578 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
visited because of this reported peculiarity. I removed 
twelve braulse from one queen ; and, strangely, if a 
very few only exist in the colony, the queen carries 
them, they, at least, seeming to believe in “ royal 
blood,” which they secure by means of a jawed 
sucker. They are exceedingly difficult to dislodge, 
as their movements are rapid, and as their bodies, 
furnished with beautiful hairs, are ffattish ; while their 
unique feet, each carrying two toothed combs t, C), 
give them a secure hold of the webbed hairs of the 
bee. Touching them by a small brush, pointed with 
thick honey, will generally lift them from their place. 
Beneath each foot are two pulvilli (/,/), of exquisite 
beauty as microscopic objects ; they are provided with 
knobbed, sensitive hairs, by which they feel the surface 
upon which they are resting. The name cseca im- 
plies that these creatures are blind; and this the female 
appears to be ; the male also, possibly, but he has 
rudiments of eyes. The eggs sometimes hatch within 
the body of the mother. The larvae pass through 
their changes in about fifteen days. The damage they 
cause, even if numerous, is not apparently serious. 
They are of great interest to the entomologist, who 
has been puzzled as to their classification ; and they 
have recently been translated from the Hippoboscidse 
to the Braulidse. 
The blue tit {Parus cosruleus) and the great tit 
[Parus major) ^ during prolonged cold, are often 
reduced to extremities, and then they are too ready 
to make a meal of such members of our stock as 
they may chance to pick up by waiting at a hive 
door. The idea that they take drones only is inaccu- 
