THACEIJA. 



826 



POISONOUS HONEY. 



The conclusion frequently drawn from 

 this theory is that the queen can voluntarily 

 control the sex of an egg by withholding or 

 allowing its fertilization. It is sometimes 

 further held that all eggs in the ovary are 

 male, and the sex changed by fertilization. 

 Tliese conclusions are not based on observa- 

 tion, and proof is entirely lacking. In a 

 statement of the tlieory, therefore, it is nec- 

 essary to stick to known facts. 



The Dzierzon theory has been combated 

 by many different scientists, most recently 

 by Dickel, a German bee-keeper with scien- 

 tific aspirations. While the theory has been 

 somewhat modified by recent Avork, it re- 

 mains the prevalent view to-day, and Dickel 

 generally receives the condemnation so 

 richly deserved. 



I'artlienogenesis occurs in many other or- 

 ders of botli plants and animals, and a com- 

 parison of the various results is most inter- 

 esting. Merely to cite some cases for com- 

 parison: In the bee, only males are produced 

 parthenogenetically; in certain lepidoptera. 

 only females are so produced ; while in 

 plant-lice and certain small Crustacea, both 

 males and females are produced from unfer 

 tilized eggs. Ants were formerly supposed 

 to have a parthenogenetic development iden- 

 tical with that seen in the honey-bee; but 

 more recent work makes this doubtful as a 

 general statement. The silkworm is occa- 

 sionally parthenogenetic. 



PEDDLING HONEY. See HoNEY-PED- 

 dling; also Extracted Honey. 



FEFFER-TAEE {Schinus molle). From 

 Peru. This is really not a pepper-tree at 

 all; its flowers and the honey have a pep- 

 pery flavor, and the seeds resemble pepper. 

 It is a magnificent shade-tree, and in Cali- 

 fornia has been very largely planted. The 

 honey is thick and dark, but it serves a 

 verv useful purpose in helping the bees to 

 tide over bad times without feeding. It is 

 under a ban now, as it is supposed to harbor 

 injurious insects; but it seems probable 

 these pests would still exist even if all pep- 

 per-trees were destroyed. 



PERFORATED ZINC. See Dkones. 



FHACZililA [P. tanacetifolia) has been 

 boomed as a lioney and forage plant in Eu- 

 rope, introduced there from California. 

 Some, however, deny its value as a for- 

 age-plant, and not till 1904 did any Cali- 

 fornian even mention it as such. There is 

 no question, however, that it is a honey- 

 plant of the first rank, having a blue flower 

 much lesembling heliotrope, the beauty of 



which makes it worthy of a place in the 

 flower-garden, where the bees may be found 

 on it in great numbers. 



PICKLED BROOD. 



Bees. 



See Diseases of 



POISONED BROOD See Fkuit-hlos- 



SOMS. 



POISONOUS HONEY. There are cases 

 on record, apparently authenticated, which 

 seem to show that honey gathered from 

 flowers of plants that are in themselves poi- 

 sonous is also poisonous either to human 

 beings or to the bees themselves, or both. 

 Xenophon tells how, in the memorable march 

 of the ten thousand Greek soldiers to the 

 sea, some of them were taken seriously ill 

 after eating poisonous honey. The facts 

 are so carefully and minutely recorded as to 

 leave no doubt of the honey-poisoning. 



The wild honey iu one or two of the South- 

 ern States, in a very few isolated localities, 

 is reported to produce sickness, and in 

 some instances this is so sudden and violent 

 that it has given occasion for alarm. In 

 cert tin regions of Virginia, especially near 

 Halifax Court-house, there is grown in the 

 mountains, quite extensively, mountain lau- 

 rel. The bees are very fond of it; and while 

 it does not seem to affect them particularly, 

 it is dangerous to human beings, or at least 

 so reported. The plant itself is an extreme- 

 ly distressing narcotic, varying in effects ac- 

 cording to the quantity taken into the stom- 

 ach. Dr. Grammer, of Halifax Court-house, 

 repoi ts that, during the late civil war, him- 

 self and quite a number of comrades weie 

 poisoned by eating honey from this plant. 

 There was, he says, a queer sensation of tin- 

 gling all over, indistinct vision, with an 

 empty, dizzy feeling about the head, and a 

 horrible nausea that could not be relieved 

 by vomiting. This lasteil for an hour or so, 

 while the effects did not Avear off for several 

 days. 



Another honey-plant yielding honey said 

 to be poisonous is the yellow jasmine found 

 in certain localities of Georgia, especially in 

 the vicinity of Augusta. The roots, leaves, 

 and flowers are all highly poisonous; and 

 Dr. J. P. H. Brown, a bee-keeper, says the 

 honey from it is also of like character, as he 

 knows of several persons who came very 

 near losing their lives by eating it. In his 

 opinion bees do not work on it from choice; 

 for when other bloom is jielding honey at 

 the same time, the jasmine flowers are sel- 

 dom visited. 



Notwithstanding these reported cases. 



