1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



169 



the hero in apiculture by sending a delegation to 

 escort him to Budapest. 



As had been done formerly, an exhibition was 

 connected witli tlie convention, and it was indeed 

 an extensive one; the feaj^ures of the same being: as 

 follows : 



31. Live bees; 2. Bee-liives; 3. Honey and beeswax; 

 4. Honey-products; 5. Tools and appliances; ti. Lit- 

 erature. 



The convention was formally opened l)y tlie 

 Minister of Commerce, Bela Luliacs. As tlie first 

 thing on the program, Dr. Dzierzon spoke on the 

 subject of "What is the i-eal value of some of the 

 latest discoveries?" He touched on but two. It 

 will be remembered that Rev. Mr. \\ urnstorf, of 

 Goslar. discovered a way of manufacturing c(jmb 

 with full-depth cells Dzierzon did not think the 

 use of such was an advantage, he preferring comb 

 foundation, considering the fact that the artificial 

 comb was four times as heavy as foundation; too 

 costly, and difficult to sliip. He believed founda- 

 tion answers all purposes as well or better. 



3. In regard to Rev. Mr. Weygandt's advanced 

 theory, that the excrements of the bees, when in a 

 healthy condition, were drj' and odorless, and dis- 

 charged inside of the hive, Dzierzon said: "Who- 

 ever is familiar with the nature of the bee also 

 knows that bees void an offensive-smelling brown- 

 ish fluid, and we bee-keepers are glad when our 

 bees are offered the opportunity to void in the 

 spring, etc. 



Next, Mr. Vogel introduced the subject: "Which 

 destroys the surplus queen-cells— bees or queens?" 

 and spoke at length. The gist of the matter was: 

 Under certain circumstances, the working bees 

 desti'oy the surplus cells; usually the queen does 

 this, and the workers help along; he emphasized 

 the idea tiuit the workers and not the queen were 

 the reigning element in tlie hive. 



Next, W. Guentlier presents his ideas regarding 

 the matter of: "Is it best to allow tlie queen full 

 sway inside of the hive, or would it be advisable 

 not to have the honey-apartment accessible to the 

 queen ?" Guentlier is in favor of using the exclud- 

 ingmetal between the brood :ind honey apartments. 



A most interesting- topic was given consideration 

 by Metzger, of Budapest, eoncerning the func- 

 tion of the spermatheca of the queen. Perhaps it 

 would be well to give this lecture a little more in 

 detail. Mr. Metzger said: 



" The spermatheca of the queen-bee has been sup- 

 posed to lie a receptacle for the seminal fiuid only, 

 performing the act of fertilizing the passing eggs 

 mechanically. A lifeless iiocket. or sack, might 

 possibly do this; but I doubted its being so, espe- 

 cially when considering the size of the receptacle in 

 proportion to the size and number of spermatozoa 

 it is expected to contain. After the closest exami- 

 nation and calculation, I could never make it seem 

 possible that the spermatheca contained more than 

 half a million ripe sperm-cells at one time. Still, 

 we know one queen may lay from one to two mil- 

 lions of eggs, and sometimes as many as ten sperm- 

 cells enter one egg in fertilizing it. I could also 

 not make it seem likely that the sperm transmitted 

 from the drone-cells should retain life and vigor for 

 a number of years. Therefore I took it upon me to 

 make microscopic examinations of the spermathe- 

 ca of different queens at different times or seasons; 

 and I found tiiat the spermatheca of a virgin queen 

 contains a transparent o|)alizing fluid, with floating 

 cells, the same being seedless. A fertile queen has 

 in her spermatheca a milky-white fluid with sperm- 

 atozoa, or finished sperm-cells, and also unfinished 

 cells with seeds, the same being the spermatozoa in 

 process of development." 



Mr. Metzger makes here a distinction between fin- 

 ished {or ripe) sperm-cells, and unfinished (or grow- 

 ing) cells. Such a distinction has not been made 

 before by any one. to my knowledge. Even Prof. 

 Cook speaks of the sperm-cells in a general wav 

 only. Mr. Metzger adds: 



"Furthermore, 1 fintl that the contents of a 

 queen's spermatheca, during tht season of her 

 greatest activity, is a thin fluid, and, under the 

 microscope, the ripe sperm-cells immediately sliow 

 signs of life, wliile during that part of the season 

 when a queen is not fully employed, the contents of 

 the spermatheca are a tliick fluid; and the ripe 

 sperm-cells show life only when the contents are 

 first somewhat diluted with weak salt wafer. Dur- 

 ing the winter season, the contents of the fertile 

 queen's spermatheca are a mass of sperm - cells 

 resembling felt; and, even after adding salt water. 



as before, they could not be made to show any signs 

 of life. Fertile queens always have unfinislied cells 

 with seeds present in the spermatheca. After due 

 consideration of the foregoing, 1 conclude that the 

 spermatheca is a gland, producing cells, its func- 

 tions being similar to those of tlie poison-gland, 

 ovaries, piilvili, or the testicles of the drone. The 

 latter also produce cells with seeds which lengthen 

 out at both ends until they appear as the finished 

 hair-like sperm-cells, or spermatozoa. The increase 

 of the cells can go on only when sufllciently sur- 

 rounded by fluid. Since the spermatheca of the 

 queen, after once having come in contact with the 

 drone, continues to produce cells with seeds, I be- 

 lieve it is reasonable to suppose that these cells 

 develop into ripe sperm-cells, according as they are 

 needed. T'lie queen takes little nourishment in 

 winter, and tlierefore the spermatheca is nearly 

 dry and dead. The more food the queen takes, the 

 more fluid her spermatheca gathers, and the more 

 cells are produced, which develop into the ripe 

 sperm-cells." 



Long-continued applause followed these words, 

 and gave proof that Mr. Metzger's work was valued. 



Of other matters, I will only mention G. Lichten- 

 thaler's interesting talk on " Formic acid as an an- 

 tiseptic agent in the bee-hive, especially in its 

 relation to foul brood." He tried to show that 

 formic acid preserves the general health of a 

 colony. He found that newly hatched bees had no 

 traces of acid in the poison-sac; older bees had 

 more and field bees a full amount. He thus showed 

 why it was that the sting of a young bee is so much 

 more harmless than that of an old bee. By robbing 

 a colonj- of its Hying bees, the best formic-acid 

 producers, we prepare, so he claimed, a more fer- 

 tile field for disease and fungus growth. He ob- 

 served that bees, when working on buckwheat, 

 produced the greatest amount of formic acid, and 

 he deemed the buckwheat season the most favora- 

 ble time for subduing foul brood. 



The meeting adjourned to meet again in 1893, in 

 Heidelberg. 



REPORT OF THE BEE KEEPERS' STATE CON- 

 VENTION, AT LOS ANGELES, CAL. 



A KKPOHT BY THE RAMBLER. 



The bee-keepers of California came up with 

 smiling faces lo the convention in Los Angeles 

 on the 7th and 8th of Feb.; and, although there 

 were dripping skies a portion of the time, the 

 smiles held otit. Although rain in February 

 does not certainly presage a good honey-yield, 

 it is a straw that points that way, and straws 

 of that nature are eagerly grasped for by bee- 

 keepers. 



Pres. Mclntyre and wife were among the first 

 to arrive; and the world and the raging Sespe 

 seemed to have used them well during the past 

 year, and their greetings were cordial to all. 



The gavel rapped the buzzing crowd to order 

 at 10 A.M. on Tuesday. 



The two hours before noon were nearly all 

 taken up with reports and routine business. 

 This out of the way, and lunch attended to, all 

 were ready for the afternoon meeting at 1:30. 

 Meanwhile the old Southern California associ- 

 ation had met at 1 o'clock, and, after a few 

 resolutions, remarks, etc., the few members of 

 that organization who were present voted 

 unanimously to merge themselves into the State 

 association. The latter, when called to order, 

 accepted the disbanded organization, and en- 

 rolled their names all in good standing upon 

 their books. TIk'Iv may be a few who were not 

 present who may be dissatisfied with the order 

 of things: but the State organization has upon 

 its banner the words, "With m.ilice toward 

 none, and charity for all," and, by its deeds, 

 hopes to advance the cause of apiculture on the 

 whole Pacific coast. 



President Mclntyre's annual address review- 

 ed the past year, dwelt upon adulteration, and 



