528 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



FLORIDA FLESH-EATING ANTS. 



In reading on pages 432 and 433, June 1st 

 issue, about ants, it occurs to me that probably 

 you are not acquainted with our Florida ants. 

 We have several kinds that are flesh-eating, 

 and care but very little if any thing for sweets. 

 The ants that destroy bees here are very large, 

 and appear to prepare for battle as much as an 

 army of men. They come in from the woods 

 like an army, and make a stand in an old 

 stump ; or if they can not find a better place 

 they take the A. I. Root closed gable cover 

 for a stand. When they pitch battle they 

 fight by killing and being killed until one or 

 the other is extinct. A strong swarm of bees 

 will kill a pint of ants, and probably lose two 

 to three quarts of bees ; but two quarts of 

 these ants will conquer a large colony of bees 

 in one night. I have had them drive every 

 bee out of the hive, and find them cluslertd 

 on the ground in the morning, and then again 

 I have had them cut the wings of every bee in 

 the hive so they could not fly. These ants 

 will cross chalk, coal tar, or any thing I have 

 tried except boiling hot water. 



Vero, Fla., June 8. H. T. Gifford. 



[Bisulphide of carbon would kill these ants, 

 no matter if there were thousands of them in 

 a nest. Put about two ounces of the drug in 

 their stronghold, and if it does not make them 

 " lay down " and stay " down " I shall be sur- 

 prised. Try it. — Ed.] 



THREE SWARxVIING SEASONS IN THE YEAR. 



There are three swarming seasons here — 

 spring, summer, and fall — mostly in the 

 spring. Spring swarms sometimes come off 

 in March, but generally in April ; summer 

 swarms irregularly during June, July, and 

 August ; fall swarms, but not many, some- 

 times in November. In my experience, spring 

 and fall (or early and late) swarms invariably 

 cluster on the premises, if there is anything 

 suitable for them to alight on ; but summer 

 swarms frequently leave without clustering. 



Opelousas, La. J. W. Jackson. 



[You must have a good honey location to 

 have not less than three swarming seasons. 

 Most good localities afford only one swarm- 

 ing season in the year. — Ed.] 



WINTERING under DOVETAILEDHIVE COV- 

 ERS WITHOUT BEE-PASSAGEWAYS. 



Editor Root: — Since I began using your 

 Dovetailed hive I have found some fault with 

 the cover, on the ground that it did not fur- 

 nish adequate protection in cool weather. I 

 always supposed that it was best to have an 

 open bee space over the frames ; but the cover 

 did not admit of using a quilt and still pre- 

 serve one. But I think I have discovered that 

 the open bee-space is not necessary. This 



spring, when I placed the bees on the summer 

 stands, I protected all of them on top in one 

 way or another. In a good many cases I cut 

 pieces of carpet just to fit inside the hive over 

 the frames ; then, with the flat cover on, this 

 arrangement entirely did away with the bee- 

 space. I will remark, also, that my combs 

 are all built from full sheets of foundation, 

 and have no holes in them through which 

 bees can pass. It might, therefore, stem ad- 

 visable to have passageways over the frames. 

 But the result shows that all those colonies on 

 which the carpets were placed have built up 

 very rapidly, and are among the strongest of 

 my stock. This may be of interest to others 

 who are using the same hive, or, perhaps, they 

 all knew it before. 



Bees wintered well in this locality. White 

 clover looks well, so that we are expecting a 

 profitable season. Harry LaThrop. 



Browntown, Wis., May 28. 



[It has generally been set down in the text- 

 books, and recognized by prominent bee-keep- 

 ers, that to winter bees successfully one prime 

 essential is a passageway, either through the 

 combs or over the tops of them. It strikes 

 me that your experience is a little bit excep- 

 tional. I wish you would try it another year, 

 and s<^ii if the results are the same. — Ed.] 



A HONEY-EATING BEETLE ; ITS GENERAL 

 HABITS, ETC. 



Dear Mr. Root : — I was very glad to get the 

 communication from Mr. Mediseth, Ware, Ark. 

 It contained something new, and I am always 

 on the scent for new things in nature's glad 

 realm. Mr. M. writes as follows : " I send 

 you some bugs [they are beetles] which were 

 very bad on my bees last year. The bees can 

 do but little with them. I 'hink that the only 

 way they can kill them is to ball and smother 

 them to death. They often do this. This in- 

 sect eats both comb and honey." 



This beetle proves to be Euphoria sepulchra- 

 lis. It is a common species in the East. I 

 have never heard of this habit before. I know, 

 however, a very close relative that is very com- 

 mon in Michigan, and which has a habit that 

 makes it easy to see why tnis little sober garb- 

 ed beetle has taken to this new role, which 

 shows clearly that he has a sugar-tooth, and 

 that he appreciates one of the best sweets that 

 God has given to the world. I refer to a large 

 noisy beetle that often is mistaken for a bum- 

 ble-bee as he sweeps by. This is Euphoria 

 inda. It has the robust form of the family to 

 which it belongs, the May or June beetle fam- 

 ily. It is shorter than the common brown 

 May-beetle, and so looks even more full fed. 

 It is yellowish brown, and is an attractive- 

 looking beetle. The habit to which I refer is 

 that of entering the richest peaches and pears, 

 gouging out a place to enter, and fairly 

 smacking its jaws as it feeds on the luscious 

 pulp. This beetle often does no little damage, 

 as it bores into the best and ripest fruit of the 

 trees. I have known it to depredate on peach- 

 es, pears, and apples. One year I knew it to 

 tunnel out countless funnel-shaped holes in 



