IS'.fJ 



(JLKANINCS IN HEE CULTURE. 



()17 



The tliiid oiu' is ;i lon« slim green prasshon- 

 ptT. with spcarlikf lionis. or anteniiu'. Tno 

 iiamt' is Mrmps U'l/iu/inir/c/ix/.s-. It is rcniarlc- 

 al)le for its slim form, pointtni front, and heavy 

 spearlike lioriis. The two last feed on plants. 

 I should liki' several nun-e of all of these. 



I..\l)V-mi{l> liKKTI.KS. 



These beautifnl ronnded beetles are known, 

 admired, and not dreaded and abhorred, by 

 nearly every one. The efZfjs are laid on the 

 leaves of plants that are infested with plant- 

 lice or some other insects. The elongated sjji- 

 noiis or liairy larv;e are active, and so soberly 

 garbed that th<>y are rarely seen except when 

 we shake the branches of trees and plants over 

 a sheet or nmbrrlla. when they fall and are dis- 

 covered. These larva> are onr good friends, as 

 ihey feed not alone on plant-lice, bnt on the 

 eggs of potato-beetles and other injnrions spe- 

 cies of insects. Last year the plnm-tifes in 

 many sections were terribly devastated by plant- 

 lice, and were saved from serious injury, and, 

 possibly, total destruction, by a host of these 

 lady-beetle larva^ that came to feast on the lice 

 and save the trees. The beetles are yellow or 

 red. dotted with black, or black dotted with 

 red. They are also our good friends, as Mr. J. 

 E. \Valk<'r says in d leanings, July 1. page .51.5. 

 They feed on the eggs of the potato-beetles. 

 They are ravenous feed- 

 ers: and as they devour 

 many kinds of our nox- 

 ious insects they do im- 

 mense good. They pu- 

 pate on the twigs, leaves, 

 or sometimes on the fruit 

 of the plum (.see Fig. 1) 

 and apple. I inclose fig- 

 ures of the beetle (Fig."J) 

 and pupa (Fig. 1) of the 

 species that did so much 

 to rid us of the plum 

 plantrlice last summer. It 

 is one of our largest spe- 

 cies. As will be .seen, both 

 the beetle and pui)a are 

 enlarged. The pupa re- 

 sembles both the larva 

 and the beetle. I have 

 seen these pupie so thick 

 on a twig that they re- 

 minded one of a cluster 

 of currants. This species 

 is "Aiuitis 15-fmnctfiUi,^'' 

 Oliv. Mr. Walker's interpretation of what he 

 saw was not correct. Th(! beetles lay their 



Fig. 1.— Pupa of Beetle. 



Flo. 2.— Ladybird B?:etlb. 



the best one that I can give. It certainly was 

 not brooding on its young, for that is not their 

 way of doing things. The beetles lay many 

 •■ggs. 



I>IfIMA I.A.\('KOI,.\TA .\S A HONKV-I'I.ANT. 



1 have receiv<'d a small inconspicuous flower 

 from Mr. V. II. I'etts. \Varsaw, Mo., which \w, 

 says is constantly crowded with bees. This 

 proves to be lAppUi ItinfcoJdUi. or fog-fruit. 

 It belongs to the same family as the blue and 

 white vervains— T"cr/<C7(// luisUifd and V. urtici- 

 folin. which 1 have long obs(irv(Hi to be among 

 our l)est honey-plants. I have no recollection 

 of ever hearing of this lippia as a honey-plant 

 till now; but as it is so closely related to our 

 verbenas we might expect it to possess virtue in 

 this direction. A. .1. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., July 16. 



[Many thanks, friend Cook, for giving us the 

 minutiie of the habits of the currant-worm. As 

 both you and friend Crane recommend the same 

 treatment, the difference is not material. You 

 speak of Paris green doing no harm when put 

 on so early; but, my dear friend Cook, the cur- 

 rant-worms are trying hard to make a stand 

 against us even now, when our fruit is dead 

 ripe. As the hellebore we get at the drugstore 

 is labeled '■ Poi-son," and an antidote is printed 

 on each label, I hesitated somewhat about dust- 

 ing the powder on the fruit when we were pick- 

 ing it; so I used pyrethrum, which seems to 

 answer equally well, if not better; and this, I 

 am told, is harmless, even if put right on the 

 fruit. My impression was. that friend Walker 

 was making a mistake; but as we have had 

 some potato-bugs that acted quite stubborn and 

 contrary when we tried to poison them, I con- 

 cluded it was best to let the statement go into 

 print, feeling sure that you or some other good 

 friend would straighten us out where we were 

 wrong. I am very glad to know that the addi- 

 tion of lime prevents Paris green from injuring 

 the foliage. I have for some time objected to 

 poison for potatoes on this account; and, by the 

 way. wher(^ our potatoes grew real rank and 

 strong, we have had but little trouble of late 

 years from the potato-beetle. During the past 

 spring, however, when the potatoes were so 

 saturated with wetness that their life was al- 

 most drowned out of them, the beetles seemed 

 to think it a fine opportunity to pitch in and eat 

 them up, and therefore we have resorted to poi- 

 son once tnore.] A. I. R. 



INTRODUCING ftUEENS. 



EVEN UOOLTTTLE BAFFLED. 



yellow eggs on the leaves or twigs, and never 

 care for them more. I presume the beetle was 

 accidentally near a larva, or, possibly, its own 

 pupa-case from which it had escaped. This 

 may not be the correct explanation; but it is 



It would seem that enough has already been 

 written on this subject; but after the experi- 

 ences of this season I am led to ask, " Is tnere 

 anv mode of safe introduction of queens?"' I 

 thought I had mastered the subject, and had 

 settled down contented in the thought that, in 

 the hatching-brood plan, the caged-bees nlan 

 as given in my book, and the large wire-cloth 

 cage, to stick into the combs over hatching 

 brood, allowing the (pieen to stay here with the 

 young bees till she had filled the cells under 

 this cage with eggs, we had something perfect, 

 or so nearly so that no one need lose any queen, 

 when, to my chagrin, I have to acknowledge 

 that I don't know how to introduce a queen 

 successfully every time. If this is to be said of 

 one who has been in the business of handling 

 queens almost constantly for fifteen years, is it 

 any wonder that the novice handles and tries 

 to introduce queens '• with fear and trembling " ? 



