808 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1.5. 



any too strong, if true? Now let the future 

 decide; and when it comes, don't forget the 

 past, I pray you. James Heddon. 



Dowagiac. Mich., .July 22. 



ENEMIES OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



KEAI) IN WASHINGTON BEFORE THE A. A. A. S. 

 CONCLUDED FROM LAST fSSUE. 



Another lepidopterous insect which I have 

 called the ioee bee-moth belongs to the same 

 family— Pyrrifido' — as does the old bee-moth 

 just referred to. This, however, is much small- 

 er. It is the Ephestia inter jninctella, Hiibn. 

 The larva feeds on the wax and pollen, and 

 overspreads the comb with its fine silken fabric. 

 It is a serious annoyance to the bees, and ruin- 

 ous to the comb honey. I hav6 this insect from 

 most of the Northern States, and from as far 

 south as South Carolina, where it is reported to 

 be a serious pest. Here, as before, the exposing 

 of combs doubtless invites attack. 



Among Coleoptera we do not find many ene- 

 mies of bees. The common flower-beetle, Teue- 

 brionelUs molitor, Linn., and the still more 

 common bacon-beetle, Derme-stcs Inrdarius. 

 Linn., oTten mutilate exposed comb in quest of 

 pollen or dead bees, on which they feed. These 

 can hardly be said to be enemies of bees, though 

 they may vex the bee-keeper. 



That the carabid beetles, from their chitinous 

 armor and well-known predatory habits, would 

 be especially likely to attack bees, we might 

 well expect; yet I have rarely known of any 

 such habit among the species of this immense 

 family of predaceous Coleoptera. I have dis- 

 covered one exception, which leads me to sus- 

 pect that more of the species may have a like 

 habit, or may acquire it at any time. The one 

 species is Pterosticus rotitndntus, Lee, which 

 attacks and kills bees in Virginia and Pennsyl- 

 vania. Secure in its chitinous armor this fine 

 beetle enters the hive, and captures and car- 

 ries out the bees upon which it feeds. It does 

 not seem to suffer In the least from the attacks 

 of the bees. It gives no indication of even be- 

 ing stung. 



From California, New York, and Nebraska I 

 have received one of the larval forms of some 

 melceid beetle taken on the bees in the hive. 

 In one case several of these were found on a 

 single bee. Dr. C. V. Riley gives us a very full 

 and interesting account of the hypermetamor- 

 phosis of these beetles. It is in the earliest 

 stages that this blister-beetle larva attacks the 

 bees. The larva at this time has a long abdo- 

 men, strong jaws, two anal stylets, and reminds 

 us strongly of a neuropterous larva. I am not 

 sure what species attacks bees. I think it may 

 be Meloeharhdrus, Lee, in California and Meloe 

 Angnsticollis, Say, in the East. 



Among the Heteropterous Hemiptera there are 

 two predaceous species which are wont to prey 

 upon bees. One of these, Euthyrhynchus 

 Floridanus, Linn., is found from Georgia to 

 Florida and thence to Texas. I have called 

 this the bee-stabber, as it stations itself at the 

 entrance of the hive, and stabs and sucks the 

 bees, one by one, till the latter are bloodless and 

 lifeless. This bug has a powerful four-jointed 

 beak, which fits it admirably for its fell work. 

 The insect is purplish or greenish blue, though 

 occasionally it is nearly black. There are 

 orange or fulvous spots on the scutellum, tho- 

 rax, and head, which vary not a little in num- 

 ber and extent. 



Another bug, PhymaUi erosa, Fabi'., often 

 called the stinging bug, froni its severe bite or 

 stab, is one of the most formidable of all the 

 bee-enemies. In structure and habits this bug 



is exceedingly interesting. It is its habit to lie 

 concealed among the flowers, especially the gol- 

 denrods. As its color is greenish yellow, it is very 

 inconspicuous among the flowers, and so is alike 

 hidden from its enemies and its victims^ and 

 thus thelatterruninto the very jawsof death, all 

 unaware of danger. The structure of this bug 

 is as interesting as are its habits. Its anterior 

 legs are strangely modified. The femur and tar- 

 sus are so hinged to the very small tibia that 

 they oppose each other as the blade does the 

 knife-handle as we shut our pocket-knives. 

 Both these parts are toothed. Thus the flowers 

 secr(>te a most formidable trap, which can 

 grasp and hold even the strong honey-bee. 

 With the bee thus entrapped, the bug has only 

 to insei't its very strong sharp three-jointed 

 beak, to suck bloodless and lifeless the luckless 

 bee. Thus thousands of bees lose their lives 

 each autumn through the rapacity of this 

 stinging phymata. 



The oi'der Orthoptera gives us a single spe- 

 cies that preys upon bees. It is the common 

 praying mantis, Mantis Carolina, Linn. This 

 ferocious insect — so ferocious that the female is 

 said to conclude the ceremonies of the honey- 

 moon by devouring her spouse— is found from 

 Southern Indiana to the gulf. Its peculiar 

 forelegs, so admirably adapted structurally to 

 grasp its prey, remind us of the stinging- 

 bug Phynutta erosa, Fabr.. though here the 

 femur opposes both the tibia and tarsus, all of 

 which are toothed. That this insect often sat- 

 isfies its apyjetite by devouring the honey-bee is 

 incontestibly proved; yet I do not think it a 

 very serious enemy. 



Among the Pscudo -neuroptera {odonnta) 

 some of the dragon-flies are great bee-enemies, 

 especially in the South, where they are known 

 as bee-hawks. Their savage rapacity is so se- 

 riously felt by the bee-keeper that not infre- 

 quently boys are hired to destroy them. They 

 are, indeed, hardly second to the Asilida\ or 

 robber-flies, as enemies of bees. It is the large 

 species, like Anax Junius, that are chiefly re- 

 sponsible for these depredations. 



Among the arachnoids, all the orders contain 

 species that prey upon bees. Not a few of the 

 true spiders are known to captui'e and feed 

 upon the honey-bee. Often the web is made 

 close beside the entrance to the hive, so as more 

 surely to entrap the unwary bee. I have also 

 known spiders to hide in flowers, like the sting- 

 ing phymata. and thus easily capture the un- 

 suspecting bee as it came for nectar. Many of 

 these spiders, like phymata. mimic the color of 

 the flowers so closely that their presence is not 

 detected till their venomed jaws grasp the luck- 

 less bee. 



The second order, the ArtJirogastrtt. also 

 gives us a bee-enemy in a species of Datames, 

 of the family S()}})iil{ild<r. I have several of 

 these from California. It is Datames Cal- 

 ifornicus, Simon. This enters the hive, where 

 it captures and eats the bees. I have received 

 this species from Central and Southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



Of the order Acarina. or mites, a small, dark, 

 nearly black species attack and often kill the 

 bees, or are the cause of their death, so that, 

 through its presence and work, the hive is 

 nearly depopulated. Like the dipterous bee- 

 louse," Braula ca-ra they attack and destroy the 

 queen as well as the woi'kers. I have known 

 these mites to do serious damage to bees in sev- 

 eral of the Northern States. 



Among the flowering plants there are sever- 

 al species of Asclepias, or milkweeds, that cap- 

 ture bees bv means of their sticky pollen masses. 

 I have thought these plants more friends than 

 foes. In Michigan they are excellent honey- 

 plants. In Grand Traverse Co., much fine hon- 



