218 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



cognize at once the trouble, when it appears 

 in their apiaries. Bound Volumes of all the 

 bee-journals are many times of great value in 

 looking up items like this, that appear only 

 occasionally. The appendage it will be ob- 

 served, looks like a pair of wings, and they 

 attach themselves to the bee by a kind of 

 glutinous matter which quickly "hardens, so 

 that it is quite difficult to remove, if not done 

 when it is first attached. We give the cuts 

 ?.nd explanation as we find them'in the Ma{;. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CLTS. 



A. Leg of a Wild Bee— four joint.?, pp. Polinia of 

 Asclepias (A. cornuti:-' perhaps)— two pairs, each 

 with its jointed jjedicels and black adhesive gland. 

 B. Pollinia of Asclepias from Utah (A speciosa.') 

 0. The adhesive gland. /(. A hair or bristle from the 

 leg of the bee. 



I send a "big spotted queen" in cage. Please classi- 

 fy. I think it is a hernet. Have never seen one like 

 it before. AT. J. Andrews. 



Columbia. Tenn., July •24th, '76. 



DEAR FlUEND ROOT :-Yes, I iciU tell you when 

 you trouble me too much. If we are not to be used, 

 what-rtrewe for.' Send on your specimens. By the 

 way, I presume the bark lice you sent, are the very 

 ones referred to iu Manual, as friend Benton tells me 

 that the tulip goes by the name of poplar in the South. 



The wasp you sent is the female of tlie Stigus Gran- 

 f?is. Say. This is perliaps our grandest wasp, and so 

 was well named by oiu- great pioneer entomologist. 

 It is found in the middle and Southern states, but not 

 so far North as this. It is one of the digger wasps, 

 whose curious habits have long interesteil entomolo- 

 gists. These digger wasps, we have many here, but 

 they are smaller and not all so beautiful, catch insects. 

 The one in question having a partiality for the Cicada 

 (locust) paralize them with their powerful sting, then 



bury them, but not until they have placed an egs upon 

 tliom. As the egg hatches, the infant wasp finds ten- 

 der steak right at hand. You Mr. Editor would ap- 

 prove the diet. These wasps are of special interest to 

 the apiarist, because of their near relation to bees, 

 and also because of their instincts, which are second 

 only to bees and ants among insects. Some too, like 

 the one seat, are very beautiful. 



A. J. Cook, Lansing, Mich., Aug. 3d, '76. 

 If we mistake not friend C, you or some one 

 else told us that hornets and wasps, by some 

 unknown virtue iu the poison of their sting, 

 preserved their victims from the usual decay, 

 or in other words the poison injected into the 

 circulation keeps the meat fresh and sweet until 

 the young insect requires it. Also, that this 

 poison is in no way injurious to the larva,-. 



The "Balm," "Camphor weed" of which I sent you 

 a plant by mail to get the "true name, grows in the 

 sand bj- the river. By some it is called "horsemint" 

 though the description is not exact. It came into 

 bloom about July '20th ; July 2Sth, I put on six 6 lb. 

 boxes. August Slh the stock swarmed out, the sis 

 boxes being nearly full, only 10 day's work. At the 

 river, swarming has set in strong. Also at my Mon- 

 mouth apiary have had four swarms in less than a 

 week. I then cut out queen cells and put swarms 

 back. You are one of those who claim that bees 

 should not be allowed to hang idly en the outside of 

 the hive. Xow I wish you were at the liver awhile to 

 try your hand. It is 7iof for want of room, tor I have 

 tried that. I have thought that the odor from the 

 Balm honey was so strong and pungent in the hive 

 they could not stand it. In the A. B. J., May Xo., 1876, 

 when the plan of introducing queens by scenting hive 

 and queen was first made known, peppeimint was 

 advised as one of the scents. On using a very weak 

 solution of this, I found the bees became excited, or 

 rather could not stand the odor of the mint and would 

 cluster outside the hive for a long time. AnJther 

 reason may be that the sand gets excessively hot and 

 retains the heat during the night. 



If our friend Jasper Hazen was a j'oung man I 

 would say to him settle on "Benton's Bay'" above 

 Oquawka, Henderson Co., Ills., with 10,000 colonics in 

 his patent hive, and he could almost stock the market 

 with honey, and not be in the least danger of over- 

 stocking the localitj-. One year with another, five 

 stocks from one can easily be made. Make a cave in 

 the sand and put the bees in and I will insure them to 

 winter, for 50 cents per colony. 



T. G. McGaw, Monmouth, Ills., Aug. 17, '76. 



DEAR FRIEND :— The plant sent by T. G. McGaw, 



is the wild Bergamot (Monarda Fistidosa). It is com- 

 mon here, and even more so South. Belongs to the 

 mints, or to the mint family. 



I planted honey plants extensively this year, and up 

 to date am specially pleased with Mignonette, Borage, 

 and Black mustard. Chinese mustard poor. 



A. J. Cooic, August 4th, 1S76. 



DEAR EDITOR :— The tall plant with small blue 

 flower is the Verbena Hasfata, or Blue Vervain. It 

 is common in Michigan as well as Illinois, never fails 

 of bloom, and often j-iclds considerable honey. 



The short plant with yellow bloom is a leguminous 

 plant, belonging to same natural order as bean, clo- 

 vei', etc. It is the Partridge Pea {Cassia Cliamor- 

 crista), I have not seen it here. 



We are getting beautiful honey. Golden rod, milk 

 weed, etc. A. J. Cook, August 15th, 1876. 



