696 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



young man was directed to sleep under an oak- verance he will soon have a ranch of his own, 

 tree. A farm hand is expected to furnish his and can tell new arrivals how he grew up with 

 own blanket, and he is easily distinguished as the country. 



he migrates from one ranch to another, for he 

 carries his (bed) blankets in a large roll strap- 



FAltM llAXI) WITH HIS HLA.VKKTS (BED) OX 

 HIS BACK. 



ped to his back. There are several advatitages 

 in this way of living — plenty of pure air. ab- 

 sence of bedbugs, but mien may frisk around 

 the nose and try to curl the mustache. The 

 morning toilet is necessarily simple, for many 





PLANTED, READY TO GROW UP WITH THE 

 COUNTRY. 



sleep with their boots on: hence the expression, 

 eminently Californian, '• Died with his boots 

 on!" If he is a young man of grit and perse- 



This great country of ours is getting quite 

 thoroughly equalized in respect to wages and 

 cost of living: and one point in particular the 

 young rancher must consider, and ihat is, that 

 Horace Greeley's advice, '■ go west, young man," 

 does not apply to people here, for the great 

 Pacific is a barrier to the tide of emigration, 

 and hundreds come here only to return to the 

 East again. The latter are mostly transients, 

 for, after a year's sojourn, people seldom desire 

 to leave this country. 



The above facts in relation to ranch work 

 were collected for the benefit of several cor- 

 respondents who have written for the informa- 

 tion. As to what kind of men are wanted on 

 bee-ranches will be considered at another time 

 by the Rambler. 



THE CECROPIA SILK-MOTH. 



SOME DELUSIONS DISPELLED. 



Mr. William H. Allen has sent me this large 

 handsome larva, or caterpillar — most people 

 would say worm — for identification and descrip- 

 tion. He thinks them rare, as he has not seen 

 one before for eight years. He adds that his 

 hired man says they are poisonous (.^ic). as one 

 once fell on his hand, and in half an hour it 

 was swollen to twice its normal size. He thinks 

 it feeds on maple, as he can find no other foliage 

 that it will eat. 



This is one of our largest, most common, and 

 most attractive silk-moths. The caterpillar, 

 except for the unfortunate prejudice which is 

 bred into people, would be considered beautiful. 

 It is as large as one's thumb, and nearly as long 

 as the index finger. It is dark green "in color, 

 and has two rows of tubercles along its back. 

 The six of these nearest the head are amber- 

 coloi'ed, decked with black spines, while the 

 others are light yellow, with fewer black points. 

 Ou the tenth ring — all insects are made up of 

 rings, or joints — there is but one of these tuber- 

 cles which is larger than the other yellow ones. 

 The four hinder tubercles are blue. On each 

 side are two rows of bluish tubercles. The six 

 true, jointed legs, near the head, and the ten 

 large pro. or prop, or large fleshy legs on the 

 other end of the body, are dark green. These 

 insects feed on apple, basssvood, maple, and 

 many other kinds of foliage. As apple leaves 

 are preferred, we may well cUl this insect the 

 apple silk-moth. Its scientific name is PJoty- 

 samia cecropia, hence the name I place at the 

 head of this article. Mr. Allen says he has not 

 seen one for six years. The green color so re- 

 sembles the leaves that he does not see them. 

 My students, or the little boys here on the col- 

 lege campus, would find a score in less than a 

 week were they living with Mr. Allen, ytill. 

 these are not very common, because of parasit- 

 ic enemies which feed on them. Much as they 

 resemble the leaves on which they feed, yet 

 they can not evade the sharp-eyed parasites, 

 and so are often preyed upon and destroyed. 

 The statement that they are poisonous is all a 

 mistake. Myself, my students, and even my 

 girl when she was not more than four years old, 

 handled these beautiful larvie as fearlessly and 

 as safely as if they were pet kittens. They 

 never yet poisoned anyone. These larvie spin 

 large, loose, dirty-white silken cocoons in the 

 trees, in which they spend the winter as pupie. 

 These are easily found in the leafless apple-ti'ees 

 in winter: and, if gathered and put into a box 

 in our rooms, we shall rear the large brown 

 showy moths the next May or June. The moths 



