ANATOMY OF THE BEE. 



14 



ANGEK OF BEES. 



ROYAL .JELLY, WHAT IT IS. 



It was formerly supposed lluit royal jelly 

 was a secretion from certain glands; but 

 that idea has been completely upset by 

 Schiemenz, Von Planta, and Sclionfeld who 

 have proved that it is chyme from the chyle- 

 stomach. 



This chyme is produced in what is called 

 the chyle-stomach, shown at i, in the cut on 

 page 10; and worker larvae are fed on this 

 concentrated food for three days, after 

 which they are weaned. " On the fourth 

 day this food is changed and the laiva is 

 weaned; for the first pap has a large quanti- 

 ty of honey added, but no undigested pollen, 

 as Prof. Leuckhart liad stated. The dione 

 larvae are also weaned, but in a different 

 way; for, in addition to honey, a large quan- 

 tity otpoUen is added after the fourth day." 

 And right here we can not do better than 

 quote from Mr. Cowan: 



Microscopic examination sliowed that, in the queen 

 and worlier havae, there was no undigested pollen; 

 wliereas in the drone larvas, after the fourth day, 

 large numhers of pollen grains were found. In one 

 milligram, no less than 1.5,000 pollen grains were 

 counted, and these were from a number of different 

 plants. . . . This work of Dr. Planta's, we think 

 conclusively proves that the food is not a secretion' 

 and that the nurses have the power of altering its 

 constituents as they may require for the different 

 bees. . . . Royal jelly is, therefore, chyle food, 

 and this is also most likely the food given to the 

 queen-bee. Schoenfeld has also recently shown that 

 drones are likewise dependent upon this food, given 

 to them by workers, and that. If it is withheld, they 

 die after three days, in the presence of abundance 

 of honey. This, he thinks, accounts for the quiet 

 way in which drones perish at the end of the season. 

 It will now be easily understood, that if weaning of 

 the worker larviB does not take place at the propei 

 time, and if the flr.st nourishing food is continued 

 too long, it may be the cause of developing the 

 ovaries, and so produce fertile workers, just as the 

 more nourishing food continued during the whole 

 of the larval existence in the case of a queen de- 

 velops her ovaries, or even in the absence of a queen 

 the feeding of workers on this rich food may tend to 

 have the same effect. This, then, is the solution of 

 loyal jelly- and brood food. 



For a more exhaustive treatment of the 

 whole subject, see Cowan's work, The Hon- 

 ey-bee, Cook's Manual of the Apiary, or 

 Chesliire's Bees and Bee-keeping, Vol. I. 



AVTGXiB. OF BIjXjS. We confess we 

 do not like the term " anger,'' when applied 

 to bees, and it almost makes us angry when 

 we hear people speak of their being " mad,'" 

 as if they were always in a towering rage, 

 and delight to inflict severe pain on every- 

 thing and everybody coming near them. 

 Bees are, on the contrary, the pleasantest, 



most sociable, genial, and good-natured lit- 

 tle fellows one meets in all animated crea- 

 tion, when one understands them. Why, 

 we can tear their beautiful comb all to bits 

 right before their very eyes, and without a 

 particle of resentment; but with all the 

 patience in the world they will at once set 

 to work to repair it, and that, too, without a 

 word of remonstrance. If you pinch them 

 they will sting; and anybody who has ener- 

 gy enough to take care of himself would do 

 as much had he the weapon. 



We as yet know very little of bees com- 

 paratively; and the more we learn, the easier 

 we find it to be to get along without any 

 clashing in regard to who shall be master. 

 In fact, we take all their honey now, almost 

 as fast as they gather it: and even if we are 

 so thoughtless as to starve them to death, 

 no word of complaint is made. 



There are a few circumstances under 

 which bees seem " cross;" and although we 

 may not be able to account exactly for it, 

 we can take precautions to avoid these un- 

 pleasant features, by a little care. A few 

 years ago a very intelligent friend procured 

 some Italians, an extractor, etc., and com- 

 menced bee culture. He soon learned to 

 handle them, and succeeded finely; when it 

 came time to extract, the whole business 

 went on so easily that he was surprised at 

 what had been said about experienced hands 

 being needed to do the work. He had been 

 in the habit of doing this work as directed, 

 toward the middle of the day, while the 

 great mass of the bees were in the fields; 

 but in the midst of a heavy yield of clover 

 honey, when the hives were full to overflow- 

 ing, they were one day stopped by a heavy 

 thunder-shower. This, of course, drove the 

 bees home, and at the same time washed 

 the honey out of the blossoms so completely 

 that they had nothing to do but remain in 

 the hives until more was secreted. Not so 

 with their energetic and enthusiastic owner. 

 As soon as the rain had ceased, the hives 

 were again opened and an attempt made to 

 take out the frames, as but a few hours be- 

 fore; but the bees that were all gentleness 

 then, seemed now possessed of the very 

 spirit of mischief and malice: and when all 

 hands had been severely stung, they con- 

 cluded that prudence was the better part of 

 valor and stoi)ped operations for the day. 

 While loads of honey were coming in all the 

 while, and every bee rejoicing, none were 

 disposed to be cross; but after the shower, 

 all hands were standing around idle; and 

 when a hive was opened, each was ready to 



