UNITED STATES >. 



DEPARTMENT of AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 334 . 



/ 



Washington, D. C. February, 1925 



THE BEE-LOUSE, BRAULA COEGA, IN THE 

 UNITED STATES 



E. F. PHILLIPS 



Senior Apiculturist, In Charge of Bee Culture Investigations, Bureau of Entomology ^ 



CONTENTS 



Page P^ge 



Conditions in infested apiaries in Maryland- 2 I Number of Branla found on one bee 7 



Description of the species. 



Classification of Braula 3 



Development of Braula 4 



Geographical distribution 5 



Feeding habits - -_ 5 



Perception of light by Braula .._ __ &■ 



Remedies _. g 



Conclusions 9- 



Literature cited & 



The announcement by the writer {32y of the presence of the so- 

 called bee louse, Braula coeca Nitzsch, in Carroll County, Md., where 

 it has existed for several years, makes it desirable that information be- 

 available regarding the relationship of this species to the bee colony. 

 There is nothing on Braula in the American literature except occa- 

 sional notes on its introduction on imported queenbees with brief 

 statements giving opinions of foreign beekeepers regarding it, usually 

 without reference to investigational work. Even the foreign bee- 

 keeping literature usually fails to include the results of scientilic 

 investigations on this species. It has therefore seemed best to sum- 

 marize the work done, to ascertain to what extent the introduction of 

 this species may be considered worthy of attention, and to list the 

 pertinent literature cited. 



The common name bee louse is not an especially appropriate one,, 

 since Braula is not a louse, nor does its behavior in feeding suggest 

 even the loose use of that word as a common name. Since the name 

 is well established in many languages, however, there seems no special 

 necessity for protesting its use or of suggesting another common name 

 for the species. 



Braula has repeatedly been introduced into the United States on; 

 importations of queenbees from foreign countries, and in many cases- 

 no effort has been made by the recipients of these queens to remove 



1 Resigned October 25, 1924. 



* Reference is made by number (italic) in parentheses to "Literature cited," p. 9, 



19837— 25t 1 1 



