Prof. A.J. Cook, the eminent apiarist, calls attention to a new pest
which has made its appearance in many apiaries. After referring to the
fact that poultry and all other domestic animals of ten suffer serious
injury from the attacks of parasitic mites, and that even such household
stores as sugar, flour, and cheese are not from their ravages, he tells
of the discovery of a parasitic pest among bees. He says:
"During the last spring a lady bee-keeper of Connecticut discovered
these mites in her hives while investigating to learn the cause of their
rapid depletion. She had noticed that the colonies were greatly reduced
in number of bees, and upon close observation found that the diseased or
failing colonies were covered with the mites. So small are these pests
that a score of them can take possession of a single bee and not be
crowded for room either. The lady states that the bees roll and scratch
in their vain attempts to rid themselves of these annoying stick-tights,
and finally, worried out, fall to the bottom of the hive, or go forth
to die on the outside. Mites are not true insects, but are the most
degraded of spiders. The sub-class _Arachnida_ are at once recognized by
their eight legs. The order of mites (_Accorina_), which includes the
wood-tick, cattle-tick, etc., and mites, are quickly told from the
higher orders--true spiders and scorpions--by their rounded bodies,
which appear like mere sacks, with little appearance of segmentation,
and their small, obscure heads. The mites alone, of all the
_Arachinida_, pass through a marked metamorphosis. Thus the young mite
has only six legs, while the mature form has eight. The bee mite is
very small, not more than one-fiftieth of an inch long. The female is
slightly longer than the male, and somewhat transparent. The color is
black, though the legs and more transparent areas of the female appear
yellowish. All the legs are fine jointed, slightly hairy, and each
tipped with two hooks or claws."
As to remedies, the Professor says that as what would kill the mites
would doubtless kill the bees, makes the question a difficult one. He
suggests, however, the frequent changing of the bees from one hive to
another, after which the emptied hives should be thoroughly scalded. He
thinks this course of treatment, persisted in, would effectually clean
them out.
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