JULY 15, 1913 



about a dozen rods away. Below that ho- 

 rizon the wall appeared a faint gray (dilute 

 black), and above it strong white. Why 

 they tried to go that way instead of through 

 the brilliant east wall (morning observa- 

 tion) I do not attempt to explain. 



The house was then covered with another 

 layer of Avhite cloth with a space of one 

 inch between the layers. The bees at once 

 ceased the attempts to go over that tree- 

 line, for it Avas no longer to be seen; but 

 they did something else. In the early morn- 

 ing, say from five to seven o'clock (mid- 

 summer obsei-vations), they started for the 

 " bright spot " where the sun was to be seen 

 through the east walls. When the sun got 

 more overhead they flew about freely, work- 

 ing on food in the center of the room and 

 carrying it back to their hives. 



The hives were placed on the floor close 

 to the walls, entrances all pointing to the 

 center of the room. Sometimes there was 

 only one hive, sometimes four or five. The 

 hives were all alike ; and when four were 

 used one was in the middle of each side of 

 the room, yet the bees and virgin queens 

 always found their way into their own 

 Mves. How did they do it? I am not an- 

 swering that question. It is up to you. 



One day when showing the work to a 

 guest, I had to do more or less talking, and 

 several times bees flew toward my eyes or 

 mouth. Several times when in conversation 

 in the apiary I have had bees fly into my 

 mouth, and been stung on the tongue — hot 

 sauce, I can assure you — really quite ahead 

 of Tabasco. Why did they go for the rela- 

 tively dark cavity of the mouth? Did they 

 see the red? Or was it the wagging tongue? 



In the cloth house, bees tried to go 

 through black or dark objects, resulting in 

 thumping their heads and making them 

 lussy. Then they would back off, come up 

 slower, and apparently " feel their way " 

 up to the object. If it was a hard substance 

 they sometimes hit it forcefully enough to 

 stun them. If it was fuzzy like black felt 

 they sometimes, after hitting it, would hov- 

 er angrily before it. 



My interpretation is this : Bees do not 

 readily measure their distance from black 

 objects, and in rapid flight strike them be- 

 fore they realize they are close to them. 

 Irritation, of course, folloAvs; and if the 

 slightest hint of poison was deposited on 

 the object, or the object has an odor or 

 motion, the bee pitches in to " do up " the 

 fellow that hit it. 



If any object, regardless of color, gets 

 an odor of bee-poison on it, bees will sure- 

 ly assail it as soon as that odor is percepti- 

 ble to them. If the object is a hat or gloves 

 or some other garment, only two courses 



489 



are open as a remedy — namely, deodorize 

 the article or change to clean ones. The 

 odor of bee-sting poison is quite tenacious, 

 and not easy to obliterate. 



The bee's sense of smell is much keener 

 than its sense of sight, hence it behooves us 

 to keep on apparel free from sting poison. 

 Once let gloves or hat get well scented with 

 it, and your name is 'iggins. 

 • We all know how peevish the bees are 

 after a storm, but how many know the 

 cause? It is this: The bees' nerves are 

 rasped by the colors of the rainbow. Rain- 

 bows are perfectly be(e)autiful, but the 

 color waves make the bees so seasick that 

 they just want to die, and you are the op- 

 portunity. 



Providence, R. I. 



BEES DISLIKE BLACK FURS BECAUSE THEY 

 RESEMBLE BEARS 



BY FRED J. CARTAN 



I have read with considerable interest 

 the article by John H. Lovell, " Why do 

 Bees Dislike Black ? " and while he may be 

 correct I have often thought that the anger 

 aroused in bees by the appearance of any 

 black hairy animal was a survival from 

 past ages when the ancestors of our little 

 friends made their homes in the trees of 

 the forest as well as under ledges, and per- 

 haps in the ground. 



During the time I have lived in Oregon 

 I have found a good many bee-trees; and to 

 the best of my recollection every one bore 

 the mark of bear-claws. Some of them ^Id 

 homes of bees) had been visited many times 

 by Bruin in a vain endeavor to despoil the 

 inmates of their stores of sweets. It is a 

 well-known fact that bears are very fond of 

 honey, as well as of the bi'ood and even 

 fully developed bees. 



I have a neighbor living near one of my 

 beeyards who, two years ago, had sever- 

 al stands of bees located about a mile from 

 his home. They were found by a bear ; and 

 from the " sign," Mr. Bear had made sever- 

 al visits and had devoured every thing but 

 the hives and frames. He had picked up 

 the hives in his "arms," and carried them 

 over a common rail fence into the brush, 

 and no two in the same place. 



Now, the black bear is a tree-climber, and 

 is widely distributed over the earth. That 

 the wild bees have had to fight the black 

 bear for untold ages will not be doubted 

 by any one at all familiar with the animal's 

 traits. This being so, would it not account 

 for the bee's hatred of black, and especially 

 of a black furry animal? I am inclined to 

 think that it is a survival, the same as theij 



