THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



forms carbonic acid and hydrosjen. Where 

 this clicmical coinbinatioii of dements takes 

 pace, caloric is liberated. As this combinalion 

 l)roce'eds in the body of the bee, the inlialed 

 oxygen uniting with the nitroi>;en and carbon of 

 the nutriment consumed forming aqueous vapour 

 and carbonic acid, it is obvious that the bee 

 developes and possesses animal heat equiva- 

 lent to a temperature 52^ or 55'' F., whereby 

 the activity of its organs is maintained and 

 their vital functions supported. 



With pollen, on the other hand, they receive a 

 plasiic nutriment, supplying nitrogen and sul- 

 phur (phosphorus), of which we may remark, 

 in passing, their bodies are composed. It sup- 

 plies the ferment by the agency of which wax is 

 elaborated from honey. It is the medium by 

 wliich the wasted powers of the bee are recu- 

 perated, and by which the nervous and muscu- 

 lar system is supplied with the perduring vigor 

 and toughness, wliich we so admire in our wing- 

 ed favorites. Matuie bees consume l)Ut little of 

 this substance — only as much as suffices for the 

 purposes here indicated ; whereas to the brood 

 is administered so much, in the jelly allotted to 

 it, as is required for the constitution of the bee's 

 body and the construction of the cocoon la 

 whic'.i it is destined to undergo its final trans- 

 formation. 



Everyljody is familiar with those properties 

 of nitrogenous and sulphurous substances wliich 

 render them peculiarly susceptible of putrefac- 

 tion when ex|)osed to the action of the oxygen 

 of the atmosphere, to moisture and a certain 

 decree of heat. That such is the case also with 

 the nitrogenous pollen stored in the cells by the 

 bees, scarcely needs to be remarked, after what 

 has already been said ; yet, to obtain satisfac- 

 tory evidence of the fact, let us institute the 

 following experiment: 



Take out of a comb about one-quarter of an 

 ounce of pollen, and triturate it between the 

 fingers ; then put it in a phial and pour on it 

 as much water as will cover it about half an 

 inch. Set the open phial ten days or two 

 weeks in a place tlie temperature of which 

 ranges fr^^m 62° to 60" F. Should much of tiie 

 water evaporate, replace it gradually. If the 

 contents be carefully observed during the time 

 mentioned, it will be seen that when decompo- 

 sition has comn\enced, minute air bubbles will 

 be formed and rise to the surface ; and the 

 whole mass will ultimately become agitated. 

 That larvae fed with putrescent pollen must 

 perish, will be evident when we consider how 

 very destructive every other putrescent sub- 

 stance proves to be when brought in contact 

 with organic substances in the conditions al- 

 ready stated. Putrid meat, putrid medullary 

 matter, or putrescent blood placed on a wound, 

 produces vomiting, debility, and finally death. 

 (See Ilagendie's experiments). 



The reader will now readily underst<»nd why 

 bee«, instinctively conscious of the dangerous 

 influence which water, or even mere dampness, 

 iscapable of exerting on their nit'ogenous nu- 

 triment, are so exceedingly solicitous to keep 

 the interior of their hives as dry as possible. 

 Yet a large proportion of beekeepers' besides 

 furnishing their bees with hives saturated with or 



not readily absorbing moisture, do all they can 

 to keep the combs damp bkewise. We seeni to 

 hear soniti of those thus impugned, angrily ex- 

 claim : — " Nonsense ! We give our bees a suit- 

 able well-constructed wooden hive, and it is 

 fody to talk of damp combs in them ! The 

 writer is overdoing matters !" In place of all 

 replication we pray these worthy friends to ex- 

 amine the interior of their wooden hives in Oc- 

 tober or November ; and again in February, 

 March, or April, to satisfy themselves how 

 plentifully vapor has been condensed in them, 

 how moisture pervades the whole, and specially 

 how dampness has affected the combs. 



In such circumstances, indeed, it is quite 

 natural that the inner walls should be covered 

 with condensed moisture and drops of water, 

 resulting from external cold, whenever the bees 

 are no longer able to remove it as fast as it is 

 formed. And then, as the quantity condensed 

 increases, it will form on the combs also, and 

 trickie down from cell to cell, and entering 

 these will speedily dampen the pollen they con- 

 tain; which, in turn, operated on by the in- 

 creasing warmth of spring, begins to undergo 

 putrefactive decomposition, ultimately proving 

 destructive to the larvoe fed with jelly prepared 

 from it. No kind of timber, generally availa- 

 ble for hives, is porous enough to absorb all the 

 moisture at times generated by the bees therein 

 domiciled ; and there seems to be no alternative 

 but to seek some other material better adapted 

 to the purpose desired. 



In another point of view, also the moisture 

 condensed in wooden hives, will sooner or later 

 inevitably result in the ruin of the colony ex- 

 posed to it. 



Every larva— whether worker, drone, or 

 queen — before uodersoing its final transforma- 

 tion, envelopes itself more or less perfectly in a 

 cocoon spun by itself; and we may properly 

 inquire of what substance the filaments of that 

 tissue are composed. As already intimated, it 

 is derived from the pollen consumed by the 

 larva. To demonstrate this fact, is our next 

 task. The experienced beekeeper doubtless 

 knows that, when pressing out wax, a dark 

 mass is left in the sack. This is composed of the 

 cocoons or nymj^hal envelopes remaining in the 

 cells after the brood has emerged Let him 

 take an ounce of this, place it in a retort with 

 a small quantity of water in the condenser. 

 Now hfat the retort, taking care to exclude at- 

 mospheric air. The tissues will be burned, 

 leaving in the retort a portion of carbon and 

 the mineral substances combined therewith. 

 The other substances, assuming a gaseous form, 

 passed over into the condenser, and either occu- 

 py the space over the water, or have been absorb- 

 ed by the latter. Among these is the nitrogen. 

 This, when liberated from the tissues, immedi- 

 ately combined Avith the hydrogen, which was 

 liberated at the same time, forming ammonia. 

 Tills latter substance, wath which alone we are 

 here concerned, is absorbed by the water in the 

 condenser, and its presence there may be shown 

 in the following manner : Heat, in a capsule, 

 a small portion of tiie water taken from the 

 condenser ; add thereto a little caustic lime ; 

 and the ammonia evolved will be detected by 



