108 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



WAX SECRETIONS. 



BristolcUle, Ohio. 

 Are wax secretions voluntary or involun- 

 tary on the part of the bee ? 



G. S. Barb. 



ANSWER BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



All beekeepers know the origin 

 of wax. It is secreted by thin mem- 

 branaceous glands just beneath the 

 ventral segments of the abdomen. 

 These glands take elements from 

 the blood and form the liquid wax ; 

 which, by osmosis, passes through 

 the eight wax plates and is mold- 

 ed as thin scales on the outside of 

 these plates. 



In most all cases secretion is 

 wholly involuntary. From anal- 

 ogy then we should suppose it 

 would be in this case. The cow 

 has no control over the milk secre- 

 ted in the milk glands as to time 

 of secretion, quantity or quality. 

 No more have we as to whether 

 our salivary glands shall secrete 

 spittle or not, or whether our liver 

 shall form bile, or our pancreas its 

 peculiar liquid. In case of bees 

 then the burden of proof rests with 

 him who believes that the wax 

 glands of bees are under the con- 

 trol of the will. 



Some years since, when foun- 

 dation first came into use, I felt 

 that this was an important question 

 and I attempted its solution as fol- 

 lows : I hived three good prime 

 swarms ; one on empty frames, one 

 on foundation and one on empty 

 combs, and then weighed each, 

 each day, after the bees had col- 

 lected in the hives for the night. 

 I found that the colony without 

 either comb or foundation gained in 

 honey much more slowly than either 

 of the other two, and that far less 

 bees flew. The other two colonies 

 increased nearly the same, but the 

 gain was sligiitly in favor of the 

 colony with combs. Since then, I 

 have had my students try the same 

 experiment, with similar results ; 



except, in one or two cases, the col- 

 ony on foundation has done the best. 



Now one of two things must be 

 true : Either the bees have control 

 of this function, or else, by their 

 action, whether of rest or motion, 

 they indirect!}' control secretion. 

 The horse that works very hard 

 raises a poor colt, because she can- 

 not do so much muscular work and 

 secrete enough milk for her off- 

 spring. I wish to fat my fine short- 

 horns for the shambles at Clnist- 

 mas time. I shut tiiem up in a 

 warm, comfortable, quiet stable, 

 and give them no exercise. If 

 they have to eat to supply muscu- 

 lar force the}' can furnish less for 

 fat. Now, it would seem that this 

 might explain the fact given above. 

 When combs are to be built the 

 bees hang quietly from the top of 

 the hive, eat much ; and, as no mus- 

 cular force is to be expended, much 

 wax is formed. When tiie mare 

 works hard, she forms little fat or 

 milk. When quiet she may pro- 

 duce much of botli. Likewise the 

 bee; only the condition of the 

 hive is what induces the action or 

 quiet. 



But there is one more tangle to 

 this knot: when bees are hived in 

 an em[jty hive, we find that. even 

 the field bees are secreting wax. 

 Nearly every bee will show the 

 scales. On the other hand, put a 

 swarm into a hive full of empty 

 combs, and it is difficult to find a 

 bee within or without with the wax 

 scales in the wax pockets. I have 

 repeatedly noticed this in looking 

 for bees with the wax scales to show 

 my class. Here it must be volun- 

 tary, unless the bees do less out- 

 side work in the one case, and so 

 use vital energy to pioduce wax, 

 and more in the other, and so do 

 not have any vital force remaining 

 to secrete wax. 



Agricidtural College, Mich. 



