1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



807 



"WEIGHT OF BEES. 



PROF. COOK REVIEWS THE SUBJECT. 



T HAVE felt much interested in this matter of 

 /MP the weight of bees. I find in Keys' old work, 

 W p. 92, thefollowing: 



-*• WEIGHT OP BEES. 



100 drones 1 oz. 



29.) workers 1 oz. 



4.640 workers lib. 



915 workers .3% oz. 



1,830 workers, a pint, or 6 oz. and 5 drs. 

 3,660 workers, a quart, or 12 oz. and 10 drs. 



29,280 workers, a peck, or 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 6 drs. 



Keys adds:—" This statement is made on an aver- 

 age; for they will not prove twice exactly alike, 

 because of their different degrees of fullness, etc." 



I asked one of our students, Mr. John W. White, 

 of Lancaster, Wis., to weigh bees, and see how ours 

 agreed with those of Keys, and with those reported 

 by you in Gleanings. Mr. White gave his paper 

 before our Natural-History Society last evening. 

 Like Keys, Mr. White found the variation large. 

 He also found that bees a short time dead weighed 

 less than those just killed. I have found it neces- 

 sary to kill bees, when weighing, as the motion of 

 their wings will often make a large difference in re- 

 sults. Our bees seem heavier than either those of 

 Keys or those at Medina. Let me say, that our 

 weighings are all done on scales so delicate that 

 they will almost weigh a thought or sigh. Mr. 

 White weighed seven lots of ten each. These bees 

 had been long fasting, and were just beginning to 

 die of starvation. The average was 4106 to the lb. 

 While these bees were all near the starvation limit, 

 yet there was considerable variation in weight. 

 Mr. White chloroformed these bees. After they re- 

 covered from the stupor, he fed ten bees all they 

 would take, and then weighed them. These weigh- 

 ed 15 milligrams per bee more than the others, or 

 3626 bees to the lb. The results of Mr. White's 

 weights were a surprise to me, and so I thought I 

 would verify their accuracy. 1 weighed 20 bees 

 that were caught from the hives. They were then 

 carried in my pocket for two or three hours in a 

 cage while walking about. These bees weighed 108 

 milligrams per bee, or at the rate of 4222 to the 

 pound. Another lot of the same number, taken aft- 

 er they had sipped all that they would, were chloro- 

 formed, and weighed at once. These weighed 123 

 milligrams per bee, or at the rate of 3781 to the 

 pound. So, friend Root, I think your old average, 

 4000 bees to the pound, is more nearly correct for 

 our bees than is your more recent estimate. I feel 

 very certain that our bees will average 4000 to the 

 pound; and I think that, when full fed, they will 

 hardly reach more than 3330. You will note that, 

 when starved, they reach only 4225 to the pound. 

 Our bees are a cross between the Syrian and Carni- 

 olan. There may be a trace of Italian and German 

 blood, and doubtless is. I had always thought that 

 the Syrian race seemed large, and visitors often 

 say, " Your bees seem very large;" yet I had not 

 supposed there could be so much difference. Of 

 what race were the bees you weighed? 



Agricultural College, Mich. A. J. Cook. 



The account of your weighings is very in- 

 teresting, friend. Cook. Your figures are 

 considerably lower than those we report in 

 Gleanings for August 1, page 643. If we 

 were both accurate in our weighings, then 

 there certainly must be a difference in the 



size of the bees. But this, it seems to us, 

 ought not to account for all the difference. 

 Although your scales are probably exceed- 

 ingly sensitive, yet it seems to us there 

 must be some little chance for variation, be- 

 cause friend White weighed only ten bees 

 each time ; and from this as a basis he fig- 

 ured the number in a pound. We have 

 some scales here at the Home of the Iloney- 

 Bees that are sensitive enough to show a 

 variation when a bit of paper is thrown 

 upon the platform. Now, instead of tak- 

 ing ten bees we weighed a thousand, and 

 then calculated the number in a pound, the 

 thousand bees having been counted by a 

 careful man. Now, do you feel sure that 

 your scales, however delicate they may be, 

 "would always record the exact weight of 

 only ten bees? The bees we weighed were 

 Italians. They had been dead but a few 

 hours, and had but a little honey in their 

 honey-sacs. You say the bees you weighed 

 were a cross between Carniolan aud Syrian. 

 The Carniolans certainly do look larger than 

 Italians ; and according to Mr. Cheshire's 

 measuremente they are larger. We have 

 seen Syrians that appeared larger than Ital- 

 ians ; yet to us most of them seem smaller. 

 Would it be too muoh trouble for Mr. White 

 to weigh some pure Italians, and count out, 

 say, a hundred, and weigh them? We will 

 send him some in a mailing-cage. Perhaps 

 the difference in the size of bees will ac- 

 count for the difference in our results. 



MANUM IN THE APIARY "WITH HIS 

 MEN. 



HOUSES in night caps and night-gowns. 



u 



COTT, have you a load of honey ready for 

 | me to take home? " 

 ■fHj| "Yes, sir; two of them." 

 ■^ "Good! the more the better. I see the 

 bees are not doing very much today. 1 

 think basswood is about past, as there seem to 

 be a good many bees around the door of the honey- 

 house. I will back the wagon up to the door, and 

 you may come and help me cover up the horses. 



"There, take this thin cotton hood and cover the 

 old horse's head with it while 1 do the same by the 

 colt. See how the old horse holds his head down; 

 he knows what it all means. Yes, he knows as well 

 as I do when we are near an apiary. He has had 

 experience with stings, hence he is always willing 

 to have his head covered. There, now we will 

 throw these blankets (made of same material) over 

 their bodies, and tie them in front to protect the 

 breast. There, you see they are well protected; 

 and as these covers go down to their knees, the 

 bees do not hang around the horses when thus cov- 

 ered. Formerly we used only our coats to throw 

 over the horses' heads. That asswered very well, 

 as that caused the horses to keep quiet. Although 

 our horses were never stung when only the coats 

 were used, yet I was always afraid they would be; 

 and as the coats had to be removed before starting 

 with a load, they were then liable to be stung be- 

 fore getting out of range of the bees. But with 

 these blankets it is different, as we can drive all the 

 way home with them if we wish; but we usually re- 

 move them half a mile away from the yards. These 



