62 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUEIST. 



NEW OBSERVATIONS ON 



THE NATURAL HISTORY 



OF BEE S.^ 



By Francis Hcbek. 



The translator's preface states : 

 "The whole of Ruber's memoirs 

 are here presented somewhat in 

 an abbreviated form, particularly 

 the portion relative to anatomical 

 details, the theory 'of respiration 

 and the architecture of bees. 



All the substance however is 

 preserved and the narrative is ren- 

 dered as explicit and concise as 

 the subject admits. 



Edinburgh, 1821. 



PART I. 



LETTER 1. 



ON THE IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN 

 BEE. 



Sir : as you desired me to trans- 

 mit a written detail of my principal 

 experiments on bees, when I gave 

 you an account of them at Genthod, 

 I hasten to extract the following 

 observations from my Journal, 



Nothing can be more flattering 

 than the interest you take in my 

 researches ; therefore permit me to 

 remind you of your promise to 

 suggest new subjects for investiga- 

 tion. 1 



Glass hives, constructed after 

 M. de Reaumur's principles, are of 

 a form unfavorable to the observer ; 

 because their width allowing the 

 bees to build two combs parallel, 

 whatever passes between them, is 

 concealed from his view. 



Long experience of this has in- 

 duced 3^ou to recommend hives 

 much flatter or thinner ; the panes 



' All the letters in the first portion of the 

 work are addressed to the celebrated natural- 

 ist M. Bonnet, whose labors in this department 

 of science are well known, and justly appreci- 

 ated. 



His decease in 179S during the prosecution 

 of the author's experiments explains the rea- 

 son for dividing the volume into two parts.— T. 



of which should be separated by 

 so small an interval that only a 

 single row of combs could be erect- 

 ed between them. 



From having felt the same in- 

 convenience I have profited by your 

 counsel in providing hives reduced 

 to an inch and a half in width, 

 wherein swarms have been estab- 

 lished without any difficult}'. Here, 

 however, the charge of constructing 

 a single comb must not be commit- 

 ted to the bees ; they are taught by 

 nature to make more than one, 

 and all parallel to each other — a 

 law from which thej' never dero- 

 gate, unless when constrained by 

 some particular arrangement. 



Therefore, if left to themselves in 

 these flat hives which cannot ad- 

 rait of two combs parallel to the 

 plane of the sides, they will form 

 several small ones perpendicular 

 to it ; and in that case all will be 

 equally lost to the observer. 



Thus previous dispositions be- 

 come essential for the direction of 

 the combs. I so contrived that, 

 while they were built perpendicular 

 to the horizon, the lateral surfaces 

 should be three or four lines from 

 the panes constituting the sides of 

 the hive. 2 



This distance, in allowing suflSc- 

 ient latitude for the motions of the 

 bees, prevented them from collect- 

 ing in too large clusters on the 

 surface of the comb. 



By such precautions, they were 

 easily established in very thin 

 hives where they pursued their 

 labors with the same assiduity and 

 regularity ; and every cell being 

 exposed to view, none of their 

 proceedings could be concealed. 



It is true, that by compelling 

 these insects to live in a habitation 

 where they could construct only a 

 single row of combs, I had, in a 



=Tlie diflfereut measurements are expressed 

 in lines, of which 12 are in an inch. 



(To he continued.') 



