April, '22] MERRILL: HONEY STORING ABILITIES 125 



THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SOME PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 

 OF THE BEE AND ITS HONEY-STORING ABILITIES ^ 



By J. H. Merrill, Apiarist, Kansas State Agricultural Experiment Station 



It has long been known that some colonies in a beeyard exceed others 

 in the amount of honey they store. As a remedy for this condition, 

 it has been urged to have all the colonies strong before the honey flow 

 begins and to have them as nearly the same strength as possible. Yet, 

 even when this advice has been followed, bees of the same race, raised 

 from queens of the same age and strain, differ in the amount of honey 

 that they store. In an attempt to learn why these facts exist, the 

 following experiment is being conducted at this station. 



During the summer of 1920, four colonies of bees, numbered 5, 6, 7, 

 and 8 respectively, were selected to be used for this experiment. In 

 1921, the niimber of colonies used was increased to six and numbered 

 1, 2. 3, 4, 5, and 6. During both years the colonies selected were nearly 

 equal in strength, the queens used were of the same age, and raised 

 by the same breeder. Throughout both siimmers the same manipula- 

 tions were made with each colony. 



At the beginning of the summer the exact number of bees, the amount 

 of honey in each hive, and the amount of brood were determined by a 

 system of weighing. In July, 1921, a mid-season weighing was made 

 before the main honey flow ended. In the fall of the year another 

 weighing was made to ascertain the total amount of honey that had 

 been stored in each colony during the season. 



Collections were made daily of ten bees returning to each hive, and 

 when possible a second collection was made during the day. These 

 bees were then taken to the laboratory where the tongue (glossa) of 

 each was measured, the amount of nectar in its stomach was weighed 

 to determine its carrying capacity, and then the weight of the bee, 

 together with its empty honey stomach and tongue was determined. 

 During 1920, bees filled with nectar returning from the field were col- 

 lected, and the nectar was weighed. Since nectar from different plants 

 varies in specific gravity, it was decided in 1921 to allow the bees to di- 

 gest the nectar which they had brought in, and then feed them with a 

 sweetened solution of standard strength. During the summer of 1920, 

 2880 bees were examined and the results recorded. It was found that 



•Contribution No. 74, from the Entomological Laboratory, Kansas State Agricul- 

 tural College. This paper embodies some of the results obtained in the prosecution 

 of project No. 126 of the Agricultural Experiment Station. 



