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Xhe Anatomy and Physiology of Bees 

 was the subject ot a lecture recently de- 

 livered by Mr. John Aspinwall, at the 

 Cooper Institute, New York. The lecture 

 was illustrated by stereopticon views. The 

 New York Times gives this amusing ac- 

 count of it : 



While in its physical make-up the bee is 

 in many respects the opposite ot man in its 

 habits and tricks, yet it very mucli resem- 

 bles the lord of creation, and were bees to 

 be transformed into men, some would un- 

 doubtedly go into the police force, or in the 

 board ot aldermen, while there would not 

 be a tew successors to Jake Sharp, and to 

 the inexperienced young toughs who get 

 clubbed by the police, and are then sent up 

 to the penitentiary for dishonesty and gen- 

 eral "sass." The occupations of walking 

 delegate and dude mashers are also found in 

 apiarian society. 



The little bee, that is, the worker, is a 

 horny-skiuned child of toil. It is incased in 

 rings and shields ot smooth horn to shield 

 it against attacks ot its own species, and it 

 toils as long as there is light. It has not got 

 backbone like a man or a mule, but instead 

 it has a little sting that serves its purpose 

 just as well, and thus manages to maintain 

 Its rights. Between its tongue and sting 

 there is a complicated mechanism that is of 

 great use to the farmer and to nature. 

 Aside from the honey that it distils, and 

 which is worth thousands ot dollars an- 

 nually to the farmer and to commerce, its 

 habit of poking its head into flowers and 

 covering it with pollen, which it brushes otf 

 into other flowers, renders it a benefactor to 

 nature iu fertilizing flowers. 



Before the advent ot the bee iu Australia, 

 it was impossible to get any seeds of red 

 clover there. Of course its process of stor- 

 ing honey might not suit the most fastidious 

 taste, but honey is partially digested cane- 

 sugar, made so by the aid of bee saliva, but 

 as the bee is a perfectly clean little animal 

 that revels in nectar all day long, these little 

 irregularities must be overlooked. Besides, 

 it uses a different mouth tor the honey. 



The bee is a good flyer, but as its wings 

 are smaller in proportion to its body than 

 are those of the eagle to the king of birds, it 

 has to flap them more frequently, so it flaps 

 away at the rate of 44G flaps to the minute. 

 It has no lungs, but a system of tiny air- 

 tubes extend through all parts of the body, 

 and these it packs with air when it wants 

 to fly. Neither has it a heart, but a dorsal 

 vessel that pumps the blood to the head. 

 The head, as maanified on the screen, is not 

 a beautiful object, and as it is not the cen- 

 ter of the nervous system, it would uot miss 

 it very much it cut ott', if it were not for the 

 eyes, two ot which have 4,000 lenses each to 

 see the honey-flowers afar otf, and two 

 others to assist in doing the microscopical 

 work in the hive. 



The entrances to the hive are very care- 

 fully guarded by sentinels, and every bee on 

 arriving at the door is challenged by them 

 with their antennae. If it can give the 

 countersign it is admitted to the sanctuary, 

 but if it cannot, it is iu danger, for bees are 

 very nervous insects, and draw .stings on 

 the slightest provocation. The applicant 

 must be a thief, and old thieves are de- 

 tected by experienced sentinels, but the 

 form of challenging must be gone through 

 first. The old thiet-bee is fat, sleek, shining 

 and very suave. If caught by sentinels it 

 will at once try to make a deal and offer the 

 policemen some sugar, and while they are 

 eating, it either slips iu and fills up at the 

 cells, or it retreats and tries another hive. 

 If the sentinels are incorruptible, the thief 

 humps itself, then draws its horny shields 



tight around it so that the stings of the 

 policemen may not penetrate, and runs. A 

 young thief stands up to fight, and gets 

 clubbed. It learns by experience. 



The queen-bee has not such a very easy 

 time. She has plenty to eat and eats it, and 

 flies very little ; but as she has to lay all 

 the eggs of the colony, and often lays more 

 than her weight ot eggs in one day, the bees 

 begrudge her nothing, but let her have her 

 own way everywhere. 



The drone is the dude and walking dele- 

 gate of the hive. He is not very numerous, 

 however. He is fat, and spends his time 

 eating honey, flirting with the girls and the 

 queen, and then takes a quiet nap in the 

 sun. When his charms no longer please he 

 is driven out, and if he cannot get a berth in 

 another hive, he starves. The little worker, 

 however, according to the lecturer, does not 

 fare much better. She lives for about six 

 weeks, when she becomes feeble, her wings 

 get torn and fringed, and she lies down to 

 die in the field, refusing to return to the 

 hive and become a burden to the colony. 



Paper has been used for so many things 

 that we are not surprised at any suggestions 

 in that line now. We have bee-hives, rail- 

 road car wheels, and a score of such things 

 made of paper, but we draw the line at 

 organ pipes, that is not only humorous but 

 musical. An exchange is responsible for 

 the following item on the subject : 



A novel application of paper pulp has re- 

 cently been discovered, and consists in the 

 production of organ pipes from that ma- 

 terial. The origin of the industry is some- 

 what curious. Crespi Rigtuzzo, the curate 

 of a little Italian village, was desirous of 

 supplying his chapel with an organ, but as 

 the commune was too poor to find the nec- 

 essary fund, he and an engineer of the name 

 of Colombon hit upon the idea of making 

 the pipes of paper pulp, which gave such 

 satisfactory results that the patent has been 

 sold in Germany for £3,500. 



Pruning; Fruit Trees. — We occa- 

 sionally meet with persons who think that 

 trees, in order to bear properly, should be 

 pruned every spring. Similar persons think 

 they cannot start the year aright without a 

 dose ot spring physic of some kind. The 

 trees may need pruning, but, at this season 

 or at any other, one rule should be observed. 

 No branches, large or small, should ever be 

 out away without a reason for it. One 

 should be able to say to himself, why will 

 it be better for the tree to remove a certain 

 branch thau to let it remain ? It this rule 

 were observed, there would be much less 

 pruning than at present.— .4mc/ic(m Agri- 

 culturist for 31<nch. 



Convention iVotlccs. 



t^~ There will be a meeting of the Susquehanna 

 ('ounty Bee-Keepers' Association at the Court House 

 in Montrose, l*a.,on Saturday.May 4, i«s;t,at iiia.m. 

 H. M. Seelet, Sec. 



t^r The DosMdines County, Iowa, Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will liolii its annual convention in tlie 

 Court lJou^*o at lliirlington, on Ai>ril 2:i. IHHt), at lu 

 a. m. All bee-keepers are invited. JuuN Nau, Sec. 



Z^~ The 11th annual session of the Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Arisc.cmtion will he held in the apiary 

 of W. K. Graliiiiu, of Greenville, Hunt Co., Tex., on 

 May 1 and :-', iKs;,. All bee-keepers are invited. The 

 hist meeting; wa?^ held here last Mav.andwas the 

 best ever held. So we look forward to a (iood titue 

 next May. A cordial welcome and hospitality will 

 be tendered to all who come. G. A. Wilson, Sec. 



Pat Buys a Bee-Smoker, (he has 



heard somewhere that a smoker is necessary 

 to subdue the bees ; he gets one, and is ex- 

 amining it). Shure, and it's an illigant 

 poipe ye'll make entoirely, and wid sich a 

 foine large hole ye have to dhraw wid, and 

 a lovely bit of wood to hould by — but, 

 whisha ! where does the terbaecy go ? 

 (Turns it over, and at last pulls off the end). 

 Bedad ! it's a terbaecy jar ye are wid hould 

 enough for a wake and niver a poipe at all, 

 but I'll thry ye. (Puts in all he has, lights 

 up, and sucks contentedly with the nozzle 

 in his mouth.) Arrah ! ye little stinging 

 bastes it's me revenge I'll be taking av yer, 

 for whin ye made me face like a pertatie, 

 and the praste himself didn't know me. 

 (Squeezes the bellows accidentally, and gets 

 a good puff or two internally.) Augh, augh, 

 it's— augh— bad luck to ye for stameinjin, 

 ye've clane kilt me entoirely. (Is about to 

 give up in despair when the local expert ar- 

 rives.)— Honciy-.Si(c?:Je in the British Bee 

 Journal. 



CSood Prowpeols.— A few weeks ago 

 we asked for reports as soon as it could be 

 determined as to the condition of white 

 clover in the various localities— some hav- 

 ing reported that it had been damaged by 

 the freezing and thawing, being uncovered 

 with snow. Mr. C. H. Dibbern, of Milan, 

 Ills., on the 7th inst, makes this report on 

 the subject : 



I have carefully examined the white 

 clover in this vicinity, since the ground has 

 thawed out, and find it iu excellent condi- 

 tion. I have also taken out 25 colonies of 

 bees from the cellar, and they are all right, 

 too, being exceptionally bright and healthy. 

 I do not mink that our winter losses will be 

 over 2 per cent. With improved hives, a 

 better system ot management, safe winter- 

 ing, and an assured honey yield, I consider 

 the prospects very good. 



^■ind and its ^lysteries.— It would 

 be very nice if we could put a mind under a 

 bell-glass as we do a beehive, and watch 

 the coming and going of fancies, and the 

 laying up of thoughts— sweet fancies gath- 

 ered from flowers of fact in memory's cells. 

 —Rev. James H(imilto)i, D. D. 



Catalog'ues for 1889 are on our desk 

 from— 



Thos. G. Newman & Son, Chicago, Ills.— 

 36 pages— Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



H. E. &E. L. Pratt, Marlboro, Mass.— 1(> 

 pages— Bees, Queens, and Apiarian Sup- 

 plies. 



Dr. G. L. Tinker, New Philadelphia, 0.— 

 20 pages— Syrio-Albino Queens and Bees 

 and Apiarian Supplies. 



H. H. Flick, Lavansville, Pa.— 4 pages- 

 Poultry and Turkeys. 



Christian Weckesser, Marshallville, O.— 

 8 pages— Seeds, Plants, Potatoes, Bees, etc. 



H. P. Langdon, East Constable, N. Y.-4 

 pages— Bees and Queens. 



J. M. Hicks & Co., Indianapolis, Ind.— 1 

 page— Bees and Apiarian Supplies. 



Charles A. Green, Rochester, N. Y.— .50 

 pages— Nursery Stock. 



