1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



723 



cakes as we often find it. Wax should never be melted 

 in hard water. Only soft water or steam should be 

 used for that purpose. 



When soft water is not at hand, about one to one and 

 a half teaspoonfuls of sulphuric acid may be added to 

 the hard water. This wiU cause the lime to settle to the 

 bottom. 



J0 



To destroy ants, a French bee-keeper says 

 it is not a good plan to put obnoxious sub- 

 stances on their hills, as that only drives 

 the insects to another place. Take a com- 

 mon flower-pot, holding, perhaps, half a 

 gallon. Plug the bottom, and smear the in- 

 side with any sweet substance that ants are 

 known to like. Invert the pot on the ant- 

 hill; when the ants have swarmed up the 

 sides of the pot, dip it in hot water. 



', ■ ■ ■:■• - -^ . 



MaficCmst 



WM^'Prqf A.J. Cook 



ORDERS OF INSECTS— CONCLUDED. 



In our last article we considered the gen- 

 eral characteristics of bees and their con- 

 geners, the wasps, ants, etc., and also gave 

 some interesting peculiarities of these high- 

 est of insects. As this is the order of our 

 pets of the hive, I will speak more in detail 

 of the various families of this order. 



HYMENOPTERA. 



The homtails are large wasp- like insects 

 with a sharp hard tail- like spine at the end 

 of the body, hence the name, "horntails." 

 This is really their ovipositor, a sort of au- 

 ger which they use to bore into wood when 

 about to deposit their eggs In this way 

 they deposit in the hardest maple. The lar- 

 vae are borers, and thus we have our boring 

 insects in three orders— beetles, three fami- 

 lies; moths, two families; and these horn- 

 tails. These are not numerous, and so do 

 much less harm than the others. One, Tre- 

 mex columha, is large, and sometimes it is 

 found with its auger so firmly in the wood 

 of shrub or tree that it is easily captured. 



THE SAW-FLIES. 



These insects are very interesting. They 

 possess one or two wondrous saws at the 

 tip of the body. These, like the sting of the 

 bee. are a modified ovipositor, and, like the 

 sting, have a marvelous nicety of finish. 

 The finest needle, of most perfect finish, 

 when magnified, shows great roughness and 

 imperfections; but not so these saws. They 

 are of polished smoothness, and exquisite in 

 form and finish. They are really saws, and 

 are used to cut a groove for the reception of 

 the eggs. The larvae of these are leaf- 

 eaters, and are to be numbered among our 

 worst insect pests. Some, like the dreaded 

 pear and cherry slug, have a viscid cover- 

 ing, hence the name, "slug." Of course, 

 the real slugs belong with the snails, and 



are not insects at all. These slugs have 

 from 18 to 22 legs, the number varying with 

 the species. No other larvae have so many 

 legs, so it is easy to identify the larvae of 

 this family. Caterpillars usually have f 16 

 legs, never more. Like caterpillars and 

 leaf- eating grubs (Coleoptera) these are de- 

 stroyed by use of the arsenites, Paris 

 green, etc. 



THE GALL-FLIES. 



I have already described these interesting 

 insects, which, as we have seen, are prin- 

 cipally injurious to the oak. 



THE PARASITES. 



I have also sufficiently described the co- 

 lossal benefit which we receive from the 

 four families of parasitic Hymenoptera. In 

 CaUfornia several very destructive scale in- 

 sects are wholly held in control by these 

 beneficent parasites. We have even done 

 most wisely in importing very valuable par- 

 asites from such far-off coimtries as South 

 Africa, and have thus received incalcuable 

 benefit. 



THE COW-KILLERS. 



In California and other warm parts of our 

 country we often see red or whitish hairy, 

 ant-like, wingless insects which are known 

 as cow-killers. Probably their very severe 

 sting gives the name. They nest and rear 

 their brood in earthen burrows. They are 

 usually banded with black. The males are 

 much like the females, except that they are 

 winged. They are predaceous, and often 

 kill bees, though they are too few to do se- 

 rious harm. I figure these in my "Bee- 

 keeper's Guide." 



THE ANTS. 



These are the brainy insects, and are in 

 the insect world what man is among verte- 

 brates. Their social habits remind us of 

 bees, and they are fond of honey. Their 

 development, anatomically, functionally, and 

 their wondrous habits, more than rival the 

 same in bees, though they can never com- 

 pete with bees in exhibits of any such in- 

 comparable fabric as the immaculate honey- 

 comb. Their slave-making habits, their 

 agricultural proclivities, and their marvelous 

 strength and industry, challenge our sincere 

 admiration. The one in Florida, that works 

 such havoc among bees, is illustrated in the 

 last edition of my book. We can keep them 

 from our houses by the use of strings dipped 

 in corrosive sublimate, and can kill them in 

 lawn or apiary by the use of bisulphide of 

 carbon. 



THE WASPS. 



There are many families of wasps, and 

 many are social like the bees. They are 

 predaceous, and, like the parasites, do us 

 great good. The paper-making wasps dis- 

 covered the art of making paper of wood 

 pulp long before man made the discovery. 

 Their paper nests are much like the comb 

 of bees, only they ar.e horizontal, not ver- 

 tical. Many of the solitary species nest in 

 earthern burrows, in hollow plants, in mud 

 cells. Like bees, the male wasps illustrate 

 parthenogenesis, or agamic reproduction. 



