MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 



297 



— the slow bug is enabled to catch the spry and active honey- 

 bee. • 



As Prof. Uhler well says of the "stinging-bug": " It is 

 very useful in destroying caterpillars and other vegetable- 

 feeding insects, but is not very discriminating in its tastes, 

 and would as soon seize the useful honey-bee as the pernicious 

 saw-lly." . And he might have added that it is equally indif- 

 ferent to the virtues of our friendly insects like the parasitic 

 and predaceous species. 



We note, then, that this bug is not wholly evil, and as its 

 destruction would be well-nigh impossible, for it is as widely 

 scattered as are the flowers in which it lurks, we may well rest 

 its case, at least until its destructiveness becomes more 

 serious than at present. 



THE SOUTHERN BEE-KILLERS. 



Mallophora orcina and Mallophora bomboides. 



I have received from several of our enterprising bee-keepers 

 of the South — Tennessee, Georgia and Florida — the above 

 insects, with the information that they dart forth from some 



Fig. 126. 



Fig. 127. 



convenient perch, and with swift and sure aim, grasp a bee, 

 bear it to some bush, when they leisurely suck out all but the 

 mere crust, and cast away the remains. The bee which is 



