110 



[August, 1012. 



definitely prepare young men for farming 

 and young women for home duties. Of 

 elementary schools in which agriculture 

 is taught there are many hundreds, 12 

 States have passed laws requiring the 



TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE IN ALL 

 COMMON SCHOOLS, 



five others require it in all the rural 

 schools, and 3 in the rural high schools. 



The two chief difficulties as regards 

 agricultural teaching is the training of 

 teachers and their proper remuneration. 

 Sixteen States have passed laws requir- 

 ing that all teachers should qualify in 

 agriculture. State normal schools do 

 what they can to prepare them, but 

 there is not sufficient provision to deal 

 with the 



LARGE NUMBER OF TEACHERS. 



Trained teachers for high schools are 

 also scarce — the graduates from the 

 College finding better opportunities in 

 farming or at Agricultural Stations than 

 as ordinary teachers. Conditions and 

 prospects are better in the case of 

 special Agricultural Schools, and courses 

 subsidised by the State to attract 

 trained men. 



Experience would seem to indicate 

 that teachers now in service have after 

 a short course of agricultural training 

 become very successful teachers of 

 agriculture.— (Summarized from U, S. A. 

 Department of Agiiculture.) 



BEE WARFARE. 



Mr. J. I. Lutes speaks of a very com- 

 mon trouble, viz., " old bees killing off 

 young bees." I think that, if he will 

 examine his brood-combs carefully, he 

 will find them infested with mothworm, 

 for the mode of attack of the moth- 

 worm, and the habit of bees in relation 

 to their presence in the hive, are not 

 always understood. For this reason 

 there is a great deal of brood destroyed 

 by them unobserved. 



The Ovules of the Miller 

 are deposited in the cells, orcairiedby 

 the bees in going in and out, are sealed 



over, and hatch coinciden tally with the 

 bees. The young worms feed on the pap 

 of the larvae ; and as they grow larger 

 they burrow and push their way from 

 cell to cell under the capping of the brood ; 

 forming elevated lines that may be seen 

 crossing the surface of the capped brood. 

 These lines vary in diameter from l/16th 

 to 3/32nds of an inch, and constitute the 

 runways of the worms. There are two im- 

 portant points to remember — first that 



BEES NEVER ATTACK THE MOTHWORM 

 until it is seen; second, moth-worms in- 

 stinctively remain secreted behind the 

 cappings of the brood until they 

 reach full development and are ready 

 for the last transformation. They 

 then emerge, make excursions about 

 the hive in search of a crack, depression 

 or hole, where they spin their silken 

 cocoon. It is then the bees attack them 

 and carry them out. But all the damage 

 they can do is done. 



Bees will Cluster over Dozens of 



Moth worms 

 secreted in these runways, day after 

 day, with no apparent knowledge of 

 their presence ; nor make any attempt 

 to remove them while their brood is 

 being destroyed. The worms do not eat 

 the young bees, but rob them of their 

 food, so that most of those die over 

 which they burrow. But if the larva is 

 sufficiently developed to live the bee will 

 be defective, often minus one or both 

 wings, or so dry that it emerges with 

 difficulty, having a segment of the cocoon 

 adherent to its body. It is a law of the 

 hive that they 



TOLERATE NO INVALIDS OR 

 IMPERFECT BEES 



in the colony ; therefore these are carried 

 out to become the prey of carnivorous 

 ants. 



It is the duty of the bee-keeper to 

 examine his brood-combs now and then 

 for these tell-tale elevated runways on 

 the surface of the capped brood, especi- 

 ally when bees are carrying out dead 

 larvsB or young bees. 



When a colony is found infested, it 

 will require bi-weekly examinations for 



