390 thb bbb-keepkr's guide ; 



L,ecanium tulipifera. In 1870 it did no small injury to our 

 tulip-trees at the Michigan Agricultural College. It has seri- 

 ously injured this tree in the States bordering the Ohio River. 

 The tulip is often called poplar, which is quite incorrect. The 

 poplar belongs to the willow family, the tulip to the magnolia. 

 This louse is of double interest to bee-keepers. It ruins one of 

 our best honey-trees, and supplies a poor substitute for plant 

 nectar to the bees. All bark-lice, which include the orange- 

 tree scale and the San Jose scale, are best destroyed by use of 

 kerosene oil. This latter is best applied in the form of an 

 emulsion, with soap. To make the kerosene and soap emulsion 

 I make a very strong suds, using one-eighth of a pound of 

 whale-oil soap, or one quart of soft soap, and two quarts of 

 water. To this is added one quart of kerosene oil, and all 

 churned by use of a force-pump, pumping it back into itself till 

 it is thoroughly and permanently mixed. I then dilute with 

 water till the kerosene oil forms one-twelfth of the whole. In 

 California it is found that a distillate emulsion is more 

 effective than kerosene emulsion. One-fourth pound of whale- 

 oil soap is dissolved in one gallon of water. Then one gallon 

 of untreated distillate is added and all is violently stirred. 

 This is then diluted with water one to ten. It is cheap and 

 effective. It is found that spraying can not be done thor- 

 oughly enough for evergreens like the orange-tree, and so 

 fumigation by aid of tents with cyanide of potassium is 

 adopted by most of the progressive citrus fruit-men of Cali- 

 fornia. This emulsion often spots the fruit. 



I have also seen the bees thick about several species of 

 plant-lice. One — the Erisoma imbricator. Fitch — works on 

 beech-tree. Its abdomen is thickly covered with long wool, 

 and it makes a comical show as it wags this up and down upon 

 the least disturbance. The leaves of trees attacked by this 

 louse, as also those beneath the trees, are fairly gummed with 

 a sweetish substance. I have found that the bees avoid this 

 substance, except at times of extreme drouth and long-pro- 

 tracted absence of honeyed bloom. 



Another species, Thalaxes ulmicola, gives rise to certain 

 solitary galls, which appear on the upper surface of the leaves 

 of the red elm. These galls are hollow, with a thin skin, aud 



