586 



CLEANUP GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



these wasps, however, is quite different from 

 that of bees. True, they gather nectar, and 

 frequently repair to the brookside where 

 they may slake their thirst; but the proteid 

 part of their food is not pollen, or bee- 

 bread, but consists of insects. In sooth, these 

 wasps are great friends. They are preda- 

 ceous, and often destroy great numbers of 

 our most harmful insects. I have seen the 

 larvae of the currant saw-fly destroyed in 

 great numbers by yellow-jackets in Michi- 

 gan. I have also noticed our California yel- 

 low-jackets very active in destroying cater- 

 pillars of the army-worm moth, Peridroma 

 saucia. 



I think the word hornet is the term often 

 applied to these vespids, or paper-making 

 wasps. Indeed, one large species, Vespa 

 maculata, is very common in Ohio, Michi- 

 gan, and other eastern States. As a boy I 

 knew this as the white-faced hornet. It 

 has a powerful sting, but is not likely to use 

 it unless provoked. These wasps help us to 

 rid the house of flies. 



In this connection it may be said that 

 nearly all insects of the great order Hymen- 

 optera (the order of the honey-bee) are our 

 good friends. As we know, bees do great 

 good in pollinating flowers. Even the wild 

 bees, many of them solitary, not social, aid 

 not a little in this good work. All the wasps 

 are good friends, as just explained of the 

 vespids. There are four great families of 

 hymenopterons that are almost wholly par- 

 asitic. Of these are the chalcid and ichneu- 

 mon flies. These are so tremendously our 

 friends that I really think agriculture would 

 be almost impossible without their valuable 

 aid. I think the ants may be said to be our 

 friends, though they are often annoying, 

 and in rare cases do no little harm. Gall- 

 flies, while they produce the oak-apples, re- 

 ally as a general thing do little harm, while 

 they give us an important element in indeli- 

 ble ink. Of course, the bees are the great- 

 est benefactors, as they hand over to us the 

 delicious honey and the valuable wax, while 

 their work as pollinators is great beyond 

 compare. This leaves the saw-flies as the 

 only family which may really be said to be 

 grievous pests. The joint-worms in wheat, 

 and the xylocopa bees, are black sheep of 

 their families. 



THE BLASTOPHAGA. 



I wonder if it is generally known what a 

 blessing we have in a little chalcid fly which 

 is brought all the way from Persia. It is a 

 very minute insect, and is oft^^n referred to 

 as the fig-wasp. As we all know, the Smyr- 

 na fig has rare excellence. While we have 

 just the right climate and soil for fig pro- 

 duction, we have until lately utterly failed 

 in producing the Smyrna figs. It was found 

 that in Smyrna these figs could not be pro- 

 duced without the little fly. and that these 

 flies bred only in another kind of fig, the 

 Capri fig. At the proper time, branches of 

 the Capri fig were hung in the Smyrna 

 trees. Through the kindly office of our 



splendid Department of Agriculture these 

 blastophaga were introduced into the fig- 

 orchards of our State, and to-day we are 

 producing Smyrna figs which are unexcelled 

 in amount of production and excellence of 

 quality. Here again, then, we have an ex- 

 ample where the importation of a tiny in- 

 sect has led to great economic results. 



/^ 



GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY. 



I can not say golden wedding, but it is 

 worthy of remark that this is the fiftieth 

 year since alfalfa was introduced into Cali- 

 fornia. As we all know, alfalfa is not only 

 a remarkable honey-plant, but as a forage- 

 plant it is absolutely incomparable. Who 

 knows of any other plant that produces six 

 or seven crops, possibly ten, a year, and 

 they, too, not light but bountiful? I think 

 it is possible, under the very best of circuni- 

 stances, to get well nigh twenty tons per 

 acre of alfalfa in a single season. Thus we 

 have, in this, more than the equal of red 

 clover, and for the bee-keeper it is far su- 

 perior. Like all the legumes, alfalfa en- 

 riches the ground, snatches nitrogen from 

 the air, and combines it, through the aid of 

 bacteria, that it may be utilized for the host 

 plant. It is thus a most valuable fertilizer. 

 By aid of the government-bred bacteria this 

 crop is now being grown in all the Eastern 

 States. While it can not be grown east as 

 in California, yet it bids fair to more than 

 rival red clover, even in the East. 



^e/e^bonSjle/df 



55 



A few drops of gasoline will remove pro- 

 polis from the hands. Kerosene is as good, 

 cutting all waxy substances instantly. 

 3r 



On page 355 I made mention of the Bal- 

 densperger family, the father of whom went 

 to Palestine many years ago and established 

 bee-keeping there on a scientific basis, al- 

 though his chief aim was mission work, 

 which he carried on for 44 years. Some 20 

 years ago one of this family. Ph. J., enliv- 

 ened these pages very often with articles 

 from his pen. So far as I can remember, 

 the silence has been broken but once, and 

 that to announce the drowning of a brother 

 in the Mediterranean, at Joppa; and now a 

 postal comes announcing the death of anoth- 

 er brother, C. H., in Jerusalem, Jan. 27. He 

 was buried on Mount Zion, the ancient city 

 of David, probably the most celebrated 

 piece of ground between the two poles of 

 the earth. Mr. Baldensperger says he has 

 one more brother in Jerusalem, named 

 Emile. Ph. J. himself now lives in Nice, 



