156 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



The lice are wont to congregate 

 on the under side of the branches, 

 and, as ni 3' little boy remarked, are 

 in columns as if ready to march. 

 It is not uncommon to find them 

 scattered about on the leaves and 

 green stems. Figures 1, 2, and 

 3, drawn by one of my students, 

 Mr. G. W. Park, show very accu- 

 ratel}"^ the form and markings of 

 these giant lice. 



As will be seen from the above 

 description, these lice agree closely 

 with Harris's Lachnus carym. It 

 seems more than likely tliat this is 

 the same species, which for some 

 reason has changed its food plant. 



REMEDIES. 



I found, two years ago, that 

 throwing strong lye by the use 

 of Whitman's Fountain pump, 

 upon the branches where the lice 

 were clustered, killed them speedi- 

 ly. A strong tobacco decoction is 

 also fatal to the lice. Tobacco 

 smoke puffed upon the lice by 

 means of a common bee-smoker 

 causes them to drop to the ground, 

 from which they seem unable to 

 rise. I am also trying carbolic 

 acid and kerosene oil with every 

 indication of success. To make 

 these compounds I use a quart of 

 soft soap, to which I add a gallon 

 of water. These are heated, to the 

 boiling point, then removed from 

 the fire, when I add a pint of kero- 

 sene or crude carbolic acid. These 

 are afterwards diluted by adding 

 from twenty-five to fifty parts of 

 water, as the tree will bear. If 

 too strong, the foliage will be in- 

 jured. I have used these mixtures 

 on plant lice of other species for 

 several years with gratifying suc- 

 cess. 



Fig. 1 shows the Avinged female, 

 fig. 2 gives a view of the apterous 

 louse, and fig. 3 a view of the 

 antennae. Rural Neio Yorker. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Chambers Journal for Septem- 

 ber 1st gives the following interest- 

 ing note : " A volume has just 

 been published by the Indian 

 government, on the subject of bee- 

 keeping in India, from which it 

 appears that, for some reason or 

 another, bee-hives are almost un- 

 known in that country. The 

 people over the greater part of the 

 land are content with the impure 

 honey afforded by the wild varieties 

 of bee, and make no effort what- 

 ever to improve the yield and 

 quality of the product by careful 

 cultivation. But Cashmere and 

 its neighborhood must be men- 

 tioned as an exception to the gen- 

 eral rule, for her bee-culture is 

 carried to great perfection, and the 

 simple way in which the hives are 

 contrived and the honey gathered 

 might even be imitated with ad- 

 vantage here at home. As each 

 house is built, spaces are left in 

 the walls of about 14 inches in 

 diameter and two feet deep — the 

 usual thickness of the walls. 

 Each of these cavities is lined with 

 a mixture of mortar, clay, and 

 chopped straw, and is closed at the 

 end with a flat tile, which can be 

 easily removed from the inside of 

 the house. This is done by tlie 

 householder when the time comes 

 for removing the hone}', the tile 

 being manipulated with one hand, 

 while the other is engaged in hold- 

 ing a wisp of smouldering straw, 

 whose smoke is blown through the 

 hive. The bees thereupon leave 

 their home until the operation is 

 over. The same colonies occup}^ 

 the same hives generation after 

 generation, and the honey obtained 

 is said to be equal to that produced 

 in any other part of the world." 



We have just received a fine 

 photograph of the Rev. L. L. Lang- 

 stroth taken while at Toronto, and 

 we take great pleasure in stating 



