86 BEJ5 PASTUEAGE. 



the juioes of tender leaves or branches, and received by 

 ants that arc usually in attendance, is probably the 

 honey dew of many writers. Ants, instead of bees, gen- 

 erally collect it. These insects have been very appropri- 

 ately termed "ants' cows," as they are regarded by them 

 with the most tender care and solicitude. In July or Au- 

 gust, when the majority of the leaves of the apple trees 

 are matured, there are often a few sprouts or suckers about 

 the lower part of the trunk, that continue growing and 

 putting out fresh leaves. On the under side of these, you 

 will find this insect by hundreds, of all sizes, from those 

 just hatched to the perfect apliis. All appear to be en- 

 gaged in sucking the bitter juice from the tender leaf and 

 stalk. The ants are among them by scores. The careless 

 observer often accuses them of doing the injury instead of 

 the aphis. Occasionally there will issue from the abdo- 

 men of the aphis a small transparent globule, which the 

 ant is ready to receive. When a load is obtained, it de- 

 scends to the nest. Many other kinds of trees and plants 

 are used by the ants as " cow pasture," and most kinds of 

 ants are engaged in this dairy business. Would the bees 

 attend the aphis for this secretion if the ants left any to be 

 gathered ? Or, if there were no ants or bees, would this 

 secretion be discharged and falling on the leaves below 

 them, be honey dew ? If they were situated on some lof- 

 ty trees, and it lodged on the leaves of small bushes nearer 

 the earth, it would be considered such by some. 



tTNUStJAL SBCKETION. 



I once discovered bees collecting a secretion unconnect- 

 ed with flowers, but which was not honey dew, as it has 

 been described. I was passing a bush of Witch-hazel, 

 (JSamammlis Virginiana), and my attention was arrested 

 by an unusual humming of bees. At first I supposed that 

 a swarm was about me, yet it was late in the season, July 



