344 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



September 



— goes. We all kuow that a colony 

 works under a single impulse — that is, 

 what is the motive of a few is the 

 motive of the entii-e colony ; so we 

 must consider a colony as having a 

 single mind. All work together for 

 the coinraon good of the colony. 

 Certainly, when a bee darts from the 

 hive that we are working over, and 

 dips us over the eye, we are glad that 

 the entire colony is not seized with 

 the same impulse, at the same mom- 

 ent ; nevertheles, there is a control- 

 ling passion which seems to have the 

 same influence over the entire colony 

 at the same time. 



Let us look for a moment at the 

 higher order of animals and see the 

 difference in dispositions. Take, for 

 example, mau. Among thousands 

 you will not find two exactly alike in 

 temperament. Then take horses, with 

 which some of us are accustomed to 

 work almost every day. One will be 

 wild, vicious, and hard to manage ; 

 while another, having the same treat- 

 ment, may be docile and gentle. 



Let us go still lower in the scale of 

 the animal kingdom, and notice a 

 flock of poultry. Here is a brood of 

 fowls that were hatched out in the 

 field or forest. One hen laid the eggs, 

 hatched them, and reared the chicks 

 up until they were large enough to 

 scratch for themselves. We should 

 suppose that this brood would be very 

 much alike in disposition when they 

 arrived at maturity ; but such is not 

 the case. Some are apt to be shy 

 while others are tame ; and in many 

 ways we may notice a variation in 

 their dispositions. 



The above may seem foreign to bees; 

 but I have alluded to it to show that 

 there is a variation in temperature 



among the same species in the animal 

 kingdom. 



Let us now go to the apiary. There 

 are two colonies, apparently just alike. 

 We know they are very nearly alike 

 so far as strength and the amount of 

 stores they have is concerned ; and the 

 one colony might be expected to do 

 just as the other does, yet the one col- 

 ony is storing honey quite rapidly 

 while the other one is doing very little. 

 Here are two colonies very much alike 

 that we gave supers to at the same 

 time. The one has the supers half 

 filled, and is working nicely, while 

 the others have not even begun. 

 Here is a colony that builds very 

 straight even coiubs, while some of the 

 others build crooked, bulged, and un- 

 even combs, although their conditions 

 are very much alike. Over there is 

 a colony that will not accept a queen, 

 but will kill queens as fast as you in- 

 troduce them, and insist upon rearing 

 one of their own so long as there is a 

 shadow of a chance — that is, as long 

 as they have any unsealed larvte to 

 rear one from. No matter if the 

 larvse is several days too old, they in- 

 sist on having one of their own rear- 

 ing. Their nearest neighbor may be 

 a colony that will accept a queen by 

 merely taking away their own and 

 giving them another, say twenty-four 

 hours later. One colony will cast a 

 swarm before the hive is more than 

 two-thirds full of brood and honey, 

 while others will wait several days 

 after their hive is chock full. 



To what, then, can we attribute 

 this difference ? Where all are in 

 the same apiary it cannot be laid at 

 the door of location, for the resources 

 of one colony are available alike to all 

 that are of sufficient strength to send 

 a full working force to the field. 



