1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



261 



Wait a few minutes. The smoke has created a slight 

 panic in the hive, and the bees instinctively fly 

 to their chief treasure, the honey, and load them- 

 selves with it. In that state, they are indisposed to 

 sting. A bee filled with honey is like an English- 

 man after dinner — very good-natured. You may 

 now proceed to open the hive, doing everything very 

 gently and quietly, for bees are as nervous as people 

 who drink strong green tea thrice a day. The least 

 sudden movement gives them a start and puts them 

 on the alert. Having taken off the outer covering 

 of the hive you come to the honey board. This is 

 fixed fast with propolis or bee glue. Bees are not 

 loose in their habits. They want everything strong 

 and solid, and so they gather and prepare a resin- 

 ous material, which they spread on in a sort of vis- 

 oid state, but which gets hard like sealing wax, 

 except in the very hottest weather. But it is as 

 brittle as sealing wax, and the point of a knife will 

 usually loosen the honey board in a moment. Now 

 lift off the honey-board carefully, and set it by the 

 side of the hive, near the entrance, in order that the 

 adhering bees may, if they wish, readily re-enter 

 the hive. At this stage you will feel rather nervous 

 most likely, especially if the bees should rush out 

 at all, as they sometimes do. But keep quiet, take 

 your time, blow a little smoke across the top of the 

 hive, and down between the frames. This will still 

 them. The frames are glued fast, as was the honey 

 board, and must be loosened in the same way. Be 

 very careful in drawing out the first frame. Make 

 an opening for it by gently pushing the frames on 

 either side. Fix it as a rule not to crush a single 

 bee if it can be avoided. Having thus drawn out a 

 frame from about the centre of the 

 hive, begin to examine it. Of course 

 the bees first attract your attention. 

 Most of them, perhaps all that you 

 see, if it be early in the spring, will 

 be like the one shown in this cut. 



These are the workers. They are 

 undeveloped females. On them all 

 the labors of the hive devolve. 



Later in the season you will notice, on opening a 

 hive, a proportion of larger bees. 

 They are portly looking, alder- 

 manic insects, each with a jolly 

 corporation of his own. There 

 is no difficulty in identifying 

 them. The accompanying en- 

 graving shows how they look. 

 They are " the lazy fathers of 

 the industrious hive." They 

 perform no toils, ^and lead a life of pleasurable 

 idleness. 



If you look sharply you will perhaps be fortunate 

 enough to find the queen. But she 

 is modest and retiring, prone to hide 

 in little knots of workers, and seems 

 to take pains to elude observation ; 

 sometimes, however, she walks forth, 

 with a slow and stately step, and 

 with a sort of majestic air, which 

 proclaims her " every inch a queen." 

 Novices are very apt to mistake 

 some drone more slender than his 

 fellows, for the queen. This cut will 

 aid in her recognition. 



Her wings are short, her body long and tapering, 

 and her movements peculiar. 



As you proceed with your inspection, you will 

 observe many cells containing a yellowish or red- 

 dish substance. This is pollen, the food of the 

 young bees. You took it for honey as the workers 

 were carrying it in, but it is not much like honey 

 here in the cells. 



It will strike you that the honeycomb is not all of 

 the same size, and on careful observation, you will 

 see that there are two sizes of cells ; the larger size 

 is known as drone-comb, and the smaller as worker- 

 comb. The drones are raised in the one, and the 

 workers in the other. 



Peering into these cells you will notice little white 

 things coiled up in them. These are the grubs or 

 larvae. If you search narrowly you will see at the 

 bottom of many of the cells, little white specks 

 about the shape of rice grains. These are the un- 

 hitched eggs. They are all laid by the queen, who 

 is the mother of the entire progeny. It is very in- 

 teresting to note the egg, the newly hatched grub, 

 and all the various sized grubs, up to those that look 

 so big and fat that the cells can hardly hold them. 

 You will notice also many cells closed up, "sealed 

 over," as bee-keepers say. These contain the young 

 brood in the last stage of development, and if you 

 watch closely you will see some of them who are 

 mature eating their way out of prison, into that 

 world in which they are to play such an active 

 part. 



This is a sufficiently long exploratory tour for the 

 'first, in the hitherto (to you) unknown realm of 

 bee-dom. It has, to some extent, satisfied your 

 curiosity. It has proved that you can handle bees 

 without being injured. It has given you an insight 

 into bee-life. It has opened to you a world of won- 

 ders, into which you will take many a journey, 

 and, if you are a devout student of nature, you will 

 exclaim often, as you behold the revelations of in- 

 insect art and skill : "Great and marvelous are thy 

 works, Lord God Almighty ; in wisdom hast Thou 

 made them all." — From the Canada Farmer of 

 March 15th, 1873. 



The Lessons of the Past Winter. 



BY THE BDITOR. 



Our average winters are sufficiently hard and try- 

 ing, to make bee-keeping a matter of difficulty, de- 

 manding the most careful and judicious management. 

 But such a winter as we have just experienced is an 

 ordeal which comparatively few apiarians are able to 

 endure. It is a crucial test of the stuff they are 

 made of. 



Quite a number of bee-keepers will, after such a 

 season, abandon the pursuit in disgust, and pronounce 

 it a humbug. In travelling through the country the 

 coming summer, observant persons will detect many 

 deserted apiaries and depopulated hives, and on 

 making inquiries, the often-repeated reply will be, 

 "0! bee-keeping is played out;" or " This, climate 

 is too hard for bees." 



