AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



Vol. VII. 



ivove:3i:i5Ii:t?, ist^i. 



No. 5. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Weight of Honey Bees. 



TRANSLATED FOR THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 

 FROM THE "BIENENZEITDNG." 



According to the investigations of tlie Baron 

 of lierlepscli, 5,000 outlying worker bees, weigh 

 a pound. These are '"or tlir> l;ir<xer part honey 

 gatherers resting from their labors, and with 

 their honey sues nearly empty. 



According to my own weighings, one pound of 

 bees brushed from the combs in the evening con- 

 tains 4,300 bees, consisting in part : 1st. of 

 lioney gatherers ; and 2d, of young bees engaged 

 in nursing the brood, whose stomachs contain 

 tlie partially digested constituents of the food 

 (pollen and honey) administered to the larvas. 



Again, a pound of bees driven out of a hive 

 early in the morning in the working season, con- 

 tains 4,050 bees, and comiirises both honey 

 gatherers and young bees, the honey gatherers 

 constituting much the larger portion. These 

 have gorged themselves with as much honey as 

 they could appropriate in the hurry of dei>arture. 



Further, a pound of swarming bees, regardless 

 whether prime or second swarm, contains 3,600 

 bees. These, as is well known, con.sist altogether 

 of older workei-s and young bees sufficiently 

 mature to fly, with an intermixture of drones, 

 taking with them a sufficient supply of food or 

 honey, to serve them three or four days, though 

 it is fair to assume that, in the hurry and con- 

 fusion incident to emigration, some of them come 

 away with stomachs empty, or nearly so. 



And, finally, at the close of the breeding 

 season (or about October 10th), a pound of bees 

 killed with sulphur fumes, contains only 3,000, 

 having, in preparation for wintering, more or 

 less honey stowed away in their stomachs, and 

 some ffeces in their intestines. 



The average of these figures is 4,110 bees to 

 the pound. As regards swarming bees, I re- 

 member to have read, many years ago. in some 

 small treatise on bees, as follows: ''There are 

 not,;as is commonly stated, 1.7.5 swarming bees to 

 the half ounce, but only 123." On trial, I found 

 there were not more than 120 such bees in half 

 an ounce. The Baron of Berlepsch is correct, 

 when regretting that he neglected to test the 

 weight of swarming bees, he expressed the con- 

 viction that of them 4,000, at most, would weigh 



a pound. The numbers I have given above were 

 ascertained with the utmost care and precision, 

 and I now present them in tabular form : 



Doiscription. l 1 lb. 



2 lbs. 



3 lbs. 



4 lbs. 



6 lbs. 



1. Outlying Bee 



2. Bees Brushed Off 

 3 Bees Driv'u Out 

 4. i^warming Biies, 

 6. Bee8 in Autumn 



5,6i)0| 11,200| I6,80S! 22,40oi 28,000 .33,600 



4,300 8,600j 12,900! 17,2001 21, .500 



4,050 8,100 12,130 16,200: 20,250 



3,600 7,200, 10,800 14,400 18,000 



3,ii00| 6,000| fi,00o| 12,000l 15,000 



25,800 

 24,300 

 21,600 



A swarm weighing seven pounds will contain 

 24,200 bees; and one weighing eight pounds, 

 28,800. 



Now, if 13| ounces of expelled bees contain as 

 many individuals as 15 ounces of swarming bees, 

 then a driven swarm weighing five pounds will 

 have appropriated and carried off 6^ ounces less 

 honey than a natural swarm of the same weight. 



Again, if 15 ounces of swarming bees contain 

 as many individuals as 18 ounces of bees in 

 autumnal repose, then a swarm weighing four 

 pounds have twelve ounces less honey in their 

 stomachs than the same weight of bees in repose, 

 &c. The number of bees in swarms weighing 

 seven and eight jiounds is i)urposely stated, as I 

 have myself had swarms weighing seven and 

 eight pounds severally. Such gigantic swarms 

 always produce astonishing results in favorable 

 seasons. 



The numbers and weights given in the above 

 table are designed to furnish the readers with a 

 guide or norm, according to which they may in- 

 stitute comparative experiments — the results of 

 which should be communicated for publication. 



Let me add a few queries : 



How much more honey will a heavy swarm 

 secure than a lighter one, weighing a specified 

 amount less? How strong must an artificial 

 swarm, consisting of No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 class 

 bees be, that it shall be able to secure the 

 requisite winter supply of stores, without ex- 

 traneous assistance? Is there any perceptible 

 diiference — and if so, how much between the 

 product of a natural and an artificial swarm 

 having an equal number of bees, whose internal 

 and external relations are precisely similar? and 

 if the latter shoidd come short of the former in 

 productiveness, what should be the weight of an 

 artificial swarm, in a subsequent experiment, to 

 enable it to keep pace with the other? 



E. POHLMANN. 



Sayn, near Cohlenz, April 20, 1871. 



