THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



729 



Exchange. 



Do Bees Hear?— Experiments 



BY SIR JOHN I/UBBOCK. 



Some honey was placed on a musical 

 box on his lawn, and the box was kept 

 going for a fortnight, during which 

 time the bees regularly helped them- 

 selves to honey. The box and honey 

 were then removed out of siglit into 

 the house ; and, although placed near 

 an open window, and only seven yards 

 from the previous position, the bees 

 failed to Mud the honey, although 

 those brought to it in its new position 

 afterwards found the way readily 

 enough. He, however, declines to 

 say tliat bees are incapable of hear- 

 ing, and thinks it not impossible that 

 insects may perceive higher notes 

 than we can hear, and may even pos- 

 sess a sense, or perhaps sensations, 

 of which we can form no idea ; for 

 although we have no special organs 

 adapted to certain sensations, there 

 is no reason why it should be the case 

 with other animals, while the prob- 

 lematical organs possessed by some of 

 the lower foruis favor this suggestion. 

 He is of the opinion that the sounds 

 wliich bees hear may be not the low 

 loud sounds, but the higher over- 

 tones at the verge of or beyond our 

 range of hearing. 



It is, however, remarkable that bees 

 certainly do seem to hear on some 

 occasions. The note with which the 

 old queen threatens the royal brood 

 as they come to maturity, and swarm- 

 ing time approaches, and so well 

 known to apiarists under the name of 

 " piping," can often be distinctly 

 heard some distance from the hive, 

 and is evidently intelligible to the 

 young queens, for they respond in 

 tones perfectly audible to the listener. 

 Although bees will take no notice of 

 a very loud noise, even quite close to 

 the hive, it is, however, remarkable 

 that the slightest tap on the hive 

 itself, or any of its attachments, or 

 even a heavy tread some distance off, 

 immediately disturbs them. 



Read at the Wabash Co., Ind., Convention. 



Keeping Bees for Profit. 



AAKON SI^fGBB. 



Ever since America was discovered 

 men have been led to follow some 

 kind of employment in order to 

 create wealth and provide for the 

 necessaries of life. In the last cen- 

 tury many new avocations have been 

 developed which were heretofore 

 dormant or unknown. Among them 

 I may mention bee-keeping on scien- 

 tilic principles. Many persons in this 

 country are engaged in this pursuit 

 as a means of earning a livelihood, 

 while others are engaged in it from 

 other motives, such as pleasure, rec- 

 reation, scientific research, etc. 



With the latest developments in 

 Natural History relative to the honey- 

 bee, we have been enabled to bring 

 the art of bee-keeping down to a 

 system in management. We are en- 

 abled to realize three times the 

 amount from a single colony that was 



heretofore obtained under the box- 

 hive and "luck " system. 



As one source of profit, we have 

 comb honey, which is looked upon by 

 many as " food fit for the gods." As 

 to the manner of its production we 

 have advanced wonderfully in the last 

 decade. Many years ago comb honey 

 was only secured by taking it in a 

 large box on top of the " gum." or 

 from the body of the hive after brim- 

 stoning the bees. In the latter case 

 the comb would then contain honey, 

 pollen, brood, etc. ; but by the un- 

 tiring energy of masters in the art, 

 we have discovered the "how" to 

 have honey stored in nice section- 

 boxes without pollen or brood. This 

 enables us to obtain more remunera- 

 tive prices for the honey, as it is in a 

 more desirable form. 



My method of securing comb honey 

 is as follows : 



I use what is known as the Heddon 

 plan, with slat honey-board and open- 

 top sections which will allow tiering- 

 up. This, plan does away with all 

 glass fixtures about the surplus ar- 

 rangement. Some may object to this 

 on the ground that one cannot see the 

 progress of the bees without disturb- 

 ing them by raising the hive-cover ; 

 but I have found that the bees will 

 work better where the light is ex- 

 cluded than where it is admitted. I 

 do not use separators, but I put foun- 

 dation starters in all the sections 

 before I put them on the hives, and I 

 have secured very fair combs. When 

 I remove the sections, after they are 

 filled, I scrape off all propolis and put 

 them in a crate ready for market. 



To secure the greatest amount of 

 comb honey from a single colony. I 

 proceed thus : I put on the sections 

 as early as the colony will permit. 

 When warm weather conies, and the 

 bees are hard at work, I find them, as 

 a rule, storing honey in the sections. 

 They will also store honey in the 

 brood-chamber, and in that way 

 diminish the capacity for brood-rear- 

 ing. With an extractor I empty the 

 frames of the brood chamber occa- 

 sionally, as this has a tendency to 

 keep down the swarming fever and 

 increase the working-force of the 

 colony. 



An 8-frame Langstroth hive is 

 about the right size for the best re- 

 sults in producing comb honey. As 

 to the best kind of bees, I would say 

 the Italians, every time. I have 

 some blacks that are good honey- 

 gatherers, but they will not stick to 

 the combs in manipulating them, 

 which is quite an important char- 

 acteristic. 



I have produced some extracted 

 honey, and I find that it can be sold 

 at a less price per pound and then 

 bring as much or more per hive than 

 comb honey ; but our market demands 

 comb honey even if it is a higher price 

 per pound. To obtain the best prices 

 we must have pure honey, and have 

 it put up in a desirable shape. To be 

 successful in selling our crop, we 

 sliould get our honey to market in as 

 neat and attractive a condition as 

 possible. 



In working about the apiary there 

 are always more or less scraps of 



comb, etc., which should be saved. I 

 have a box with a tight-fitting cover, 

 into which I throw all the scraps, and 

 after I have the box full I render it 

 into wax. If we wish to make the 

 bee-business profitable, we must 

 learn to be very economical io every 

 thing. 



Bees may be kept and increased 

 without regard to securing honey, and 

 money be olitained by selling nothing 

 but bees. To run an apiary solely for 

 bees, I would practice making the 

 increase by dividing tlie colonies. As 

 to keeping bees for profit, this will be 

 found true : lie who wishes to make 

 it a success must devote all his 

 time and energy to the business; do 

 tlie right things at the right time; 

 have everything ready before it is 

 needed ; have " a place tor everything, 

 and everything in its place ;" and 

 above all, be not discouraged at fail- 

 ures, as tliey are lessons which bring 

 lasting knowledge and awaken a 

 desire to learn to avoid their recur- 

 rence. A thorough knowledge of 

 every detail of management is very 

 essential, and to obtain this it is ex- 

 pected that we read what the great 

 masters have said upon the subject of 

 apiculture. The reason for so many 

 failures is a lack of information upon 

 this science. In conclusion 1 would 

 say with the poet — 



" Keep pushing ; 'tis wiser than sitting aside. 



And dreaming, and sighing.and waiting: the tide: 

 In life's rosy morning those only prevail, 



Who daily march onward, and never say /ail." 



Wabash, J Ind. 



Ballimnre List. 



The Bees of South America. 



C. H. LAKE. 



In an old book we are told of a little 

 black bee, found in the Island of 

 Gaudaloiip, which lives in lioUow 

 trees or the cavities of rocks by the 

 seaside, and lays up honey in cells 

 about the size and shape of pigeon 

 eggs. These cells are black or deep 

 violet color, and so joined together 

 as to leave no space between them. 



The following are mentioned by 

 Lindley as indigenous to Brazil : "On 

 an excursion toward upper Topogippa, 

 and skirting the dreary woods which 

 extend to the interior. I observed the 

 trees more loaded with bees'- nests 

 than even in the neighborhood of Port 

 Lequro. They consist of a ponderous 

 shell of clay, cemented similarly to 

 the martin's nest, swelling from high 

 trees about a foot thick, and forming 

 an oval mass full two feet in diameter; 

 when broken the wax is arranged as 

 in our hives. and the honey abundant." 



Capt. B. Hall fiumd in South Amer- 

 ica the hive of a honey-bee very dif- 

 ferent from the Brazilian, but nearly 

 allied to, if not the same, as that of 

 Gaudaloup. " The hive we saw 

 opened," says he, " was only partly 

 filled, which enabled us to see the 

 economy of the interior to more 

 advantage. The honey is not con- 

 tained in the elegant hexagonal cells 

 of our hives, but in waxen bags not 

 quite so large as an egg. These bags 

 or bladders are hung around the sides 



