1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



591 



your modol. The engraving is so complete that 

 a description is almost unnecessary. It has. no 

 ■doubt, advantages over some others that have 

 been illusti-ated. These section-formers are of 

 the greatest assistance, and are vastly better 

 and more rapid than the mallet or hanimei.] 



E. K. 



HONEY-DEW, AGAIN. 



luo 



AXl) BEETLES. 



Mr. S. E. Miller. Bluffton. Mo., sends me 

 leaves of walnut, hickory, and oak which are 

 thickly covered with plant-lice. He says these 

 latter secrete so much hon(>y-dew that the bees 

 till their hives in a w(>ek oi' ten days. He wishes 

 to know whether they will continue to secrete 

 the nectar, as he would like to make up in 

 quantity what this lacks in quality. ]Mi-. sill- 

 ier sends one louse with wings, and asks if this 

 is the mature louse. The plant-lice are very 

 thick this year. I find oni- bees are working oil 

 the same trees (hickory, walnut, and orik) that 

 Mr. Miller's bees are finding dripping with nec- 

 tar. From my correspondence I think thi'^ yeai". 

 1891, will be known as the "honey-dew" year. 

 The honey here, as yet. does not seem to lack 

 in quality. We have never had on our table 

 honey that pleased us more than some we have 

 just received from our ajnary. True, it is 

 mainly white clover, but not all. There is a 

 flavor about it that is suuerb. Of couise. I can 

 not say that tuat comes fi"om this aphis secre- 

 tion, but I think it must, as I can conceive of 

 no other source. 



The winged lice are no more mature than the 

 wingless, or apterous, ones. There an^ sevei-al 

 generations of plant-lice in a season, and they 

 increase so rapidly, and are so ruinously de- 

 structive to the plants on which they live, and 

 from which they suck, that, were thc^y not able 

 to migrat(\ they would soon destroy all vegeta- 

 tion on which they feed, and then die them- 

 selves. But their str'ange natural economy 

 prevents this total destruction of plant-lice and 

 their own suicide. Aft<>r a few generations 

 there comes a winged gent^-ation which flies to 

 pastures new, and thus their lives are preserved. 

 Sometimes they go to an entirely new plant, as 

 the plum-louse goes to the hop. and the grape- 

 root louse to the leaves. 



Mr. M. asks how long the lice will I'emaln. 

 This, no one can tell: for no one can tell of their 

 enemies. Sometimes parasites \\'ill destroy the 

 lice in a few days. Just now a little braconid 

 fly, Aphklius (intnaridphis, is destroying the 

 myriads of wheat-lice, so that the latter, despite 

 their rapid increase, will soon be almost exter- 

 minated. 



i\.s I have said before, bee-keepers should be 

 very watchful of their honey, and see that no 

 serious harm comes from it. If good and whole- 

 some, it is all right; if strong and rank, it 

 should be kept fi'om the sections or any good 

 honey that may be in the hive. 



THE BEE-STAKBER. 



Mr. Wm. C. Peterson, Canaveral, Fla.. sends 

 me a fine large bug of which he wishes to learn 

 more through Gi,eanixgs. Of it he writes: "I 

 caught it with a honey-bee on its long probos- 

 cis. The bee was dead, and Mr. Bug was walk- 

 ing off with it as demurely as you please. I 

 have seen one other with a bee which was cap- 

 tured while I was looking at it. The bug stabs 

 the bee. which causes almost instant death.'' 



This is in substance what Mr. P. writes about 

 this bee-killing bug. He speaks of it as a bee- 

 tle, which is a mistake, .\11 beetles have thick 

 wing-covers, called '"elytra."' which sheath the 



under wings. In bugs, only half of these upper 

 wings are thickened: heiice the name of the 

 bug order, Hemlpterd. Again, beetles have 

 strong jaws \\hich move sidewise, so a beetle 

 bites much as would a turtle, only the jaws do 

 not move up and down. On the other hand, a 

 bug has a beak, or proboscis, which is strong, 

 and used to suck. Thus a bug does not bite— it 

 stabs and sucks. 



This bug is described and illustrated in my 

 Bee-ke(>pers' Guide, p. 433. where I call it the 

 "bee-stabber.'" The scientific name isEtttlty- 

 rhtinchus Fl(irid<nu(s. I also illustrate the 

 strong four-jointed beak, which looks no more 

 cruel than it is. The bug is about half an inch 

 long, purplish or greenish blue in color, with 

 yellowish or reddish orange spots. I have had 

 this bug from South Caroliiui. Georgia, and 

 Florida. Tiie name indicates that it was first 

 discovered in Florida. It certainly does much 

 good in killing noxious insects: and I hardly 

 think it should be condeiuned for its attack on 

 an occasional luckless bee. 



I have a fine large black groitnd -beetle, re- 

 ceived from Mr. S. W. Taylor. Harveyville. Pa. 

 Mr. T. says he found this culprit actually en- 

 gaged in the act of carrying a live bee out of 

 the hive. He has courage at least. This be- 

 longs to the great family of ground-beetles, 

 Cnrahiil<r. Nearly all are black. They are 

 quick, have long legs, and so an- good runners: 

 and, when alaraied, seek to escape danger by 

 running rather than by flight. They live in 

 the ground, or under stones, logs, under bark of 

 old trees, etc. They are all predaceous. both in 

 the grub (or larval) and imago (or mature) 

 stages. Thus they do immense good in killing 

 cutworms, white grubs, etc., etc. This one rath- 

 er oversteps the bounds of genuine usefulness: 

 but from the generally good reputation of the 

 family, the courage of this one, and the fact 

 that even he doubtless did far more good than 

 harm, makes me slow to condemn him. I think 

 this is the first record we have of a carabid bee- 

 tle preying on the honey-bee. Who will dis- 

 cover and send on the next rarity? A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



-WHAT TO DO WITH WEAK COLONIES IN THE 

 SPRING. 



A SHORT CUT IN BITILDING THEM UP 



Perhaps my method of handling the swarm- 

 ing business will be of some use to some of the 

 readers of Gleanings whose bees will persist 

 in swarming, and who find their crop of honey 

 curtailed by the same. Unless the season is an 

 exceptionaf one it does not pay to build up weak 

 colonies in the spring, at the expense of the 

 stronger ones. Let them get what brood and 

 bees they can; and when swarming commences, 

 hive the first swarms in these, saving the 

 queens, which introduce into the colony from 

 which the swarm issued, next day. The three 

 or foui' combs of brood, supplemented by a cou- 

 ple of combs of foundation, will usually be very 

 acceptable to the swarm, and the work-bees 

 will be a valuable addition. Put on the sec- 

 tions, and your honey crop will be scarcely 

 diminished. Introduce the queen in 24 hours, 

 after removing all the cells and smoking bees 

 thoroughly, by turning her loose on the combs, 

 and this also will soon have a full working 

 force again. After all weak ones are treated in 

 this manner, hive the next swarm on the old 

 stand on half the brood-combs and the rest on 

 foundation, or empty combs. Put the brood 

 taken out where it will not chill, and hive the 

 next swarm that issues with this swarm, catch- 



