220 DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF BEES. 
these minute pests. I have made them a subject of par- 
ticular study and observation, with increasing interest, 
In the course of my investigations at various periods dur- 
ing the past three years, I have examined hives in some 
of the leading apiaries of this State, and in every in- 
stance have found several varieties of parasites present, 
in greater or less numbers. I bave thus far discovered nine 
distinct forms, but whether they are distinct species, I 
am unable from lack of entomological knowledge to de- 
termine. 
The conditions under which I have generally found 
them to be most troublesome, and annoying to the bees, 
indicate to my mind, that much of the difficulty encoun- 
tered in wintering bees, may be due to their presence. 
It has long been claimed by our best writers on the sub- 
ject of wintering, that one of the prime requisites for 
success was perfect quiet. It has also been noticed by 
many that while some swarms remained very quiet, others 
could be heard buzzing, and would be constantly uneasy. 
The fact that some were quiet, shows that the uneasi- 
ness was not due to any external disturbance. It hag 
often been a subject of much perplexity to me why these 
different conditions should exist. 
Some writers have advised setting such restless swarms 
upon their summer stands for a purifying flight, and this 
may be desirable, inasmuch as they have necessarily been 
stimulated to a large consumption of food by this undue 
excitement; but the original cause of this disturbance 
has not yet been understood. 
Thave found such swarms clearing the dust from the 
bottom boards, and upon examining it as they had 
thrown it from the entrance, I discovered these par- 
asites in large numbers which had been ejected from the 
hive. I find the Italians much more liable to be dis- 
turbed by them than the natives. Their tendency to de- 
fend themselves is here manifest, and they are more 
