THU KMERICMrf EfE® JOURHMI,. 



725 



Xlie ftueen-Bee'is ^Veddin;;. 



ItV WILI.IASI n. DONOHO. 



There's a weiUiins' iimong the good people— 

 The Queen ot the Bees is the bride ; 



She stands in tlie midst of heruiaidens, 

 The fairest of all, and their pride. 



Her veil is the mist ot the morning-, 



It spui'liles with silvery dew ; 

 Her erown is of fresh orange blossoms. 



Her sceptre is yielded to yt>u. 



To yon slie has ehosen her consort, 

 The monarch siie'U hcncefortli obey ; 



Then rnle «)"cr her happy dominions 

 With scarcely perceptible sway. 



Kemember the treasure she brings you 

 Of innocence, beauty and truth ; 



It calls for a life of devotion. 

 To fill out the dreams of her youth. 



The kalytlids chirrup their Hrcciiny', 

 The licclles anil bats wheel at plaj- ; 



The amorous breath of the llowcrs 

 Is sweeter than ever in May. 



The drowsiest bee in the hamlet 



Is bu/.7,iu^ with eager delight ; 

 The veriest drone is awakened. 



Resisting his slumbers to-night. 



The butterflies come from their bower. 



The fireflies flash in the grove : 

 The turtledoves flutter their pinions 



And languidly murnuir their love. 



The humming-bird whirrs from the .jasmine. 

 The nightingale's oil rroni the rose ; 



The wooii-nyniphs and naiads and fairies 

 Have left all their haunts in repose. 



Titania— Queen of the Kingdom — 



With Ariel hovers in air ; 

 Luriei, t he syren of sea-nymphs. 



Is braiding her locks to be there. 



Arcadia's wild with commotion. 



And Conuis and all of his cj-ew. 

 With Satyrs and Fauns and liacchantes 



Are making the greatest ado. 



Above and beneath and around us 



Are myriad jircsences bright ; 

 The spirit of love will evoke them— 



They'll be at the wedding to-night . 



The Queen of the liees is to marr.^■, 

 Her Consort is there in his pride : 



She stands in the midst of her maidens. 

 And fairest of all is the bride. 



—Selected. 



m 



w 



Tlic Analoiiij- of Ilaliaii and 

 Ciierniaii Bee«. 



Written for tlic American Bee Journal 



Query 607.— Is there any difference in the 

 anatomy of Italian an 1 German bees ?— N. 



Yes. — A. B. Masox. 



Ask Prof. Cook. — J. M. HAMinrtai. 



I think not. — Ef<iEXE Secoh. 



Not that I know of. — G. L. Tinkioh. 



I leave this qiiestiou to Prof. Cook. — G. 



M. DOOLITTI.E. 



I do not understand the question.— R. L. 

 Tavi.oh. 



I presume not. — M. Maiiix. 



See Prof. Cook's answer to this.— J. M. 

 Shuck. 



No. The only diflference is in color, and 

 perhaps in size. — C. H. DinnEKX. 



It is claimed that the Italians have longer 

 tongues.— C. C. Mii.lek. 



The Italians are slightly larger, but the 

 difference is not great. — Dauaxt & Sox. 



That is too deep a question for me. Prof. 

 Cook is the man to answer that. — James 

 Heddon. 



None that I ever saw mentioned. I hoi)e 

 that this question \\ill be fully answered 

 by some of our entomologists. — P. L. Vial- 



1.0X. 



1 have never dissected and examined the 

 two races, so I cannot say. I should judge 

 that there is not. — Mas. L. Haukisox. 



It is claimed that the Italian bees have 

 longer tongues than the German bees (!)■ 

 If they have, there is that much difference. 

 — Mai'iala B. Cuaddock. 



It is my belief that they are constructed 

 physiologically the same, with perhaps one 

 exception — the Italian tongue is generally 

 conceded the longer. — Will M. Bakxum. 



Yes, in the length of the tongue ; possibly 

 in the size of the honey-stomach, etc., 

 though I only know as to the tongue. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



While there is no anatomical difference 

 iti the two varieties, there is a very marked 

 difference in the external contour of the 

 abdomen. The abdomen of the Italian is 

 more tapering than that of the black or 

 German bee. — J. P. H. Bhowx. 



No difference discoverable to the com- 

 mon observer, and perhaps to nobody else. 

 A mere dill'erence in length of members of 

 the body, etc., does not constitute a physio- 

 logical <iifference. Come to think of it, 

 there may be a difference in "anatomy," 

 for it is vowed by some that they have bees 

 that •' make honej- " by digestion — mine do 

 not; they gather it from flowers. — G. W. 

 Demahee. 



There is no more than between a German 

 and an Italian man. The organs are the 

 .same ; the proof being that they will cross 

 with each other, wliich would not be the 

 case were they not anatomically and phys- 

 iologically alike. — J. E. Poxo. 



No. The word " anatomy '' is defined to 

 mean " the structure of an organized sub- 

 stance.'' If there was any difference in 

 this, it would long ago have been learned 

 by dissection. The mere variation in the 

 length of the tongue, or outward appear- 

 ance of the abdomen, do not constitute an 

 anatomical dift'erence, any more than the 

 length of arms or shape of head would 

 make a difference in the anatomy of men. 

 A difference in the anatomy can onh' be 

 learned by dissection.- The EniTou. 



Kcd Clover as a Honey-Produc- 

 ing Plant. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 068.— Is red clover a honev-pro- 

 ducing plant, to any appreciable extent ?— L. 



Yes.— A. B. Mason. 



As a rule, no.— M. Maiiix. 



Yes, on occasional years. — R. L. Tayloii. 



Not in Louisiana. — P. L. Viallox. 



No, not in my locality (New York). — W. 

 M. Bakxim. 



It has not been with me (Illinois). — J. M. 

 Hamhai'(;ii. 



No, but it would be, if bees could work on 

 it at all times. — Uadant & Sox. 



Yes, but common bees find the tubes too 

 long to readily reach the nectar. — C. H. 



DiBBEKX. 



Yes, the best of all the 40 varieties of 

 clover on our continent. All that we need 

 is, the bee that can reach it. — Mhs. L. Hau- 

 kisox. 



Yes, but it is often to the bees, like the 

 gold in Nature's great retorts — out of 

 human reach. — J. M. SiR(ii. 



Yes, uniloulitedly. Like all other honey- 

 producing plants, it probably yields better 

 in some seasons than in others. — Eugene 

 Secok. 



Certainly, You can pull off the little 

 tubes, aud suck the nectar out of it. — C. C. 



MlLLEIi. 



It is some years, when the ftowrets of the 

 heads are short from a partial drouth. — G. 



L. TlXKEH. 



Red clover produces a quantity of nectar, 

 but the ApiK ineUiflfd are able to obtain 

 but very little froni it.— H. D. Cuttino. 



The second crop, and the mammoth va- 

 riety, do often give consideraljle honey; 

 especially to the yellow races of bees. — A. 

 J. Cook. 



In some seasons it is, and in some it is 

 not. The humble, or bumble, bee gets a 

 large portion of its stores from this source. 

 —J. E. POXD. 



Yes. It produces four times the nectar 

 that the white clover does, in this locality. 

 The trouble is that the corolla is so long 

 that the bees cannot reach this nectar, as a 

 general rule. — G. M. Doolittle. 



It is a plant that yields large qu.antities 

 of honey ; but the nectaries of the flower 

 are so deeply situated, that it takes a bee 

 with a long proboscis to reach it. — J. P. H. 

 Buow.x. 



I am glad that you asked that question, 

 for I believe that mankind has been fooled 

 by the idea that there is an ocean of honey 

 in red clover, ''if the liees could only reach 

 it." As soon as I had bred up a strain of 

 bees that worked readily on red clover, I 

 demonstrated that it does not contain as 

 much honey as white clover. I think that I 

 am .sate in saying that it is not nearly as 

 good a honey -yielder. It sometimes does a 

 fair business, however, when white clover 

 is not yielding much. — .Tames Heddox. 



Yes, it is. It is a splendid honey-pro- 

 ducer. Pull off' the tubes from a head of 

 clover, and suck them, if you want the 

 proof. All that we lack is a bee with a 

 tongue long enough to reach the nectar. — 

 Maiiala B. Ciiaddock. 



Red clover certainly produces nectar, to 

 a liberal extent; but the tubes of the flower 

 are too deep for the tongue ot the Apia 

 inclliflrii, except when they are more than 

 usually well filled under favorable condi- 

 tions. About once in three years, my Ital- 

 ians gather honey to a very apiu-eciable ex- 

 tent, from red clover. The honey from red 

 clover is the lightest in color, of all the 

 gi'ades of honey known to me. I have a 

 sample taken this year, that is literally 

 white. It "candies" more readily than 

 any other honey known to me, but it never 

 "granulates."— G. W. Demakee. 



Yes; it is one of the best, if not the best 

 of all honey-producing plants. Vt'f suppose 

 that the "question was intended to be, 

 " Do honej'-bees get honey from red clover 

 to any appreciable extent'" To that ques- 

 tion the answer is that it is rarely done — 

 when it is "stunted" by drouth, and the 

 " shortened " corolla allows the bees to get 

 at it. The himey is of excellent color, qual- 

 ity and flavor, and genei-ally furnishes the 

 humble-bees with abundant stores.— The 



EoITOIi. 



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