88 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Avorker does not ordinarily require nineteen full 

 dajis for its perfect devclopm'nt. 



From the 12th of June forward the hive was 

 closely observed, daily, between the hours of 

 twelve at noon and three o'clock in the after- 

 noon. On the loth, on the fifth day accord- 

 ingly, (counting from June 11th fourteen 

 minutes after 7 o'clock in the evening, when 

 the first two bees were born,) no Italian bee 

 had yidl shown itself outside of the hive. As 

 on the 17tli and ISth the thermometer fell to 

 r)0-\ so that, though the locust trees were then 

 in full bloom, very few old bees left their hives, 

 we feared that we should find our experiment 

 partially defeated when warm weather recurred 

 on the lOlh. For if Italian workers Avere seen 

 to issue in numbers on that day, as the eighth, 

 it would not follow, as a matter of course, that 

 they do not leave their hive till on the eighth 

 day after emerging from the cell, because the 

 cold weather experienced on the sixth and sev- 

 enth days (June 17 and 18) may have prevented 

 them from making their appearance. But to 

 our great joy, our apprehensions proved un- 

 founded, for on the 19th, the eighth day, only a 

 single Italian bee presented herself on the 

 alighting-board, without attempting, however, 

 to leave it, but soon retreated into the hive 

 again, though the thermometer, at the moment 

 other appearance, (three minutes past 1 o'clock,) 

 stood at 72°. 



On the 20th, the ninth day consequentlj^, we 

 saw only four Italian bees leave the liive 

 hovering in its front, and speedily returning. 

 The thermometer stood at 72'^ in the shade. 

 But on the 21st of June — or on the 10th day — 

 when the thermometer stood at 78^, the Italian 

 bees flew sparingly, and in increased numbers 

 not before the 22d. 



This result is quite remarkable, and does not 

 accord with any previous experiments. Thus: 



1. Besides the utterly abortive experiment 

 which I made in 185G, I made three new and 

 very i)recise ones in 18G4-0, which uniformlj^ in- 

 dicated the eighth day as that on which the 

 young bees first made their appearance in con- 

 siderable numbers in front of their hives, though 

 a few showed themselves on the seventh day, 

 on the alighting board, but retired again with- 

 out attempting to fly. Earlier than on the 

 seventh day, I have never seen young bees leave 

 their hives, although, besides the experiments 

 now referred to, I have made observations in 

 forty or fifty instances. 



2. Mr. ilalb, who assisted me in the previous 

 experiments, can corroborate the statement that 

 not a bee left the hive prior to the seventh day; 

 and Mr. Ilopf, who, in 1864 and 18G5, Italian- 

 ized at least sixty stocks of black bees, informs 

 me that '■'before the seventh day no young bee 

 leaoes the hive.'''' 



3. Dr. Donhoffdistinctly mentions the seventh 

 day as that on Avhich the young bees first left 

 his experimental hive. 



4. Dzierzon says "after leaving the cell, a 

 week i^asses {seven days) before one or more 

 young Italian bees will make their appearance 

 before the hive wiiile the bees are flying." 

 Tliis agrees precisely with the statements under 

 1 and 3. In his treatise on "Rational Bee Cul- 



ture," he says more vaguely '■'■several daj's;" 

 and it would seem as if he wished to reduce the 

 period within seven days, thus approximating 

 one his earlier statements, according to Avhieli 

 the young bees made their first appearance out- 

 side "about the third day." 



5. Bottner, in the Bienenzeitung for 18G4, page 

 138, says "at least six daj^s." 



6. Wittenhageu, in the Bienenzeitung for 

 18GG, page 48, says: "In about eight days the 

 young bees become strong enough to venture to 

 leave their hives on a warm, calm day, to dis- 

 charge their fteces." 



7. The Novice, of Coblentz, {Bienenzeitung, 

 18G4, page 188,) saj^s: "I once saw young bees 

 fly out on tha fourth day;" and Fisher makes a 

 similar statement in the Bienenzeitung for 1863, 

 page 31. Decidedly as these statements differ 

 fiom mine, I will not undertake to discredit 

 them, because the assertion is direct and posi- 

 tive, and both the Novice and Mr. Fisher are 

 accural e observers. In such cases much de- 

 pends on by whom the observation is made. 

 Many observers are very superficial, drawing 

 hasty conclusions, without noting the facts care- 

 fully, or preserving well-ascertained data for I'u- 

 ture use. Only loo frequently are surmises and 

 conjectures substituted for facts, and conclu- 

 sions deduced from insufiicient ]n'emises. 



8. Schiller, {Bienenzeitung^ 1861, page 98,) 

 says "the workers fly out the day alter they are 

 born, for purification, and thencetorward regu- 

 larly in quest of pasturage, w7iich needs no 

 proof.'''' No experienced observer Avould make 

 any such statement. A bee not more than 

 twenty-four hours old, cannot fly at all, but 

 drops to the ground almost perpendicularlj^, if 

 thrown into the air. 



So far as I know no further statement in this 

 connection has appeared in the Bienenzeitung, 

 for what Prachel says (B. Z., 1855, page 123,) 

 is too vague to be of use. 



I can say very positively that in my last ex- 

 l)eriment, the young bees first began to fly out 

 on the tentii day. llow is this to be explained, 

 in view of my own previous observations and 

 those of others? I will hazard these surmises: 



1. The nucleus colony w:is weak, and the hive 

 disproportionately large. Hence the bees were 

 not crowded, nor could a high internal tempera- 

 ture be maintained; and the influence of warmth 

 on the activity of bee^ is very well known. 



2. The queen had laid an unusual number of 

 eggs. Hence, on the 18th and 19th of June, 

 when the young bees should have come forth, 

 the brood-combs were not densely covered ; 

 and on the 18th the weather was too cold to al- 

 low bees to fly. 



On the 23d of June, the twelfth day after the 

 birth of the oldest of the young bees, and thence- 

 forward, Mr. Axthelm and myself watched the 

 hive with the most scrutinizing attention, re- 

 lieving each other like soldiers on guard. But 

 it was not till the 30tli, between 1 and 2 o'clock 

 in the afternoon, consequently on the 19th day, 

 that we first saw young Italians bringing in 

 pollen — three then came laden with pelleis. The 

 weather was highly favorable from the 23d to 

 tlie 30th inclusive, and the locust trees were 

 in full bloom, yielding honey in abundance. 



