THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



157 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Musings of the Evening. 



The honey bee must be one of the special bles- 

 siD.irs coulerred by God upon man ; for we learn 

 tliat when He, in infinite wisdom, did provide the 

 means of salvation for His fallen creatures, lie 

 provided lor John, the forerunner of Christ, the 

 means of subsistence from the treasured stores of 

 tliis most wonderful insect. Thus we read : 

 "and his meat was locusts and wild honey." 

 How conclusively does this show that the bee 

 performed a noble part in consummating the plan 

 of redemption ! 



The bee possesses many characteristics worthy 

 of the imitation of man. It teaches lessons 

 which, if obeyed, will advance man's interest 

 morally, physically, mentally. 



Morally^ for the bee is an observer of eveiy law 

 given it by its Creator. Phyncally, for notliing 

 so small is capable of laying up in store for the 

 use of man so delicious a food ; and its rights it 

 defends with a power and skill that Avould as- 

 tound any one unacquainted with the nature of 

 this insect. Mentally, for in all her labors the 

 bee manifests great wisdom. First, she gathers 

 nectar from the flowers, secretes it through the 

 pores of the skin, and thus forms scales of fat or 

 wax, which, taken in small particles, is put to- 

 gether in a mechanical manner that defies the art 

 of man; raising the temperature to eighty de- 

 grees Fahrenheit, and the pieces are sealed 

 together into what is called comb. This most won- 

 derful task completed, they next turn their atten- 

 tion to their mother ; with some of this same nec- 

 tar or saccharine matter mixed with the pollen of 

 flowers, and partially digested in the stomachs of 

 the fema],e worker-bees. With this the mother is 

 fed directly from the proboscis of the workers. 

 Thus fed, her fertilized organs of reproduction 

 stimulated by the food, she produces eggs just in 

 proportion to the amount of food taken. See 

 with what judgment the eggs are warmed and 

 hatched, and the larvse fed. Of the same eggs 

 they are able to make some to "honor and some 

 to dishonor." That is to say, they can feed the 

 larva? from one egg on a compound food, which 

 makes that so fed to grow large, fully developing 

 the female organs, and thus, in the imperfect 

 judgment of man, entitling it to the name of 

 " queen." But the name slanders the character 

 of the mother bee ; for in no case does she at- 

 tempt to assume the position of a dictator. She 

 simply assumes the duties of a mother, and is at 

 all times and under all circumstances entirely 

 subject to the will of the populace. The larvse 

 from anutj^er egg they feed on a ditferent or less 

 nutritious food, and sealing up the embryo in a 

 cell that dwarfs it, or prevents the full develop- 

 ment of the female organs. Hence the worker- 

 bee is not capable of being fertilized, and is thus 

 nominally no mother, but destined to be a servant 

 of the household for life, which position she 

 cheerfully accepts. 



How like unto man, too ! Nothing seems to 

 afford so much pleasure as the storing up of trea- 

 sure ! 



But, to their credit, be it no longer said that 

 theirs is a monarchial government, for, among 



them, numbers universally rule, even to the put- 

 ting to death of one that all creatures hold dear 

 — the mother. They do not even suffer their own 

 fathers to live, wlien their presence does not add 

 to the wealth of the community. Still, the many 

 lessons of industry and of mechanical ingenuity, 

 together with their strict obedience to each and 

 every law which God has given them for their 

 government, are worthy the admiration and imi- 

 tation of the most devout theologian or the pro- 

 foundest philosopher. 



James D. Meador. 

 Independence., Mo. 



[For the Americaa ' 



Wintering Bees. 



Journal.] 



Mr. Editor : — As the winter season ap- 

 proaches, (and in fact it has been freezing with 

 us ever since the middle of October,) it reminds 

 us to look after the care of stock, to see that they 

 have comfortable quarters, with a supply of food 

 at command, because we understand that animal 

 heat is kept up at the expense of food and exer- 

 cise. Now, if we give them ]n"oper protection 

 when not in exercise, they will require propor- 

 tionally less food to maintain the required heat. 

 This rule holds good with bees as well as other 

 stock ; and if they are weak in numbers and 

 light in stores, they must certainly perish, here 

 in the North, if they are not protected. 



I became practically convinced of the advan- 

 tagres of protecting bees from cold, in the winter 

 of 1806. Among my stock were eight stands in 

 the American hive. The Bees, comb, brood and 

 honey in them weighed only from six to eight 

 pounds to the hive — the heaviest not exceeding 

 ten pounds in weight. No practical bee-keeper 

 should ever allow his bees to commence the win- 

 ter so light as this, but I was tlien more engaged 

 in medical practice than in apiculture, and had 

 not watched them as closely as I should have 

 done. I knew from former experience that they 

 were too light to winter on their summer stands ; 

 but what was I to do ? My village lot was too 

 flat for a cellar, or even to trench, as Mr. Langs- 

 troth describes in his valuable work, so I did 

 what any Yankee would do under the circum- 

 stances, that is, / did the 'best I could ! I levelled 

 the ground in a part of the garden, laid down two 

 l^ieces of 4 by 4 inch scantling, eight inches apart, 

 filled the space between and each side of them 

 with straw, to absorb the moisture from below, 

 set the eight hives on the scantling, close to- 

 gether, with cups and surplus boxes removed, 

 and entrance open; drove a board into the 

 ground at each end of the row of hives ; laid a 

 pole on top for a ridgepole, set boards slanting 

 from the ground to ridgepole, each side ; put a 

 little straw over the boards to help shed the 

 water, and covered all with dirt from six to ten 

 inches deep — leaving the space around the hives 

 under the boards vacant. I put them into these 

 winter quarters Nov. 25, 1866. 



They remained undisturbed until the third of 

 January, when, it being quite warm for a week, 

 I was anxious to know how the bees were getting 

 along ; so I opened one end of the cave and 



8* 



