Chips from Sweet Home. 



It is said " variety is tlie spice of life," 

 also, "change is rest." In 1876, we pur- 

 chased Zell's Encyclopedia, and among the 

 first things we referred to was the bee. We 

 found in it so many things that were inter- 

 esting that we concluded to correct and 

 give it to the readers of the American Bee 

 Journal. We wrote the editors of Zell's 

 Encyclopedia, and received the following 

 answer : 



D. D. PALMER :— Your favor of the 8th inst. is at 

 hand. We will be very thanlif ul to accept your kind 

 ofler to correct the article on bees. We cannot say 

 ■where.the editor procured his information,, but pre- 

 sume from worlcs that were considered standard on 

 the subject, which, as you know, are to practical bee 

 men very unreliable. We are yours. 



Very truly, T. Elwoou Zell, Davis & Co. 



I accordingly give the following article 

 from Zell's Encyclopedia, and follow it 

 with my corrections as foot notes : 



Bee, n. [A. S. beo, probably from buan, 

 hyan, to inhabit, to dwell ; Du. bye ; Lat. 

 apis ; Fr. abeille.^ (Zool.) The generic 

 name of a family of Ilynienopterous insects, 

 for the classification of wliich, see Apid^e. 



Of all the insect tribe, none have more 

 justly excited the attention and admiration 

 of mankind than the bee ; and yet, although 

 it has engaged the study of naturalists tor 

 two thousand years, we still occasionally 

 find, in the economy of this social and 

 industrious little animal, some obscurely 

 known or unelucidated fact, which is 

 thought worthy ot tlie labors of those who 

 devote their time and abilities to the pur- 

 suit and advancement of this interesting 

 branch of natural science. 



The most important species is the honey 

 bee, or hive bee. Apis mellifica, so long 

 celebrated for its wonderful polity, the 

 neatness and precision with which it con- 

 structs its cells, and the diligence with 

 which it provides during the warmth of 

 summer a supply of food for the support of 

 the hive during the rigors of the succeeding 

 winter. In its natural state, the honey 

 bee generally constructs its nests in hollow 

 trees ; but so universally is it now domesti- 

 cated that we rarely find it otherwise than 

 hived in our country, where they have been 

 probably imported early from Europe. 



Honey and wax are the two valuable 

 articles of commerce, for which we are 

 indebted to this useful insect. 



Now, if we examine the structure of the 

 common bee, the first remarkable part 

 which presents itself is the proboscis, (Fig. 

 331,) an instrument serving to extract honey 

 from flowers ; it is not formed like that of 

 other flies, in the shape of a tube by which 

 the fluid is to be sucked up, but rather like 

 a tongue, to lap it up. When thus lapped 

 out of the nectary, it is conveyed to the 

 crop or honey-bag, where it undergoes but 

 little alteration, and is then transferred or 

 disgorged into cells destined to receive it. 



While the bee is busy in extracting the 

 sweets of the flowers, it becomes covered 

 with the farina or pollen of the anthers ; 



this pollen it wipes off with the brushes of 

 its legs, collects every particle together, 

 and kneads it into two little masses, which 

 it lodges on the broad surface of the tibia of 

 each hind leg, where a seriesof elastic hairs 

 over-arches a concavity, and acts as a sort 

 of lid or covering, {d, Fuj. 331.) Thus em- 

 ployed, the bee flies froiii flower to flower, 

 increasing its store of honey, and adding to 

 its stock of kneaded pollen, which is called 

 bee-bread. 



The abdomen is divided into 6 annnla- 

 tions or rings, which are capable of being 

 contracted or extended at pleasure ; and the 

 insect is internally furnished' with a honey- 

 bag, a venom-bag, and a sting. The honey- 

 bag, which is as transparent as crystal, 

 contains the honey which the bee has 

 lapped from the flowers, the greatest part of 

 which is carried to the hive, and poured 

 into the cells of the honeycomb, while the 

 remainder serves for the bee's own nourish- 

 ment. 



Wax is a peculiar secretion in little cells 

 beneath the scales of the abdomen. It is 

 from honey that the wax, by some internal 

 process is elaborated. The wax oozes out 

 between the abdominal rings, in the form 

 of little laminae ; it is then worked with the 

 mouth, and kneaded with saliva, that it 

 may acquire the req^uisite degree of ductil- 

 ity for the construction of the comb, which 

 is finished with a substance called pro- 

 polis, a glutinous or gummy resinous 

 matter procured from the buds of certain 

 trees. 



The sting is composed of 3 parts ; namely, 

 the sheath, and two extremely small and 

 penetrating darts, each of which is fur- 

 nislifd with several points, or barbs, which, 

 rankling in the wound, render the sting 

 more painful. This instrument, however, 

 would prove but a feeble weapon, if the bee 

 did not poison the wound. The sharp- 

 pointed sheath first enters, and this being 

 r'ol lowed by the barbed darts, the veiiemous 

 fluid is speedily injected. Sometimes the 

 sheath sticks fast in the flesii, and is left 

 behind ; but the death of the bee invariably 

 follows. (1.) 



Having examined the bee singly, we 

 now proceed to an inquiry into its habits as 

 a member of a social community. Viewed 

 in this light, we behold an animal active, 

 vigilant, laborious, and disinterested ; sub- 

 ject to regulations, and perfectly sub- 

 missive. All its provisions are laid up for 

 the community ; and all its arts are 

 employed in building a cell, designed for 

 the benefit of posterity. 



A beehive contains 3 kinds of individuals, 

 —a queen, drones and workers ; the queen 

 is a female, and not only the ruler, but in 

 gi'eat part the mother of the community. — 

 (2.) The drones are males, and the workers 

 are abortive females. 



The sole office of the queen appears to be 

 the laying of eggs ; and this occupies her 

 almost incessantly, as a single one only is 

 deposited in each cell, thus causing her to 

 be in continual motion ; she is slow and 

 majestic in her movements, and differs 

 from the workers in being larger, having a 

 longer body, shorter wings, and a curved 

 sting. The queen is accompanied by a 

 guard of 12 workers, an office which is taken 



