128 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



her to injure. You can hold her 

 without fear in the hand as long 

 as you will, and even though she is 

 pressed often , yet she does not sting . 

 She must be made very irritable and 

 long provoked, until she is resolute, 

 before she will sting. So even 

 here we see displayed the wisdom 

 of the great Creator, who has so 

 ordered all things in nature that 

 he gives to these little creatures the 

 power to withhold the sting. For, 

 as previously stated, every worker 

 bee must die if it has stung and 

 the sting remains fast, thereby in- 

 juring the intestines ; so in the 

 same manner must the queen lose 

 her life, which is so essential to the 

 welfare of the colony, and hence it 

 is a matter of great importance. 



If the queen should use her sting 

 so readily, it is well known that the 

 colony, unable to get along with- 

 out the mother-bee, would dwindle 

 away and perish. 



THE QUEEN AND HER SUBJECTS. 



The relation in which the queen- 

 bee stands to her subjects is extra- 

 ordinary ; this is due to the inborn 

 allegiance, high esteem, veneration 

 and love which the bees haye for 

 their queen. Their loyalty to her 

 is so great, that they will not only 

 sacrifice their lives for her pro- 

 tection and maintenance without 

 hesitation ; but, if perchance she 

 be removed, lost or killed, and 

 they have no brood from which to 

 rear a new queen, ^ they mourn to 



lA single common larva can produce the 

 same effect as the presence of the queen. If 

 they are only sure that tliey can raise a queen, 

 they become as active and work as diligently 

 as though the queen had already assumed her 

 duties, 



such a degree that they neither 

 work, fly nor eat, and die of hunger, 

 even though the hive is filled with 

 honey ; or they will immediately 

 abandon the old home and unite 

 with another colony, or withdraw 

 one after another and pay alle- 

 giance to another queen, or become 

 scattered, sink beneath the burden 

 of their grief and die. 



If it happens that the honey in 

 the hive fails and the colon}' must 

 go to ruin, yet they keep the queen 

 supplied with food as long as there 

 is any to be had. The queen loves 

 her subjects with equal devotion 

 and if they are wholly taken away 

 from her, she will mourn even to 

 death. 



Modheim, July 25, 1783. 



" WANTED: 

 A HONEY EXTRACTOR. 



By G. W. Stanley. 



As friend Heddon has given us 

 his views on the above subject in 

 the Beekeepers' Magazine for May, 

 we would like to add a few remarks 

 and bring in some points he has 

 left out and possibly, in a friendly 

 way, bring out some points of 

 difference. 



First : we want an extractor that 

 will reverse four combs automat- 

 ically. 



Second : we want a good large 

 reservoir under the frames that will 

 hold from 100 to 2U0 lbs. of honey 

 and with a faucet to let the honey 

 out quickly. 



