AUGUST 15, 1916 



The pretty little fellows, with white breast, 

 gray back, and red or purple under the gray 

 top-knot — such are very numerous around 

 here, and pick up a lot of my nice bees. 

 Shooting is too slow, and rather expensive. 

 If it can be established that they take only 

 drones, I won't mind, as I have plenty of 

 drones and to spare. I find the craw choek- 

 ful of bees, but have not been able to deter- 

 mine whether they are drones or worker 

 bees. 



When I had read this I stopped and 

 scratched my head; then I did it some more, 

 r had had experience with almost every- 

 diing' that flies about the apiary; but this 

 was more avicultural than apieultnral — 

 more biological than beeological. Tho the 

 pretty bee-martins are housed by my neigh- 

 bors, and fly often about our home place, I 

 liad, personally, never seen them haunting 

 the beeyard, nor had they ever impressed 

 me as enemies of the bees. In fact, I had 

 always had a lingering impression some- 

 where in the back of my head, from my 

 boyhood days, that they were really friends, 

 not enemies. However, not wishing to haz- 

 ard a guess I wrote at once to Washington, 

 and also to the State Department at Harris- 

 burg, Pa. The replies that came promptly 

 were so illuminating that it seems most 

 pertinent to the time and place and circum- 

 stances to quote them at some length. 



Professor Surface, Economic Zoologist of 

 Pennsylvania, and well known to all bee- 

 men, liimself an apiarist of considerable 

 note, and a careful and accurate scientist, 

 says that the bee-martins are kingbirds that 

 are flycatchers. Examination of hundreds 

 of stomachs of these birds has shown that 

 they but rarely eat worker bees; that they 

 eat more drones than workers ; that out of 

 hundreds of stomachs examined, only four 

 or five were found that actually contained 

 the remains of worker bees. He adds that 

 they do feed altogether on insect food, 

 among which are some of the worst pests of 

 tlie cultivated plants and trees, and even 

 eat larger insects like robber flies, the latter 

 being enemies of the bees. As the robber 

 flies eat honeybees (including workers and 

 queens), the martins perform a real .service 

 to bpemen. 



We also wrote to Dr. Phillips, of Wash- 

 ington, who referred our letter to the Bu- 

 I'eau of Biological Survey ; and the chief of 

 that department, Mr. H. W. Henshaw, re- 

 plied most fully and courteously as follows : 



We have examined 665 stomachs of the 

 common kingbird (bee-martin). Honeybees 

 were found in 22; the total number of bees 

 was 61, of which 51 were drones. The above 

 percentage of drones is so large that we 



717 



think the harm done by eating the compar- 

 atively small number of workers is fully 

 compensated by their destruction of the 

 drones, most of which are superfluous. It 

 is believed, therefore, that the destruction of 

 tlie kingbird, on account of its bee-eating 

 propensities would be a mistake, unless pos- 

 sibly an occasional individual should develop 

 an abnormal appetite for bees. In such 

 cases shooting would be the only remedy. 



In addition to its other useful habits it 

 should not be forgotten that the kingbird 

 has a strong animosity against crows and 

 hawks, and never hesitates to drive them 

 from any locality it considers its own. This 

 habit is well known, and the kingbird (mar- 

 tin) is, therefore, an asset on the farm it 

 inhabits. 



The above reply is so enlightening, so 

 full, accurate, and detailed, that it leaves 

 nothing to be said. Note that the figures 

 show, in other words, that, say, 661 martins 

 (which would be more than any one locality 

 would be likely to have), would consume, 

 all told, but ten worker bees at a single 

 feeding-period; that is, 66 martins would 

 consume but one worker on an average, at 

 one feeding-period. Even if we were to 

 assume that the martins fed ten times a day 

 on bees, the G6 birds •would eat but ten 

 workers a day ; and 66 martins would make 

 a pretty good-sized aviary of these birds 

 for any premises. The added information, 

 that they eat robber-flies, is very hopeful. 



Some time ago we asked whether the 

 LTnited States authorities could not give us 

 some methods for destrojdng the robber and 

 dragon flies. May not a way out lie along 

 the lines here suggested? Four or five years 

 ago our own apiary was badly pestered by 

 the dragon-flies, or mosquito-hawks. So 

 bad were they usually that queen-rearing 

 operations were sadly hindered, often al- 

 most prevented altogether. About two out 

 of every three mating virgins would be de- 

 stroyed. About that time our neighbor, 

 who loves birds and trees and flowers, set 

 up many martin-houses on his place. These 

 pretty little feathered friends are flying in 

 ever-increasing numbers about our yard, tho 

 not particularly near the bees. For the past 

 three years we have had very little trouble 

 with the robber-flies. We wonder if the two 

 facts are coincidental and consequential, or 

 merely accidental. We shall be interested 

 in making more careful observations, and 

 wish that our Florida friends especially 

 (for the inquiry came first from Florida) 

 would watch and note likewise. The crow 

 and hawk chasing propensities may be of 

 special interest to the combined apiarist and 

 poultryman. 



