86 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 4, 1904. 



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Contributed Articles 



} 



Life of Bees— England and America Agree. 



BY G. M. DOOI,ITTI,E. 



I HAVE read aud re-read the comments of D. M. M. and 

 the editorial remarks thereon, as found qu pag^e 820 



U903), and, notwithstanding the conclusion that " The 

 Life of Bees " might be a " matter that should be taken up 

 by the experiment stations," I do not see that such should be 

 the case from any material difference which comes from 

 the experiment as conducted by D. M. M., and those which 

 have been conducted in the United States. The experiment 

 of D. M. M., as he reports, really shortens the lengfth of life 

 of the worker-bee in the working season from the six 

 weeks, as formerly given by our experiments on this side of 

 '■the water," to only 40 days on the England side ; instead 

 of its being 61 days, as figured out on page 820. [This was 

 corrected on page 19. — Ed.] Assuming that D. M. M. re- 

 moved his black queen on June 6, as he gives the matter, 

 the last black bee would not have emerged from her cell 

 until 21 days thereafter, which would make the date we 

 should figure from, in getting the life of those bees, as June 

 27. And as he says that all had disappeared on August 6, 

 we have the matter thus : 3 days remaining in June, dur- 

 ing which the last-emerged bee really lived; 31 in July, and 

 6 in August, supposing that the latest descendant of the re- 

 moved black queen died on that date (Aug-. 6). Thus, we 

 have in days lived by those last emerged bees, 3, 31 and 6 

 added together, which makes just 40 days instead of the 61 ; 

 for in this matter we cannot consistently say that the bee is 

 living in the "real life form" while it is in the egg, larva, 

 or pupa state of its existence. 



And if the above is right, to which think all will agree, 

 then it would go to prove that from some reason, such as 

 the state of atmosphere, longer journeys after forage, or 

 different environments, England is not so conducive to 

 length of life in or with the bees as is the United States ; 

 for our experiments here have repeatedly shown that black 

 bees live in this country 42 days, as against the 40 in the 

 experiment of D. M. M. 



I see that D. M. M. marvelled over the rapid disappear- 

 ance of the black bees, especially during the last " fort- 

 night." That was just the way it appeared to me in my ex- 

 periments. But there is an item here that we often lose 

 sight of, and one that has much to do with the having of 

 the maximum number of bees on the stage of action in just 

 the right time for the honey harvest of any given season of 

 the year. That colony of his did not reach its maximum 

 strength, as given by that black queen, till June 27, or just 

 21 days after she had been killed or removed from the col- 

 ony ; that is, if his clime and localitv is anything as it is 

 here in New York State. He estima'tes that his colony had 

 30,000 bees in it at the time he put in the Italian queen, and, 

 if so, I venture that the same colony had at least 45,000 bees 

 on June 27, at the date of the last emerging black bee ; for, 

 with me, queens very nearly or quite double the amount of 

 eggs they lay during 24 hours between May 16 (the time 

 the last eggs were laid for those bees which were in the 

 colony when he estimates them at 30,000) and June 6. In 

 other words, if any queen is laying ISOO eggs a day on May 

 16, in this locality, she will be laying from 2500 to 3000 

 each day during the first half of the month of June. Hence, 

 all will see why it appeared that the " decrease in numbers 

 was something extraordinary " during the last fortnight, 

 for there were nearly double the bees to die each day during 

 that time that there were at the time of the introduction of 

 the Italian queen. My experience would say that the bees 

 were dying during the first days of August at the rate of 

 from 2000 to 2500, instead of the 500 that he gives as the 

 average. 



Some seem to think that this age of bees, or how long 

 the3' live, amounts to nothing except as those who write 

 about it have a little scientific controversy over the matter ; 

 but I claim that on this thing hangs something of vital im- 

 portance to every practical bee-keeper. Supposing that 

 from some reason that Italian queen had been killed, and 

 that no other had begun to lay till 20 days later, as would 

 have been the result had no queen been given (as is usually 

 the case where nature takes its course after a queen is re- 



moved) ; then D. M. M. would have had a colony right in 

 the height of the basswood honey-flow, had he lived in this 

 State, with a big shortage pf bees just when they were 

 needed the most. 



I do not know that I have made this as plain as I might 

 have done, but the practical thing I wish to impress on 

 every apiarist is this: Don't remove any queen, if you can 

 possibly help it, from any colony during any time from 40 

 to 70 days previous to your expected honey-flow — that from 

 which you expect to derive a surplus ; for if you do, you will 

 cut the laborers short during your harvest by about 2,000 to 

 3,000 for each day there is no laying queen in the hive, and 

 this cutting short often makes the difference between a 

 paying crop of honey and no crop at all. 



I knew a bee-keeper who once changed all his queens 

 during the last half of May and the first half of June, ac- 

 cording to the advice of a neighbor, allowing each colony to 

 rear its own queen, and the result was that he got scarcely 

 100 pounds of honey from his whole apiary, while the bees 

 about him did fully as well as usual. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Carbon Bisulphide as an Insecticide. 



BY J. H. BEATTIK. 



DURING the last few years carbon bisulphide has been 

 much used as an agent for destroying insects and ver- 

 min infesting grain, dwellings, mills, elevators, etc. 

 It has many qualities which make it highly desirable for 

 such purposes. It is not poisonous to the higher animals 

 when taken in small quantities, hence an inexperienced 

 person can use it with comparative safety. This is true of 

 very few of the best insecticides. They are either extremely 

 poisonous, or so difficult to handle that they can not be used 

 by any but an expert. 



Carbon bisulphide, under atmospheric pressure, is a gas, 

 but it may easily be kept in the liquid state by keeping,it 

 in air-tight vessels. It may even be preserved by placing it 

 in an open vessel and covering it with water. The pressure 

 given by the weight of the water is sufficient to prevent it 

 from volatilizing. The specific gravity of carbon bisulphide 

 at 0° C. is 1.20. When in the gaseous state it has a 

 specific gravity of 2.63 as compared with air. This fact 

 makes it very useful for places like granaries where the top 

 is open while the bottom part of the granary is tight. 



One of the greatest objections to the use of many of the 

 more common insecticides lies in the fact that they can not 

 be used where there may be either prepared or raw materi- 

 als. For example, hydrocyanic acid can not be used where 

 there are food materials, as it is a gas only at relatively high 

 temperatures, and hence will condense on cold subjects such 

 as potatoes, apples, etc. Again, it is very soluble in water, 

 and as all prepared food-stuffs contain a large percent of 

 water, it will readily be seen that these food-stuffs would 

 most surely be poisoned if the building containing them 

 was to be fumigated with hydrocyanic acid. On the other 

 hand, carbon bisulphide is free from both the above-named 

 faults. It will neither condense on cold objects, nor will it 

 in the least injure food-stuffs. It may even be used on pre- 

 pared foods, and, provided that it is given time to evaporate 

 these foods, may be used without the slightest danger. 



Carbon bisulphide is not poisonous to man unless 

 breathed in comparatively large quantities. It will, when 

 taken in excessive quantities, produce dizziness, congestion, 

 coma, and finally death. It affects the heart action espec- 

 ially. Persons having weak hearts will do well to keep 

 away from carbon bisulphide. 



The variety of uses to which carbon bisulphide may be 

 put is very large. It may be used around the dwelling to 

 destroy cockroaches, mice, rats, flies, etc. It may be used 

 to rid grain of weevil or similar pests. It may be used to 

 rid mills and elevators of the flour-moth, or, in fact, of any 

 insect or animal. It is quite often used to destroy ant-hills. 

 It has been used with great success to kill gophers or wood- 

 chucks in their burrows. It is quite often used in conserva- 

 tories to rid the plants of lice. It must be said, however, 

 that as a general rule hydrocyanic acid will be found more 

 satisfactory for this last purpose. 



Carbon bisulphide may be obtained on the market in 

 cases of various sizes. The one-pound can will be found to 

 be a very satisfactory size for most people. Persons intend- 

 ing to fumigate large buildings will, of course, find it more 

 economical to buy the bisulphide in large quantities. 



As to the amount of carbon bisulphide to use for build- 

 ings, proceed as follow : Calculate the cubical contents of 



