THE AMERICAN APIGULTUBIST. 



135 



It lias long been known that 

 other mites attacked others of our 

 domestic animals, like the cow, the 

 horse, the sheep, etc. Other mites 

 attack sugar, flour and cheese. 

 Tlie little red spider — also a mite 

 — so thrives in a dry atmosphere 

 that house plants are often de- 

 stro^-ed by its blighting attacks. 

 I have known the tidy housewife 

 to be seriously annoyed by mites 

 which had come from birds that 

 had nested just above her window. 

 The little vital specks fairly 

 swarmed on the window panes. 

 Other mites take up their abodes 

 between the bases of the human 

 fingers, while others still smaller 

 inhabit the face pimples even of the 

 graceful belle. 



That insects are often preyed 

 upon and destroyed by mites is a 

 well known fact. Newport de- 

 scribed a mite which he found on 

 the larva of a wild bee ; but that 

 our honey bee is attacked and even 

 destroyed by these little living 

 particles is recent and most un- 

 welcome news. 



During the past spring a lady 

 beekeeper of Connecticut discov- 

 ered these mites in her hives while 

 investigating to learn the cause of 

 their rapid depletion. She had 

 noticed that the colonies were 

 greatly reduced in number of bees, 

 and upon close observation she 

 found that the diseased or failing 

 colonies were covered with these 

 mites. The strong and prosperous 

 colonies were exempt from the 

 annoyance. So small are these 

 little pests that a score could take 

 possession of a single bee, and not 

 l)e near neighbors either. Mrs. S. 

 feels certain that she found the 

 same kind of mites on the church 

 window of the town where she re- 

 sides. Upon request she sent me 

 some of tliese latter whicli were 

 lost in the mails. The lady states 

 that the bees roll and scratch in 

 their vain attempts to rid them- 



selves of these annoying stick- 

 tights ; and, finally, worried out, 

 either fall to the bottom of the hive 

 or go forth to die outside. 



Mites are not true insects, but 

 are the most degraded of spiders. 

 The sub-class Arachnida are at 

 once recognized by their eight legs. 

 The order of mites (Accarina) 

 which includes the wood tick, cat- 

 tle tick, etc., and mites, are quickly 

 told from the higher orders — true 

 spiders and scorpions — by their 

 rounded bodies, whicli appear like 

 mere sacks, with little appearance 

 of segmentation and their small, 

 obscure heads. The mites alone, 

 of all the Arachnida, pass through 

 a marked metamorphosis. Thus 

 the young mite has onl}^ six legs, 

 while the mature form has eight. 



The bee-mite is very small, 

 hardly more than five ram. (1-50 

 of an inch) long. The female is 

 slightly larger than the male, and 

 somewhat transparent. The color 

 is black, though the legs and more 

 transparent areas of the females 

 appear yellowish. As will be seen 



A New Bee Enemy (from life.) 



by the figure, which shows the 

 form and structure very accurately, 

 the anterior legs are the longest. 

 All the legs are five-jointed, slightly 

 hairy and each tipped with two 

 hooks or claws. Each of the mouth 

 organs is tipped with a tuft of fine 

 hairs. 



