50 



TBE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 



agricuUure. I make the following notes 

 from his address: 



The antenna- of the bee are the seat of 

 smell, ue fnll of pits and hairs, making 

 them very sensitive to tonch and may 

 also ]ierform auditory functions. Thi- 

 bee is very particular as to having these 

 organs in the best possible condition, 

 clean and bright. On the threshold of 

 the hive just before the bee leaves for a 

 journey she cleans them by a certain 

 move toward the fore-leg, drawing them 

 through a comb-brush-like contrivance 

 located at the second joint of the leg. 

 Watching a bee when ready to start one 

 generally observes her making this move 

 about as a lazy boy would wipe his eyes 

 before getting out of led at S o'clock in 

 the morning. It seems to be necessary 

 that the antennie are perfectly bright to 

 do good service. 



The body of the bee, and more so the 

 underside, is thickly covered with hairs, 

 interlacing, featherlike, forming com- 

 pound hairs designed to catch and hold 

 the pollen du.st when the bee is visiting 

 the blossoms. On the third joint of each 

 hindleg is located a nine-rowed brush, 

 which assists in brushing the pollen off 

 from the bee's bod3\ 'J he next section 

 higher up above these brushes forms 

 the pollen-basket. The inside of this 

 is covered with curved hair, which serve 

 to hold the pollen while being carried to 

 the hive. The middle leg packs the 

 pollen into the baskets and form the 

 well known pollen -pellets. After a bee 

 enters the hive with a load of pollen she 

 hunts up a cell suital)le to receive her 

 load, [(ireiner and II. S. Case had ob- 

 served that a pollen -loaded bee did not 

 at once .seek a ced for depositing the pol- 

 len, but seemed to first pau.se for a minute 

 or two and go through with a tremulous 

 or shaking motion for some reason or 

 other, as though she wanted to shake 

 every particle of dust of? from her body ] 

 She then inserts the two hinrllegs into 

 the cell found and by the two spurs 

 located on the middle legs pries the pol- 

 len-pellets lose from the ba.skets. She 



does not attend to the packing down of 

 the pollen. Younger bees attend to that,, 

 not with their bare feet like the boys in 

 Germany do when putting up sauer- 

 kraut, but with their heads. Differently 

 colored pollen is stored indiscriminately 

 although the bees while gathering con- 

 fine themselves to the pollen of one 

 species of planls. 



Meeting the accusation sometimes 

 heard, that bees would injure fruit 

 blossoms or the buckwheat bloom. [It 

 seems .strange that in these times of en- 

 lightenment, there should any such non- 

 sense find a lodging place in the head of 

 any person; such a head must indeed be 

 very empty. In Buddha, the Indian 

 Bible, written over 3,000 years ago, the 

 following may be found: 



"As the bee collects honey and departs 

 without injuring the flower. 



So let him, who is wise, dwell on 

 earth." 



It seems then, that there was a better 

 understanding about the matter 3,000 

 yeairs ago, than some people now have. 

 — The Reporter'] He stated that the 

 anther of e\ ery stamen, of which some 

 blossoms have a great many, contains a 

 million or more grains of pollen and but 

 one grain of these was required for the 

 fertilization of one pistil. 



Pollen is necessary for both bees and 

 plants; honey is of no u.se whatever to the 

 plant or blossoms, except indirectly in 

 .so far as it .serves to attract bees and in- 

 sects to aid in pollination. 



After a short recess the question box 

 was opened and conducted by Prof. Ben- 

 ton. 



1st question — Do Italian bees cap their 

 cond) honey as white as do the blacks and 

 Carniolans? Answer; No. 2nd question — 

 Is amber honey richer and of better flavor 

 than white? Answer: Questionable. 3rd 

 question — Are we ready to put the seal 

 of the A.s.sociation on dark honey? Dis- 

 cussed pro and con. 



4tli question — What is the best way to 

 winter bees, under sealed cover or under 

 quilt and packing? Answer: Quilt and 



