1872 The Westerti Pomologist and Gardener. IBS 



&lom0l00ical. 



Grape Vino Injects— What are They? 



Entomological Ed. P. & G. — I enclose you a few sample insects, collected by Rev. F. 

 M. Dimmick, pastor of the Central Presbyterian church of this city, from his grape vines. 

 Probably you can give these little destructive pests their appropriate names and the means 

 of prevention. — Jeremiah Beum, Omaha, Neb. 



Remarks. — In our first report as chairman of the Committee on Entomology, to the 

 Iowa State Horticultural Society, 1871, we gave the natural history of the Grape Vine 

 Flea-Bertle, (Haltica Chalybea, of lUiger,) and also in the March number, 1871, Volume 

 two, of the Western Pomologist, wc again published a description of this beautiful, 

 though pestiferous, little steel-blue Beetle, as it is sometimes incorrectly named. Early in 

 the season it feeds upon the buds of the grapevine ; is a very nice workman, as it scoops 

 the buds out as neat as a carver could do the work with a sharp gouge. Such was 

 undoubtedly the kind of work those sent by you were doing for your friend w^hen cap- 

 tured. Later iu the season they will attack the leaves of the vine, and eat holes in them. 

 So also will their young the last of May and the first of June. The larvae, a brown worm, 

 if numerous, will cut the leaves into mere shreds during the month's time they feed. 

 When full-grown they form egg-shaped cells beneath the surface of the earth, and pass 

 into pupso, from whence in a few weeks more come forth perfect beetles, and feed the 

 remainder of the warm season on the leaves of the Grape and Alder {Almis Cerulata). 

 Their feeding on the buds, before the leaves put out in the spring, is far more destructive 

 and much more to be dreaded, than leaf eating in the fall. 



The Beetle, which hibernates in cracks under the bark and in rubbish during winter, is 

 ^uring cold weather sluggish, and may then be destroyed by burning up the rubbish 

 about the vineyard. Whitewashing the stakes and vines would undoubtedly stop up 

 many cracks and be the means of destroying some, if not all. After warm days have come, 

 and the little fellows are active, these remedies would be worthless ; but much good can 

 be done by destroying their orange-colored clusters of eggs by crushing them, and the 

 larva; by dusting the vines when the dew is on, with fresh air slacked lime. Length of 

 perfect imago, .013 of an inch ; color, steel-blue, sometimes green and purple ; length of 

 larvae, .035 of an inch ; color, brown. 



Bee8.»Pecnllar management.— German Method. 



By a. L. Hatch, Ithaca, Wis. 



Ed. Pomologist akd Gardener : — I have a swarm of bees that I gave peculiar man- 

 agement last summer, on a plan of a German writer. About the last of June, and three 

 or four days previous to the blooming of basswood trees here, I examined the hive and 

 found the frames to be well filled with comb almost entirely occupied with brood. 

 Although a new swarm, the colony was a very strong one, having a very large number of 

 bees. The basswoods gave promise of an abundiflit bloom, and consequent large yield 

 of honey. I removed the queen from the hive, leaving them queenless until they could 

 rear another from the brood they had then, which they did, and in about three weeks had 

 her laying egg.s. An examination of the hive about four weeks after removing the queen 

 showed the hive to be well filled with scaled honey and a few j'oung bees, showing the 

 presence of the new laying queen. I took from the hive at that time thirty-flve pounds 

 of surplus box honey, which sold for twenty cents per pound, or seven dollars, in 

 all. 



The philosophy of this plan of management is as follows : Had there been a laying 

 queen in the hive during the bloom of basswoods, she would have kept the cells well 

 filled with brood, and there would have been but little room in the hive to store a win- 

 ter's supply of honey. The care of this young brood would have required considerable 



