136 
JOUBNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  6,  1903. 
work  up  the  pith  (Fig  E).  In  this  tunnel  the  caterpillar  lives 
until  June:  its  presence  does  not  prevent  the  leaves  and  blossom 
from  unfolding,  although  later  on  they  flag,  turn  brown,  and  die 
right  off  (Fig.  B).  These  dead  shoots  if  broken  off  will  be  found 
to  contain  the  pith  moth  caterpillar  or  pupa,  usually  situated 
near  the  tip  of  a  shoot. 
The  larva  (G)  is  dull  reddish-brown  with  a  deep  brown  head 
and  first  segment ;  the  other  segmezits  show  more  or  less  traces  of 
pale  brown  spots,  four  in  a  row  on  the  second  and  third  segments, 
and  four  placed  in  a  quadrangle  on  the  remaining  segments.  The 
two  front  segments  have  two  lateral  spots,  and  the  remainder  a 
single  lateral  spot.  The  tip  is  deep  brown.  When  mature  the  larvae 
reach  one-third  of  an  inch  in  length  and  then  pupate  near  the 
The  Pith  Moth  (Laverna  atra). 
A,  Moth  (magnifled,  line  showing  natural  size);  B,  attacked  Apple  shoot, 
the  upper  portion  shrivelling  up  and  dying  away ;  C,  processes  on  pupa 
(magnified) ;  D,  pupa  (magnified)  in  a  shoot ;  E,  larva  (natural  size)  in  a  shoot 
F  and  G,  larvee  (magnified). 
apex  of  the  shoot  they  have  tunnelled.  They  reach  their  full-fed 
sta^e  during  the  last  two  weeks  in  June. 
The  pupa  (D)  is  of  an  ochreous  hue ;  the  head  and  front  of  the 
thorax  and  tip  of  the  body  mahogany  red.  It  is  cylindrical  in 
form  and  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  long.  On  the  under  surface 
of  the  last  segment  but  one  are  two  blunt  processes,  separate  and 
diverging  outwards,  hairy  at  their  tips  (Fig.  C) ;  the  eyes  are  black 
and  the  wing  cases  and  legs  long,  the  former  pointed.  This  stage 
lasts  from  two  to  three  weeks,  the  moths  emerging  at  the  end  of 
June  or  in  July.  The  pupse  may  sometimes  be  seen  projecting 
from  the  dead  shoots.  Stainton  says  the  larvae  also  occur  in 
Hawthorn  berries  in  September,  and  that  the  black  variety  only 
is  found  in  Apple  shoots  in  February  and  March. 
Preventive  measures. 
It  is  quite  obvious  that  there  can  be  no  remedy  for  this  pest, 
but  much  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  prevention  by  hand-picking 
the  dead  shoots  before  the  moths  emerge  in  June.  This  can  only 
be  done,  however,  where  S4nall  trees  are  attacked,  and  the  attack 
is  generally  confined  to  such  trees. 
Late  spraying  with  Paris  green  would  probably  prove  bene¬ 
ficial,  as  it  should  kill  the  young  larvae,  which  seem  to  feed  first 
of  all  on  the  leaves.  The  trees  should  be  washed  not  less  than 
four  weeks  before  the  fruit  is  gathered,  but  as  soon  as  it  is 
harv'ested  a  heavy  spraying  may  be  given.  The  time  to  spray, 
therefore,  must  depend  on  the  variety  of  Apple  concerned.  This 
is  certainly  worth  giving  a  fair  trial,  as  beyond  hand-picking 
nothing  else  can  be  suggested  to  check  the  increase  of  this  iiest, 
which  has  been  so  noticeable  during  the  past  few  years. 
Copies  of  the  above  in  leaflet  form  may  be  obtained  free  of 
charge  and  post  free  on  application  to  the  Secretary,  Board  of 
Agriculture,  4,  Whitehall  Place,  London,  S.W.  Letters  of  appli¬ 
cation  so  addressed  need  not  be  stamped. 
Re-Queening. 
Success  in  bee-keeping  depends  largely  upon  good  stock  and 
plant,  more  particularly  upon  the  former,  and  bee-keepers 
cannot  fall  into  a  greater  error  than  that  of  tolerating  old 
queens.  It  is  all  vei-j^  well  to  harp  upoq  the  fact  that  it  is 
only  from  the  most  powerful  colonies  that  the  bejfi;  results  are 
obtained,  but  the  salient  point  is  overlooked,  i.e.,  that  young 
prolific  queens  are  essential  to  the  production  of  such  stocks. 
Every  practised  apiarist  will  admit  that  stimulative  feeding  in 
order  to  worry  a  failing  queen  to  lay  rapidly  is  utterly  useless, 
as  the  bees  will  simply  store  the  syrup  in  the  brood  nest, 
because  the  queen  fails  to  respond  to  the  stimulation  and  fill 
the  cells  with  eggs.  It  is  impossible  to  get  a  strong  colony  from 
a  failing  queen  by  any  device.  If  a  queen  is  laying  well  in  the 
autumn  of  her  second  year,  and  has  maintained  a  large  popula¬ 
tion  throughout  the  season,  to  purchase  a  queen  to  supersede 
her  is  apparently  a  nonsensical  waste ;  but  is  it  ? 
For  5s.  or  thereabouts  a  specially  bred  young  and  prolific 
queen  may  be  bought  in  the  autumn,  and  if  she  is  introduced 
prior  to  feeding  up  for  the  winter  she  will  generally  fill  the 
brood  nest  with  eggs. 
These  are  the  bees  which  winter  well,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  hive  being  more  numei'ous  maintain  the  heat  of  the  cluster 
better ;  consequently  the  consumption  of  food  is  reduced,  and 
in  proportion  to  the  space  the  young  bees  can  cover  in  the 
spring,  so  will  the  young  queen  lay  eggs  and  extend  the  brood 
nest.  The  quantity  of  brood  raised  will  be  greater,  the  colony 
will  thus  be  ready  for  supering  earlier,  and  if  there  is  sufficient 
food  given  in  the  autumn  will  not  require  feeding,  and  in  most 
cases  will  yield  double  the  quantity  of  honey.  There  is  thus 
economy  of  labour  and  food,  and  the  increased  harvest  pays  for 
the  queen  over  and  over  again. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  the  old  queen  is  left  to  pass  the 
winter  at  the  head  of  the  colony,  it  often  happens  that, 
although  she  was  accomplishing  so  much  the  previous  year,  she 
will  not  survive  the  w'inter.  If  she  does,  she  will  be  found  the 
following  spring  with  a  very  meagre  population,  having  been 
unequal  to  the  task  of  rapid  ovipositing  in  the  early  part  of  the 
year,  and  unfit  for  anything  further.  This  can  have  but  one 
result,  viz.,  the  loss  of  part,  or  all  the  season’s  honey;  as  the 
bees,  finding  the  queen  failing,  naturally  attempt  to  supersede 
her.  In  the  meantime  the  iiopulation  is  rapidly  dwindling 
away,  having  no  hatching  brood  to  replace  the  heavy  mortality 
in  the  spring.  Should  the  apiarist  find  out  the  state  of  things, 
he  remedies  it  by  purchasing  a  queen  at  a  higher  price  than 
would  have  been  the  case  the  iirevious  autumn,  or  the  stock  dies 
out  altogether. 
Now  that  it  is  understood  why  it  is  necessary  te  re-queen 
some  colonies  at  least  in  an  apiary  each  year,  a  mtle  advice  is 
necessary  as  to  purchasing  queens.  The  qualities  of  the  different 
strains  must  not  be  overlooked,  as  breeding  intensifies  and 
concentrates  good  and  bad  points.  The  more  observant  will 
have  formed  an  opinion  as  to  what  kind  of  bees  they  require, 
which  will  be  the  most  profitable  from  all  points  of  view.  By 
procuring  them  from  good  breeders  the  best  of  stock  can  thus 
be  obtained  at  a  minimum  cost.  Most  queetn  breeders,  when 
asked,  will  give  advice  as  to  what  kind  they  recommend. 
There  is  necessarily  discrimination  required  in  selecting  queens 
and  drones  with  reference  to  the  qualities  they  possess,  and 
which  it  is  desired  to  perpetuate  in  the  progeny. 
It  is  by  hybridisation  and  acclimatisation,  or  what  Mr. 
Darwin  calls  natural  selection,  that  we  have  undeniably  im¬ 
proved  our  natives.  Nature,  however,  does  not  produce  the 
Durham  ox  or  the  racehorse;  but  science,  by  imitating  Nature, 
may  bring  about  similar  modifications  in  bee  life.  The  neces- 
sai’y  qualities  are  uniformity  of  temper,  energy,  prolificacy,  and 
hardiness. — E.  E.,  Sandbach. 
