THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



241 



It is possible that the rot in apples may be 

 caused in this same way. Certainly, the small 

 black specks, (mostly near the stem) that de- 

 form so many of our apples, are the result of 

 Cnrculio bites. A. M. Brown. 



Villa Kidge, III., ,Iuly22, 1869. 



THE SCAKCITY (IF Till] CUKCULIO. 



Editors Amenran Efifomologist : 



I have read your article in tlie July number 

 of the Entomologist, headed -'Is the Curculio 

 scarcer than it was last year?" I do not wish 

 to have this matter lost sight of, but at this time 

 desire only to stale that at the end of the fruit 

 .season, say in the October number of the Ento- 

 jiOLOGiST, with your permission, I will reply to 

 your strictures. We are always ready to go 

 back on our statements when found to be incor- 

 rect, or stand by them if true. E. S. Hull. 



Alton, III , July 11, )S«9. 



COMPARATIVE SCARCITY OF THE CFRCULIO AGAIN 



Our remarks on the comparative scarcity' of 

 the Curculio, which appeared in the last num- 

 ber, have not, thus far, elicited any conflicting 

 experience, except that Mr. H. H. McAfee, 

 of North Illinois, writes us word, July 17th, 

 that the little Turk is plentier there this 

 year than ever before, making almost a clean 

 sweep of plums, both wild and tame. On 

 the contrary, Mr. F. R. Elliott of Cleveland, 

 Ohio, writes as follows: '"Adding to your 

 records of the scarcity of tiie CJurculio this 

 season, you may set down the whole of north- 

 ern Ohio. At least my own observation and 

 correspondence coniirm its comparative ab- 

 sence as well as the fact that many egg deposits 

 failed to mature to the injury of the fruit. Cher- 

 ries have been quite free. Peaches are nearly 

 so, while plum trees that for years have given 

 no fruit, arc this season loaded down, and with 

 only an occasional case of Curculio." We also 

 find the foUowiug resolution touching on this 

 matter in the report of the July meeting of the 

 Meramec (Mo.) Horticultural Society : 



Resolved, That the Meramec Horticultural 

 Society finds that the Curculio is this year de- 

 cidedly less abundant and destructive ihan last 

 year in their neighborhood. 



After a very full expression of opinion, the 

 resolution was unanimously adopted. 



The personal experience of the Senior Editor 

 is, that a solitary plum-tree in his garden, which 

 had never previously retained a single plum be- 

 yond the month of June, was loaded down with 

 plums up to the middle of July ; but very few 



plums having been up to that time stung by the 

 Curculio. Since the middle of July, however, 

 the new brood of Curculio have m.adc their ap- 

 pearance in great force, and plums are being 

 stung by them every day up to July 28th, so 

 that it is very doubtful if any fruit will be 

 allowed by them to ripen. Possibly it might 

 be to the operations of this new brood that Mr. 

 McAfee, writing on July 17th, either especially 

 or exclusively referred. This new bi-ood seems 

 to have also been remarkably abundant near 

 Alton, in South Illinois. For Dr. Hull has sent 

 us no less than 158 Curculios, all captured by 

 him July 21st from 19 late plum-trees; whereas 

 in 1808 he estimated the number of Curculios to 

 be met with on jarring fruit-trees in the month 

 of July, at about one specimen only to every ten 

 trees.* If they had been in this same propor- 

 tion in 1869, he would only have met with about 

 2 Curculios instead of 158, on his 19 plum-trees. 

 Lest any one should suppose that the Alton 

 Curculios haunt plum-trees towards the end of 

 July just for fun, and not for mischief, Dr. Hull 

 has been obliging enough to send us in addition 

 four plums, in each of which he actually saw 

 the Curculio deposit an egg on July 21st. 

 •See Amkk. Entomologist, I., p. 11. 



A PdSSIBLE CAUSE OP THE BEE DISEASE. 



Mr, Editor: — I am a reader of the Bee Journal, and 

 also a Ijeekeeper and very much interested in bee-cul- 

 ture. I see by the Journal that a disease or something 

 elsu is dc'strdviii,!; the boos in many parts of the oouu- 

 try, :iuil Irani from llic Fobniary nunilior Ihat in many 

 luoalilios till' ili'vastation has boon vory yroat. I made 

 a litllo (Usri)\oi-y in my bees last .sununer, %vhioh may 

 poibaps tliiow some light on tlio subject. Wliother it 

 is auytbini;- now or not I can not tell; but this is cer- 

 tain , that i lia\o not road anything written ou the sub- 

 ject as yet that furnishes an.v satisfactory oxiilanation. 

 If you sec pi-npor tii pulilish what 1 liavo" In say you arc 

 welcome to dn so. and lot it. ,!;ii fur wbat it is wni'-th. 



I have not suffered matoiially (roiii tin- mystorious 

 malady hitherto, but last siininlor and fall I I'mtiood a 

 good iiiany dead bees around my hivos, ospooially in 

 the morning. I went to examining sonio of them, and, 

 to my surprise, In the abilomcn of almost every bee 

 that I examined, I found a living worm or maggot, 

 nearly or tiuite an eighth of an inch long. The head 

 portion or that part which I took to be the head, was 

 much larger than the rest of the worm. From the 

 head it gradually tapered back to a point. On the 

 largest end. or head, of this maggot there were two 

 very minute black dots, resembling eyes. This maggot 

 is found in the upper p:u't of the bee's abdomen, and 

 by taking the bee in my fingers, and drawing it apart, 

 the worm can be readily detected. When taken out 

 and laid on the hand, it oould be seen to expand and 

 contract in a very liM;ly manner. 



A bee-keeping- friend of mine put some of the dead 

 boo^ in a glass bottle, and in a sliort time this maggot 

 hatohod, prniUioinga fly nearly as large as what is calTccl 

 tlio Hossian tly — a perfect Insect. 



Now, does this worm destroy the bee, and If it does, 

 will it not destroy a whole colony, as well as a few 

 beos? In some localities I could not lind any of them 

 in the foil, after it became Cool enough to prevent 

 the bees from flying. My opinion is that if it would 

 kill a few bees, it might destroy a whole swarm just as 

 well. I incline to believe that the waste of a swarm 



