THE AORICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



559 



fact that these Divisions have been prac- 

 tically outside the traffic in imported 

 stock for some time past. The following 

 number of fresh licenses have been issued 

 during the month, viz., Dundee, 20 ; 

 Newcastle, 22 ; Ladysmith, 6 ; Upper 

 Tugela, 1 ; and Umsinga, 1. In all, 41 

 quarantines have been raised during the 

 same period. 



Scab. — Eleven fresh flocks have been 

 placed under license during the month. 

 I hope to see a considerable falling off in 

 the number of cases during the next two 

 months. Heavy rains have fallen 

 throughout the whole of this district, and 

 owners will in consequence be able to 

 properly dip their sheep, and thus carry 

 out the terms of the law without ill 

 result to their flocks. 



Several suspicious cases of rinderpest 

 have been reported to me during the 



month. One case, in which three animals 

 succumbed, proved to be lead poisoning. 

 Another was found to be due to arsenical 

 poisoning. 



GREYTOWN.— D.V.S. CORDY. 



Scab. —One fresh outbreak has occurred 

 during the month. The number of flocks 

 under license has diminished very much 

 of late, the District now containing less 

 scab than for some time past. 



Lungsickness. — None. 



Glanders. — None. 



Rinderpest. — Nothing fresh has occurred 

 in the quarantine area. 



General. — Vegetable poisoning, which 

 was responsible for the loss of many cattle 

 during last month in this District, seems 

 to be a thing of the past, as I have heard 

 of no cases recently. 



Enemies of Bees in S out it Africa , 



MR. A. C. SEWELL, Berea Road, Dur- 

 ban, writes : — " I see from the last 

 Journal that you have made use of the 

 article from the " British Bee Journal " 

 about South Afjican bees, and therefore 

 send another number that contains further 

 information from the same source. 



"The 'bee-pirate' alluded to is only 

 too well known to bee-keepers here, and 

 there is a third variety that I sent for 

 identification two years ago, all belonging 

 to the same family, and if anyone could 

 procure a nest or two and send to me I 

 would forward it. They live in sandy 

 banks, but although 1 have traced them 

 to their holes, have failed to discover the 

 nest, as the banks are so honeycombed 

 with tunnels of various insects." 



The following is the article referred to. 

 The writer is J. Martin Walmer, Port 

 Elizabeth : — 



Unlike England, we have no tits or 

 toads to catch the bees, but we have other 

 enemies of a most destructive kind. One 

 is a small fly called the " bee-pirate " or 

 bee-robber. This is the most formidable 

 enemy of bees that I have ever seen. In 

 watching the hives some time after my 

 arrival here I noticed this fly hovering 

 about the enti-ances, and so quick were 



its movements, I could not tell at first 

 whether it was the bee catching the fly or 

 vice versa. This fly will not touch the 

 bee on the floor-board, although I have 

 seen them alight close to catch the bee on 

 the wing, but so quick is its action that 

 the victim is seized and carried off in a 

 moment ! I have many times ran after 

 the " pirates," but never eould I locate 

 them or find where they deposit their 

 victim, nor have I over seen them except 

 in the vicinity of the hive ; sometimes I 

 have knocked down some of them just as 

 the captured bee was being carried off, 

 and I found the latter were nearly dead. I 

 thought that the grip of the fly had either 

 killed or paralysed them, as I have never 

 been able to get the bees to sting me 

 when caught, but you will see by the en- 

 closed letter from the Government Ento- 

 mologist, that in his opinion the fly stings 

 the bee to death. They make their ap- 

 pearance in the beginning of summer and 

 stay about three months ; you will notice 

 some of the smaller flies (enclosed) are 

 darker that the larger ones ; those I think 

 are the younger insects. You will also 

 notice that they are much smaller than 

 the bee, and one would scarcely credit 

 that such a small fly could carry away a 



