74 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



March 



honey in the bee's honey-sac. That this 

 is but the begining I feel very sure. I 

 have reasons for believing that the pro- 

 cess continues in the comb. (I refer 

 to chemical change, not to mere thick- 

 ening.) I have w^atched individual bees 

 spend ten to fifteen minutes licking 

 over every bit of the inside of a cell 

 of virgin wax, (not varnishing it with 

 propolis) and surely that deposit of 

 saliva (?) was for a purpose. Knowing 

 the active properties of saliva in mam- 

 mals, is it unreasonable to believe that 

 the gland secretion put on the walls of 

 the cells have a specific action on the 

 nearly raw nectar stored in them, par- 

 ticularly when we consider the tem- 

 perature at which the hive (colony) is 

 normally kept? 



Another matter that often puzzles bee- 

 keepers, veterans as well as novices, is 

 to readily determine when bees are gath- 

 ering nectar and if so from what source. 

 It is the easiest thing in the world 

 when you know how. I learnt <the kink 

 from Mr. Alley. With the thumb and 

 forefinger grasp an incoming worker 

 by the wings; with the second finger 

 of the same hand, push against her ab- 

 domen near the end but just above the 

 sting, and at the same time place a 

 finger of the other hand against the 

 worker's mouth. The nec,tar will flow 

 out upon it and taste will readily de- 

 termine the source from whence it 

 came. If the novice is afraid of push- 

 ing on the sting, let him "set" the 

 worker down on the hive cover. Any 

 means that will cause the telescoping 

 of the abdomen will accomplish the 

 purpose. The bee is not injured and is 

 soon off after another load. 



Whether or not propolis is used in 

 refinishing recently vacated brood-cells 

 I cannot yet positively say, but I doubt 

 it. In the manipulation of this substance 

 bees use either mandibles or proboscis 

 as circumstances of temperature, space 

 .worked in, etc., dictate. One prominent 

 author has stated that "the use of bee 

 glue is to cement the combs to their 

 supports." As propolis is nearly fluid 

 at 90 degrees F. it may be readily im- 

 agined of how much value it would be 

 in supporting a large comb full of hon- 

 ey! 



One of tl ">, strange tliii'gs of bee life 

 ',' ii'ch I will Ivc th'inlNiui to have ex- 

 plained is the habit the bees have of 

 "grooming" the queen and each other. 



The queen will pause on the comb, a 

 few bees will gather about her and gen- 

 tly and steadily begin to bite or pull 

 at the hair covering her body, head and 

 leg?. They will keep it up for ten min- 

 utes at a stretch, she standing perfectly 

 still, only now and tli mi slowly waving 

 ber antennae. Unally one bee will 

 stop, then another and in a moment 

 more all hive- ceased and the queen 

 i;roceeds on liei duties. Workers will 

 treat each v)Lher U'. a similar way, but 

 for shorter periods. 



Another puzzle awaiting a solution is 

 what governs a queen in her acceptance 

 or refusal of cell for the depositing of 

 an egg. She will walk rapidly across 

 several cells, then pause and inspect 

 several, possibly lay in one, then move 

 on. She will lay in a deep one here, a 

 shallow one there. At this cell she 

 faces the top of the hive; at that, the 

 bottom, and at the next one she turns 

 around two, three or four times after 

 her abdomen is way into the cell. Into 

 some cells she has scarcely backed be- 

 fore the egg is deposited; in the nexjt 

 few she spends from ten to forty sec- 

 onds each. Could we but learn what 

 makes a cell attractive to a queen, we 

 could then, possibly, contrive to have 

 artificial queen-cell-cups so treated that 

 the queen would put an egg in each. 



Regarding the control of sex of the 

 egg, it has been suggested that possibly 

 the straddle of the queen's legs when 

 depositing the egg, might in some way 

 affect the muscles controlling the sper- 

 matheca. A little close study of the mul- 

 titudinous attitudes taken by a queen 

 show that theory to be untenable. 



At one time the queen moves slowly 

 among the bees — who, by the way, sel- 

 dom deign to notice her — and a 

 few moments later she is ranging ner- 

 vously among the combs and again 

 she stands motionless in some out of 

 the way "spot, until the watcher's pa- 

 tience is exhausted. Though the bees 

 become very much disturbed when the 

 queen is removed, they treat her in any- 

 thing but a respectful manner while 

 present; they scramble over her back, 

 rudely jostle her and push her about 

 and leave her to beg for food when she 

 wants any. 



The study of the queen's movements 

 in the hive is intensely fascinating and 

 it is always with great reluctance that 

 I cease from watching her. Parenthet- 



