MANUAL OP THE APIAUT. 293 



THE JAPAN MEDLAR. 



I have received from J. M. Putnam, of New Orleans, La., 

 flowers of the Mespilus Japonica, or Japan plum. He states 

 that it bears a most delicious fruit, blooms from August till 

 January, unless cut off by a severe frost, and is proof against 

 ordinary frosts. He states that it furnishes abundance of 

 delicious honey, and that, too, when his bees were gathering 

 from no other source. 



The Mespilus Germanica grows in England, and is much 

 praised for its fruit. From Mr. Putnam's account, thfi /W. 

 Japonica is unprecedented in its length of bloom. We thins, 

 two months a long time. We pay high tribute to mignonette, 

 cleome and borage, when we tell of four months of bloom ; 

 but this is mild praise when compared with this Japan plum, 

 which flowers from August first till January. 



The flowers are in a dense panicle, and were still fragrant 

 after their long journey. The leaf is lanceolate, and very 

 thick', some like the wax plant. I should say it was an ever- 

 green. The apiarists of the South are tci be congratulated 

 on this valuable acquisition to their bee forage. I hope it. 

 will thrive North as well as South. 



THE STINGING -BUG.— /'^yma^a Erosa, Fabr. 



This insect is very widely distributed throughout the Uni- 

 ted States. I have received it from Maryland to Missouri on 

 the South, and from Michigan to "Minnesota on the North. 

 The insect will lie concealed among the flowers, and upon 

 occasion will grasp a bee, hold it off at arm's length, and suck 

 out its blood and life. 



This is a Hemipteran, or true bug, and belongs to the 

 family Phymatidoe^ Uhr. It is the Phymata Erosa, Fabr., 

 the specific name erosa referring to its jagged appearance. 

 It is also called the "stinging bug," in reference to its habit 

 of repelling intrusion by a painful thrust with its sharp, 

 strong beak. 



