394 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



being recorded on a scale. For my 

 partition I took what was evidently 

 the egg-shell or cover of some micro- 

 scopic animal. I attached it by one 

 end to a larger body, and the whole 

 thing stood over a delicate scale that 

 was cut in the glass slide, and as the 

 animals rushed along they struck the 

 partition or hand and pulled it around 

 the scale." 



" Wtiat was the result ?" 



" Well, to tell the truth, tlie first 

 one that came along broke down the 

 partition, and I have not yet been 

 able to adjust it again. I have in 

 hand another instrument, with which 

 1 intend to measure tlie movements 

 of the wings and legs of insects per 

 minute and second, and I think they 

 can be photographed as well as the 

 feet of a trotter while in motion. 

 This will be tine work, as vvitli a sim- 

 ple instrument I liave shown that the 

 wings of a common house-fly move 

 more tlian 200 times per second, and 

 the machine lost more than lialf the 

 vibrations. I luive watclied a fly for 

 five minutes hanging itlmost in one 

 spot under a chandelier, kept up by 

 the continuous movements .of its 

 wings, and estimated tliat the opera- 

 tion required over 100,000 beats of the 

 wings, or over 400 a second, or 800 

 simple oscillations ; and the liouse-fly 

 is not as lively as some otliers of the 

 tribe. I have, in following bees to 

 find tlieir nest, found tliat tliey are 

 on the wing 30 miuutes in 4.5, tlie 

 allowance being for the time in which 

 they were on flowers, and during ttiat 

 period they must have beat their 

 wings 342,000 times. A spider can 

 bind a fly securely, winding 20 or 30 

 cables of silk about it, in less than a 

 second and a lialf. These rapid move- 

 ments show the wonderful physical 

 power of small animals. Here are 

 some contrivances to measure the 

 strength of beetles and large insects." 



One was a long box sanded on the 

 bottom, with glass sides. At the end 

 was a small friction wheel, over 

 whicli ran a silken thread. On one 

 end was attached a tissue paper re- 

 ceptacle for weights, and the other 

 was tied in a slip-noose. A large 

 black ant was taken from a flask, the 

 noose caught around its body, and on 

 being released, rushed .-wvay up the 

 miniature street, hoisting the scales 

 and three grains of corn with the 

 greatest ease. A small red ant was 

 then brouglit out, and, after several 

 false starts, and showing evidence of 

 a decidedly mulisli disposition, it ran 

 oil, hoisting a very iieavy pea. 



" An ant can carry a weight about 

 7.5 times its own." the naturalist said. 

 " If you had the muscle of one of 

 these little creatures, in proi)ortion to 

 your size, you could lift about 11,000 

 pounds." 



Prairie Farmer. 



Suggestions for the Season. 



MRS. L. HARRISON. 



tS^~ The Cortland Union liee - Keepers' 

 Association will hold a basket picnic at the 

 apiary of Mr. Miles Morton, at Groton. N. Y., 

 on Tuesday. Aufr. 18, IHS.'j. All bee-keepers, 

 with their families, are cordially invited to 

 be present. W. H. Beach, Sec. 



tS~ The Bee-Keepers' Association of Cen- 

 tral Illinois will meet at Bloomington, Ills., 

 on July 1.5, 188.5, at 10 a. m. 



Wm. B. Lawrence, Sec. 



I have just been working in the 

 apiary, and I find that bees are not 

 increasing in numbers as fast as is 

 desirable at this time of year. The 

 first swarm of the season issued on 

 May 21. It is very dry in this locality, 

 and what fruit-bloom there was 

 yielded but little nectar. Many colo- 

 nies were lost by " spring dwindling " 

 during May ; some labeled " good ' a 

 few weeks ago, have all gone visiting 

 and have forgotten to return. 



Tl'e loss of bees during tlie past 

 winter was very great. An apiarist 

 told me lately that in an adjoining 

 township to the one in wliich he lived, 

 there were 14") colonies last autumn, 

 and now tliere is but one. There is 

 demand for bees at present, and prob- 

 ably will be for a year or more. The 

 larvije of moths are now appearing, 

 and all combs from which bees have 

 died, sliould be examined. These 

 lubberly objects are great cowards, 

 and revel in darkness and quiet ; 

 wlien a comb is removed from a hive, 

 they are alarmed, stick out their 

 heads, and may be readily discovered. 

 It takes warmth to develop these 

 larviB, and if only half the requisite 

 number of combs are kept in a hive, 

 and so doubling the distance between 

 them, they will not be infested early 

 in the season ; or if hung in a light, 

 airy room about three inches apart, 

 they can be preserved until another 

 season. 



Italian bees often swarm without 

 having constructed queen-cells. I 

 have examined a colony from wliieh 

 the swarm liad issued, for the pur- 

 pose of saving all the queen-cells. 

 Tlie colony may intend to swarm 

 several times, but if a long continued 

 rain occurs, and a queen emerges, she 

 will make it iier lirst duty to destroy 

 all rivals ; if tlie weather is fine, and 

 an after-swarm issues, the new queen 

 will leave with it, the remaining cells 

 being unharmed. Bees protect the 

 cells according to their intentions 

 with reference to the issue of after- 

 swarms. I have seen swarms no 

 larger than an apple, when clustered ; 

 such are of no value when left to 

 themselves, but if strengthened with 

 emerging brood, the young queen may 

 prove valuable, and soon make a good, 

 prosperous colony. 



When combs containing brood and 

 bees are removed from a colony for 

 llie purpose of forming a nucleus, all 

 the bees except the very young will 

 return to their queen. But when a 

 colony has queen cells and no queen, 

 if a comb is removed with bees and a 

 queen-cell, more of the bees will 

 remain. I took frames of brood con- 

 taining bees and ciueen-cells, and 

 formecl nuclei. AVhen the young 

 queens become fertile. I will either 

 build them up into strong colonies, or 

 introduce them to queenless colonies. 

 The prosperity of a colony depends 

 upon its queen, hence queens should 

 be reared from the very best colonies. 

 In all apiaries of any size, some colo- 



nies will be found more populous 

 than the others ; others again excel in 

 honey-gatlicring, and queens should 

 be reared from those containing the 

 best traits. All queenless bees will 

 immediately construct queen-cells, 

 when furnished eggs, or larvae, not 

 over three days old, and these should 

 be supplied from the best colonies. 

 Peoria,© Ills. 



ror She American Bee Journni. 



Half-Pound Packages of Bees. 



MAHALA B. CHADDOCK. 



Some fear that a half-pound of bees 

 is not enough to build up a colony 

 with, when put on the combs of lioney 

 where the bees liave died. I want to 

 say that a lalf-pound of bees is plenty 

 to start w'ith, as they will keep the 

 moths out of the combs, and will 

 soon grow into a colony. How do I 

 know ':' I know from experience. 



A neighbor of mine sent for three 

 half-pound packages of bees with a 

 dollar queen in each ; I clipped the 

 queens' wings and helped put them 

 into the hives ; ten days later I ex- 

 amined them and they had four 

 frames full of eggs and young bro"d 

 in all stages ; enough to fill one whole 

 frame being capped over. Two of 

 the hives had each four frames full, 

 and the other one had three pretty 

 well filled. 



The bees were put in on May 27, 

 and the weather was very warm the 

 following week. If tliey should be 

 put in during a cool week, such as we 

 sometimes have in summer, they 

 would not breed up so fast, but in 

 good summer weather they will do it. 

 I wish now that I had sent for more 

 half-pound packages of bees, instead 

 of rendering my old combs into wax. 



Vermont.+ollls. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Thousands for Defense. 



W. H. STEWART. 



I have read with much interest 

 both tlie editorial notes, and the arti- 

 cles by Messrs. Freeborn and Heddon, 

 on page 346, and I must say that if I 

 w-ere now to hold my peace in regard 

 to the matter which those articles set 

 before the bee-keepers of the land, I 

 would, as Mr. Heddon says, lie guilty 

 of " tlie sin of omission." I am well 

 acquainted with Mr. Freeborn, the 

 defendant in the extraordinary suit 

 in question. 



Both Mr. Freeborn and myself came 

 to this county (Richland) in an early 

 day. We were among the first set- 

 tlers, and we have been neighbors for 

 many years. Mr. F. has been en- 

 gaged ill the nursery business in con- 

 nection with bee-keeping, and' his 

 traflic in fruit-trees all over Wiscon- 

 sin and the adjoining States has made 

 known his integrity and prompt busi- 

 ness character to thousands of farmers 

 and other business men, as well as 

 hundreds of bee-keepers. He attends 

 strictly and thoroughly to his own 



