 

 happier, and, I think, far more useful. My little 

 bo.v knows all our birds and many of our insects. 

 It is his delight to study them. He will never wor- 

 ry his father and mother by lounging in streets, or 

 stopping out late nights. He has found out some- 

 thing more pleasurable, and this fun builds up in- 

 stead of tearing down character. 



These caterpillars, like all those of the swallow- 

 tailed butterflies, are somewhat conical, being larg- 

 er at the head end. The green larvse, the ones usu- 

 ally seen, have yellow sides, and are pinkish brown 

 beneath; on the flrst ring back of the head is a yel- 

 lowish-white line; on the third ring, large dark vel- 

 vety eye - like spots, ringed with yellow; on the 

 fourth ring are similar yellow spots with a narrow 

 margin of black. Back of these are four rows of 

 blue spots ringed with black. There are four such 

 spots on each of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th seg- 

 ments. There are only two such spots on the 11th 

 segment. The spiracles are situated on the brown- 

 ish area beneath, 'and are also tinged with blue. 

 These insects pupate on some vertical sui'face. Any 

 child would watch the pupation with delight. Thus 

 the insects pass the winter as pupas. 



The butterfly whichCoraes in June and July ig 

 black, with broad bluish markings. Though not 

 quite so handsome as either turnus or asterias, yet 

 this troilus is a beautiful butterfly. 



We have two other papilios in Michigan— P. ajax, 

 which works on the buckeye, and P. chresphontes 

 which feeds on the prickly ash. All are strikingly 

 beautiful, and add much to any collection of in- 

 sects. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



THE POETRY OF BEE-KEEPING. 



DEACON SMITH'S VIEWS, REPORTED BY EUGENE 

 SECOR. 



aEACON S. is a good deal of a wag. He loves a 

 joke about as well as some of the younger 

 sinners. But he is a philosopher withal. His 

 grammar is not always faultless, but he has 

 mastered some of the practical problems in 

 the school of experience, and reasoned out a few 

 of the homely truths by the logic of events. He is 

 a man of hard knocks and hard sense. Deacon S. is 

 interested in bee-keeping. He has been borrowing 

 my bee-journals for a year, " because," said he, "I 

 make it a rule never to buy any thing lean bor- 

 row." Another favorite saying of his is, " What's 

 the use of having friends if you don't use themV" 



Deacon S. bi-ought home some of my journals the 

 other evening. By the way, that is a violation of 

 one of his rules, "for," says he, "it's trouble 

 enough to go after a thing without having to carry 

 it home." On this occasion, however, he excused 

 that breach of neighborly courtesy by saying, with 

 a twinkle in his eye, " I like those apples of yours 

 pretty well; and as the evenings are getting long, 

 and the time before election short, I just thought 

 I'd hook on to Mirandy, and come over here and 

 talk politics and bees. 



" And now while I think about it I want to air my 

 mind on the poetry of bee-keeping. If some of 

 these fellers that's writin' poetry on the bees 

 would come and help me take off my honey, and 

 get the bees ready for winter in the latter end of 

 September, 1 reckon they'd sing a different tune 

 before they they got through a hundred stands. 



" I'd like to see some sweet bee-keepin' poet go 

 through a hybrid swarm the second day after a 

 hard frost, when the buckwheat had been killed as 

 dead as a mack'rel, and the poetical goldenrod had 

 ceased to give down. If he didn't hibernate in the 

 bosom of his family in about ten short minutes, 

 then I'd have some faith in this poetry business. 



" My opinion is, that these fellows that write on 

 the sunshiny side of bee-keepin' don't know much 

 about it any way. These rosy-posy articles put me 

 in mind of a patent-medicine advertisement that 

 will cure every ailment from a bald head to a 

 cramp in the big toe. 



" It's good for the rich, likewise the poor; 

 It's good for the maid without lover; 



It's good for the lawyer, or clerk in a store; 

 In fact, good for all the world over. 



" You fellers that have just a few stands, and are 

 so delighted with the healthfulness and poetry of 

 bee-keepin' (while you hold down a chair in some 

 law office and let your children do the hard work) 

 put me in mind of a hen with one chickeq.":Sl}e 

 feels j ust as important as if she was a double-decked 

 patent incubator, and makes more noise than if she 

 scratched for a hundred. If we could understand 

 her cackle, I expect she is singing about the flowery 

 delights of the chicken-business. I believe you just 

 want to see your names in print, that's all. You 



