AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



2^1 



is inconceivable ; and mere similarity of 

 physical organs and functions is not, of 

 itself, sufficient to degrade man to the 

 level of the brute, or to elevate the latter 

 to the plane of the former. 



There is such a thing as animal ingen- 

 uity, with vi^hich some people ignorantly 

 confound reason ; but it is only an in- 

 ferior kind of instinct, or something 

 between instinct and plastic power. It 

 is not found in the higher orders of 

 animals, or such as are possessed of the 

 five senses ; but is manifested by nearly 

 all insects and amphibians, and by many 

 birds. 



Among familiar insects, the bee has 

 her equal in ingenuity in the wasp, the 

 spider, the ant, the butterfly, and the 

 common bug or beetle, all of which ex- 

 hibit marvelous productions. All these 

 productions are but the result of plastic 

 power guided by feeling ; and it is the 

 same power, in a modified form, that 

 builds the cell of the bee and shapes and 

 colors the petals of the rose. This is 

 also -true of the Ingenuity of birds and 

 amphibians. 



Instinct is not confined to phenomena 

 exhibited by animals at birth, or else no 

 species would ever be propagated. The 

 habits of many animals, notably insects, 

 often change through life. Both instinct 

 and reason pass through a process of 

 development. The former only comes 

 into full play when the organs of the 

 body are mature ; the latter only rises 

 to its full stature where a mind, under 

 perfect discipline, is enshrined, in a 

 a sound and mature body. 



True, the human brain is the seat of 

 the mind, and the animal brain the seat 

 of instinct; but the presumption of 

 rationality does not arise from the mere 

 possession of brains. Nor do sensations 

 of pleasure or pain prove either the 

 presence or absence of intellect, although 

 they are inseparable from animal life. 



No animal has memory ; for memory, 

 in the general acceptation of the term, is 

 that mental activity which finds a word 

 for every conception, and recognizes a 

 conception in its appropriate word. 

 Reason and language are vitally con- 

 nected, if not identical ; and the Greeks 

 had only one word for both. 



Language implies the power of ab- 

 stract thought or pure thinking, and 

 thought is the activity of reason. Man, 

 possessed of reason, has an innate desire 

 for knowledge, which the bee, lacking 

 reason, has not. Reason makes man 

 progressive ; instinct holds the bee in an 

 unchanging orbit of existence. The bee 

 has no history. 



No animal can be said to judge ; for 

 they all act according to certain fixed 

 rules, and that perfect adjustment of 

 organs and functions, and that ready 

 adaptation to changes of environment 

 which characterizes animals, are of the 

 very essence of instinct. Spiders con- 

 struct webs before they have seen the 

 flies to be ensnared thereby. Ducklings, 

 hatched by a hen, take to the water at 

 first sight. Bees store honey without 

 the remotest conception of the coming 

 of Wintei'. Birds hatched by artificial 

 heat will fly as soon as they are fledged. 



It is true that bees store and guard 

 their honey as though they had an idea 

 of time and property ; but it is perfectly 

 clear that they do this rather from an 

 impulse of nature, than from a sense of 

 need or right. Were this not so, man 

 would steal as often as he makes use of 

 their provisions without their, permis- 

 sion. 



Shaeflerstown, Pa. 



Tie Winter Recorl so Far. 



Wil. STOLLEY. 



About the middle of October, 1891, 

 my bees were packed " inside " the hive, 

 for wintering on the summer stands. 



While we had three quite cold days in 

 November (on Nov. 17 even 6° Fahr. 

 below zero), my bees did fly on six days 

 during this month. December gave us 

 also three zero days, and on five days in 

 this month bees had good flights ; the 

 last one on Dec. 21. 



The month of January (up until date) 

 brought us some extraordinarily cold 

 weather ; in all eleven days, when the 

 thermometer registed from zero away 

 down to 40° Fahr. below. 



On Jan. 3 my bees had a good flight, 

 but from Jan. 10 to 19 inclusive, we 

 had the eleven days of zero weather all 

 in one stretch, and on Jan. 12 and 19 

 as much as ttO-" below zero. From the 

 later named date on, we have had quite 

 pleasant weatlier, and on Jan. 23, 24, 

 25, 28 and 29 the bees enjoyed good 

 flights. 



I took out all absorbents on top of the 

 brood-chambers and dried them thor- 

 oughly in the sun ; also cleaned out all 

 dead bees from under the clusters in the 

 hives, and now my bees are once more 

 in the best possible condition to again 

 stand another severe spell of extreme 

 cold weather. 



The loss in dead bees, so far, is com- 

 paratively light, and all colonies are in 



