230 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Fkb. 15 



determines the special character of the hive substance, especially when this is particularly 

 strong. This would happen in the spring during the increased sexual activity^ which is 

 demonstrated by the enormous number of eggs laid (2000 to 3500 and more in twenty-four 

 hours). That it is not always the determining factor, follows from the fact that there 

 remains a hive substance capable of causing reaction, even if the queen is taken out and 

 kept at a distance. 



At such a season, during the strongest breeding period, the bees care for the queen 

 with special zeal. It may not be the very "sympathetic" odor " alone which causes them 

 at ihis time to surround her in a close cluster, for her increased need of nourishment ^ 

 increases the constant care of the bees around her. Nevertheless, the singular pleasure that 

 bees take in the strong mint-like exhalation from the queen is shown in the attachment 

 of the "court," this aflfection being demonstrated by the single "courtiers," who from time 

 to time lick the abdomen or thorax most zealously, humming continually in a characteristic 

 "contented" way." 



The bees wish to sniff the odor, so to speak. A queen in an observation hive can be 

 seen constantly surrounded by a circle of brood nurses who continually turn the head to 

 her. If she advances slowly, the bees yield the way, moving backward. From time to 

 time the "caressing," licking, and feeding go on. It can be easily understood how this 

 attitude has often been interpreted as the expression of a peculiar reverence toward the 

 "ruler of the community." The "respectful" walking backward, the "tender" licking, the 

 irreproachable service (as the queen never leaves the hive, she is forced to deposit her 

 faeces in the hive, and the "courtiers" immediately clean away all traces) closely approach 

 anthropomorphic appearances. But perhaps it might be proven that the individuality of the 

 queen is the dominant factor. A foreign queen with the same strong odor of mint would 

 be stung in spite of the pleasure in the smell. 



In autumn and winter, also early in the spring, the bees concern themselves relatively 

 very little with the queen, and still less with a young virgin. The lessened exhalation (it is 

 as yet very weak) may explain this phenomenon in part. 



It seems to me that if the odor of the queen is extremely penetrating and adherent," 

 as it doubtless is, the view (mentioned also by Bethe) that the queen takes on the hive 

 odor of the queenless colony in which she is placed in a cage, is not correct in all cases, 

 for the colony is "scented" by the strong odor of the queen, which is distinctly perceptible 

 to our sense of smell. Very rightly, therefore, O. vom Rath" says that "the workers 

 first accustom themselves to the odor of the queen." The stronger, then, the exhalation 

 from the queen, the more easily must be her acceptance or, the scenting of the colony proceed ; 

 and consequently the mutual friendliness also. I find from many investigations that a 

 mated queen heavily laden with eggs is more easily accepted than an unfertilized one. The 

 following rules" of bee-keeping harmonize with this statement: i. "An unfertilized queen 

 is not accepted by many colonies if formerly they have had a fertilized one." 2. "The 

 older a queen is, the more readily is she accepted." 3. "Weak colonies accept queens more 

 easily than strong ones." 4. "Queens of the same kind are accepted with less difficulty 

 than those of different varieties; as for example, Italians, Caucasians, Cyprians, etc." Here 

 in every case the different odor of each variety plays its part. 



It may seem obvious that it is easier to demonstrate this scenting, whether it be on only 

 one side or mutual, with a weak colony, but here other instincts come into consideration 

 too, as we shall see further on. 



"Jaeger, Ueber die Bedeutung des Geschmacks- und Geruchsstoffes. Zeitschrift f. wissensch. Zoologie, 

 Bd. 27, p. 327. 1876. 



" In order to keep a swarm in the hive, the hive may be rubbed with thyme. 



'"As is well known, the queen can eat only honey independently; but the probosces of the workers 

 are necessary to feed her with nitrogenous food. 



*^ I might say again that anthropomorphic designations are chosen for purposes of clearer demon- 

 stration. 



" I took the queen from a strong colony, put her in a cage, and after a few minutes removed her. 

 Fifteen minutes later I placed the empty cage upon the flightboard of the colony concerned. Imme- 

 diately the bees scented the odor, and alighted fluttering upon the cage, which they had completely 

 ignored before (see also p. 7). 



** O. vom Rath, Ueber abnorme Zustande im Bienenvolk, Berichte der Naturf. Ges. Freiburg i. 

 Br., 8 Bd.. 1894. 



"Dathe, 1. c, p. 111. _J » 



