632 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Sept. 7, 191 5 



and we have every cell of worker-comb as nearly exact as the average 

 carpenter can make a duplicate of the work of another carpenter. 



■' In building drone-comb the antennfe are straightened out fully 

 straight, so that they touch the walls of the cell when fully extended 

 at the extreme outside points, and by so doing larger cells are made, 

 or those numbering 4 cells to the inch, which is the size of cells in 

 drone-comb; and these areas uniform as to size as are those of the 

 worker-pattern. In this we see the wisdom of a kind Providence, 

 which placed within the bee an instinctive capacity as great, according 

 to its wants, as is the reasoning capacity in man." 



Nothing could be further from the facts. If the bees 

 were dependent upon the two sections of antennie as described 

 by Mr. D. for the measurement of their work, they would be 

 sorely handicapped, for their are several dimensions to the 

 cells besides distance between parallel walls. Also, there are 

 the accommodation cells- which lie between drone and worker 

 comb, and between comb and its supports, cells in curved and 

 crooked combs, all of which vary from any regular comb cells. 



These facts should be enough to make any one pause be- 

 fore hazarding the theory of a two-section measure on the 

 bee's head. There is, however, a still more palpable reason 

 for discrediting the statement made, and that is, that the bees 

 do not have a folding joint near the outer end of the antenn;e. 

 The antenna of a viorker consists of 12 sections : the first 

 section called the scape, which is the part next to the head, 

 and is about a third of the length of the whole. The other 11 

 sections make a slightly flexible rod known as the flagellum. 

 The only place in which the autenn;e can be folded, or even 

 bent to an angle of any consequence, is at the junction of the 

 scape and the fiagellum. So slight is the movement between 

 the sections composing the flagellum that the ordinary ob- 

 server considers it a simple straight rod. The antenna is 

 articulated to the head by a sort of ball-and-socket joint which 

 gives it great freedom of movement. 



There are also other facts which are at variance with Mr. 

 D.'s statement. The total spread of a worker's antennie is 

 approximately three-eighths of an inch, while drone-cells are 

 only one-quarter of an inch wide. The total spread between 

 the ends of the scapes — the only place where the antennie can 

 be folded — approximates but an eighth of an inch, while a 

 worker-cell is one-fifth of an inch wide. 



Furthermore, bees when at work do not use their an- 

 tenna' spread out, but the two tips are brought close to the 

 material the mandibles are working — a fact plain to the most 

 casual observer. Providence Co.. R. I. 



Odors Among Bees— Some Experiments 



Translated from " The Bulletin de la ISocieir Romande If Apiculture''^ 



BY C. P. DADANT 



(Contluaed from pag^e 567) 



ON April 25, ray colony No. 11 had already a number of 

 hatched drones, and it was this one which I selected for 

 the first experiment. After having carefully washed my 

 hands two or three times over, so as to remove odor entirely, 

 I caught about 10 drones at the time of their return to the 

 hive. The pulp I made out of them by crushing them was 

 used in rubbing ray hands and wrists ; then, immediately 

 afterwards, I proceeded to open the hive without smoke and 

 without jar, doing nothing that might stir the bees to an in- 

 vestigation. The result was beyond my expectations; not 

 only I was not stung, but the bees ran over my hands as on 

 their combs, without any hostile demonstrations. The visit 

 lasted half an hour, and It was only towards the end of this 

 time that the bees began to show signs of disquiet and inten- 

 tions of stinging. I had found there a very good apifuge, and 

 at low cost. 



The same experiment, repeated the following day with 

 colony No. 5, gave the same results, only this visit was shorter, 

 for I had another project to put in aciion. After having 

 closed the hive, and revived the smell of its drones on my 

 hands by crushing a fe.v more, I ininiediately opened another 

 hive, No. 7 — a colony of common bees of remarkable gentle- 

 ness. What I had foreseen happened : as soon as the hive 

 was opened, and my hands came in contact with the insects, I 

 was assailed and stung about 20 times in the space of a few 

 seconds. 



April 29, No. 12 was again visited without stings ; then 

 doing as I had done three days previously I opened No. 17, but 

 even though I used „ little smoke, as is usually done, I was 

 copiously treated wit!, venom by the irritated insects. 



These experiments were repeated the following days on 

 other colonies, and th^ rtsults, although not always as conclu- 

 sive, were nevertheless satisfactory. Some trials were, how- 



ever, completely negative — a fact which I believed must be 

 attributed to causes which I will mention further. 



At several times, after having visited a colony with the 

 greatest success, I moistened ray hands (but without having 

 previously washed them) with juice of drones taken from some 

 other colony which I intended to examine also. But whether 

 it was the first odor which irritated the bees, whether it was 

 the mixture of the two odors, or something else still, I do not 

 know, the stings were always numerous. It was only by 

 washing my hands carefully between the visits to each hive, 

 then giving them the odor of the colony to be visited that I 

 could manipulate the insects without being rewarded by a 

 number of stings. 



We must conclude from this that the bees, like ants, have 

 a perspiration of a particular nature, also similar to that of 

 ants differing in odor from one colony to another, and that it 

 is this odor which guides them, especially when they try to 

 recognize one another. . 



When bees are taken from any hive, washed with greatly 

 diluted alcohol (which may be done easily by taking them by 

 the wings), and returned to the alighting-board of their own 

 hive, they are not accepted ; several have even been killed, 

 under my eyes. If after having washed them with alcohol 

 they are washed with the juice of drones from another hive, 

 and presented to the bees of that other hive, they are always 

 welcomed there. 



I had gone this far with my trials, when an absence of 

 10 days caused me to interrupt them. It is useless to tell you 

 that, "during that time, 1 was constantly thinking about the 

 experiments made, and the fruits that might be reaped from 

 them. It came to my mind to try whether, in proceeding thus, 

 it would not be possible to introduce into the colonies some 

 fertile queens. 



So, May 20, 1 began again with the determination to sac- 

 rifice a few queens, if necessary, in case my trials were un- 

 successful. Those queens would, after all, be easily replaced, 

 for in my absence colony No. 2 had swarmed unexpectedly, 

 and had supplied us with three young and beautiful queens, 

 lodged in nuclei while waiting for something better. 



Towards 2 p.m. I removed without trouble the 2-year-old 

 queens of Nos. 19 and 25. Then after having washed the 

 queen of 19. and having covered her copiously with drone- 

 juice from No. 25, she was piaced at the entrance of that hive. 

 At sight of her, the bees made neither happy nor hostile 

 demonstrations, and she passed among them and entered the 

 hive. 



The same operation was made with the other queen, and 

 scarcely any bees noticed her entrance. These 2 queen 

 changes had lasted only about an hour, and the bees did not 

 seem to notice that they had been at any time queenless. 



Until then all was well, but what was to be the fate of 

 those 2 queens'? I could not make sure of this until the fol- 

 lowing day. That day, as well as several following days, the 

 weather was bad, so my visit had to be put off till the 25th, 

 that is 5 days after the exchange. But in visiting these 2 

 hives at that time, I had the satisfaction of noting, de visu, 

 the presence of the 2 queens in the hives. They had there- 

 fore been accepted without any difficulty — nay, the bees had 

 not noticed the substitution. The laying was not even inter- 

 rupted, for there were eggs in both hives which could only 

 have been laid by the new queens. 



At the time of putting into winter quarters of those 2 col- 

 onies, the populations were vigorous, and I have no doubt 

 that they fared well through the winter. 



My exchanges of queens were limited to this trial, in spite 

 of my intention of continuing them, for I still had many 

 points to examine. How did the queens and the bees disport 

 themselves, an hour or a few hours after introduction ? 



I have said that it happened to me to be stung in spite of 

 the drone-juice with which my hands had been rubbed. This 

 happened first on a day when the wind was blowing violently, 

 probably rapidly removing the smell from my hands. The same 

 thing happened in very hot days, when the bees were naturally 

 ill-disposed. There is therefore room for more experiments 

 on this point. 



I intend to continue these experiments, as much as my 

 leisure will permit, for I can not holtf as absolutely conclu- 

 sive those made the past summer. But to give them more 

 value, I desire the bee-keepers who may have the leisure, to 

 continue them with me; their co-operation is necessary, for 

 the more numerous the trials will be the better we can recog- 

 nize their value, and the better we can base our expectations 

 on their utility. If success crowns our efforts, it will be 

 I another step towards the successful introduction of queens. 

 I How will the colonies behave that have been drone-laying 



; for a certain lapse of time, or those having had a bad temper? 

 j If the method succeeds with one race (my colonies are common 



