California Bee Killer, 431 



brated queen breed .r of New York State sent me these 

 same mites last year ( 1887) with the report that they killed 

 his queens while yet in the cell. I found great numbers in 

 a cell sent by this gentleman. The strong and prosperous 

 colonies were exempt from the annoyance. So small are 

 these little pests that a score could take possession of a sin- 

 gle bee, and not be near neighbors either. The lady states 

 that the bees roll and scratch in then- vain attempts to rid 

 themselves of these annoying stick-tights, and finally, wor- 

 ried out, either fall to the bottom of the hive or go forth to 

 die outside. 



The bee mite (Fig 220) is very small, hardly more than 

 five mm. (1-50 of an inch) long. The female is slightly 

 larger than the male, and somewhat transparent. The color 

 is black, though the legs and more transparent areas of the 

 females appear yellowish. 



REMEDIES. 



The fact that what would be poison to the mite would 

 probably be death to the bees, makes this question of remedy 

 quite a difficult one. I can only suggest what Mrs. Squire 

 has tried — frequent changing of the bees from one hive to 

 another, after which the hive can be freed from the mites 

 by scalding. Of course, the more frequent the transfer 

 the more thorough the remedy. 



I would suggest placing pieces of fresh meat, greased 

 or sugared paper, etc., in the hives, in hopes to attract the 

 pests which when massed on these decoys could easily be 

 killed. 



CALIFORNIA BEE KILLER. 



Mr. J. D. Enas, Napa, California, has sent me specimens 

 of a curious bee enemy (Fig. 221), which he finds quite a 

 serious enemy of bees. 



This is a Datames, possibly D. Californicus, Simon, 

 though it does not quite agree with the description of that 

 species. It, like the mites just described, belongs to the 

 sub-class Arachnida or spiders, and is related to the scorpions. 

 The group of animnls is known as the fiimily Solpulgidae 

 or Galeodides, As will be seen, the head and thorax are 



