285 



Mites in Flaxseed. 



I inclose sample mites taken from flaxseed tbat has been stored since last fall. 

 Will you kindly tell me what tliese turn to, and if tbey will die out when cold weather 

 comes? Will you say at the same tiine if they cause any damage to the seed, either 

 in appearance or shrinkage in weights? * * "^ — [Albert Dickinson, 115 Kinzie 

 street, Chicago, III., September 16, 1886. 



Reply. — * * * The seed has been infested by the mite known as TryogJyphus siro, 

 but there is also another mite present which is predaceous in its habits, and which 

 is killing off the original mites in great numbers. This predaceous mite is Cheyhtus 

 eruditus. This case is precisely comparable to one that was brought to our notice a 

 year ago by a Milwaukee firm. In that case a prediction was made that within a few 

 weeks the mites would disappear, and it seems probable that in the case of your flax- 

 seed the same thing will occur. If it seems worth while to take the trouble, I would 

 advise the thorough sifting of the seed in the sacks which have been observed to be 

 infested, in order to get rid of the brown earthy-looking substance, which is nothing 

 more nor less than the bodies of the destroyed mites. — [September 18, 1886. 



Insects at Electric Lamps. 



# » # These beetles (Gahruca xantliomehvna) were very injurious to elm trees in 

 Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,last summer. Some bands of cotton soaked in oil (I think they 

 were) had been placed around the tree, but did not seem to be of much service, since 

 I picked large numbers of pupae out of them which afterward developed healthy bee- 

 tles. The beetles came into the electric lights much less than I should have sup-^ 

 posed, for though there were thousands of other species of Coleoptera and Lepido- 

 ptera, such as Leucania unipiuicta, L. harveyi, Cacoccia fervidana, and a species of beetle 

 unknown to me (of which I took in one week from one-third of the lamps of the city 

 over 6,000), Galeruca xanthomelcenav^SiS quite scarce, hardly numbering 100 specimens, 

 I should think, in the week's catch above referred to. — [Harrison G. Dyar, Boston, 

 Mass., February 8, 1889. 



Note. — The beetle referred to was Harpalus pennsylvanicus. Of the other Coleoptera 

 a large percentage were Carabidse. 



Bees versus Fruit. 



I see that a statement of the experiments of N. W. McLain, of Aurora, 111., with 

 honey bees, is going the rounds of the papers as conclusive evidence that bees do not 

 puncture grapes. As an observer of the facts in the case, and a practical fruit-grower for 

 the last thirty-five years, and with several colonies of bees quite a portion of the time, 

 I am prepared to say that those experiments are not conclusive. Bees have striking 

 peculiarities, as you are well aware, and in none are they more peculiar than in their 

 tastes. They attack certain varieties of peaches with great avidity, working through 

 the skin and eating into the flesh even before the fruit is thoroughly ripe, while other 

 varieties, to our taste sweeter and riper, are left untouched. Hale's Early is always 

 a favorite with them without reference to the supply of other food. Grapes they do 

 not attack except under certain conditions. These conditiousapi)arently are that the 

 fruit must be very ripe, the weather dry and warm, and other food scarce. They 

 have sometimes destroyed, or rendered unfit for market, tons of grapes in our vine- 

 yards in a single day, puncturing the skin so juice would ooze from several grapes in 

 almost every cluster. I had some controversy with Professor Cook, of the Michigan 

 Agricultural College, three or four years ago on the subject, aud quoted from some of 

 your observations that bees would under certain conditions attack and damage fruit. 

 With your consent I would like to make use of any facts you may have bearing on the 

 subject. As I do not now remember where to look for the statement I then referred 



