May 3, 191 6 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



387 



it is quite correct to say that the queen, for instance, is 

 nourished by the blood of the worker-bees. 



If the contents of the stomach are regurgitated when 

 the digestion is nearly completed, but when the pollen- 

 shells are not separated as yet, we call this food "chyme." 

 For the anatomy of all the organs necessary for digestion I 

 refer to Cowan's " The Honey-Bee," the most complete 

 ook we have as yet on these matters. 



When the pollen is gathered by the field-bees it is mixed 

 with saliva, which soon causes some fermentation, and so 

 the old field-bees take part in preparing the food for the 

 whole colony. 



The second food of the bees is the honey (carbo-hydrate). 

 It is prepared from the nectar of the plants in the honey- 

 stomach, as here the acids of the saliva (which is mixed 

 with the nectar when the bee sucks it from the corolla of 

 the flower or from the cell in the mouth) change the cane- 

 sugar of the nectar to invert sugar, which can readily be 

 assimilated without further change. In the honey a small 

 quantity of formic acid is found. This originates from the 

 saliva, too, as the glands form it out of the blood. Some 

 bee-keepers have believed that this formic acid is added to 

 the honey by the bees purposely from the sting, but that is 

 a mistake. 



Further, we know that the queen and the drones are for 

 nitrogenous food entirely dependent upon the workers, 

 which feed chyle to them in large quantities. Both are 

 even unable to digest pollen at all. The drones, as is proven 

 by experiment, if not fed by the worker-bees will get very 

 weak, and will die in 3 days. The queen, too, can not live 

 very long if net nourished by the workers. The queen and 

 drones take honey out of the cells. The chyle is fed to 

 larva; the first 3 days ; afterward chyme is fed to the worker- 

 larvae ; but queen larva; are eutirely nourished by an abun- 

 dance of chyle. 



The chyle and blood are composed of albumen — fat like 

 substances — and sugar ; but the proportion of the composi- 

 tion is somewhat different according to circumstances. 

 This is a very important point for our later consideration. 



L. STACHBI.HAUSKN. ' 



Note. — I explained Schoenfeld's researches and dis- 

 coveries more in detail in Gleanings for 1888, pages i45, 

 379, 388, and Prof. A. J. Cook added remarks to my article. 

 I was the first one who made known these important facts 

 to bee-keepers. L,. S. 



The above is only one of a series of articles to follow by 

 our well-known Mr. L. Stachelhausen. In these he gives 

 our readers, in his easy style, some important and interest- 

 ing matter which they perhaps would not obtain if they 

 had to " dig it out " of the scientific works in question. It 

 is only too true that most of us bee-keepers do not like to 

 read scientific articles. And even if some of us did, we 

 could hardly do so with a clear understanding. There are 

 too many "long words" and "scientific terms." There- 

 fore, it should be highly appreciated if those who can do 

 these things give it to us in such language as we can un- 

 derstand. 



Such knowledge as is given in articles of this kind can 

 be a great deal of help to bee-keepers. It will help them to 

 go further than along the same ruts traveled by their an- 

 cestors. Mr. Stachelhausen is right in saying that progress 

 can not be made unless we know why we do things in cer- 

 tain ways, except it comes by mere chance, or we stumble 

 on it. 



The Weather and the Honey-Flows 



It is interesting to note how the weather, and other at- 

 mospheric conditions, will influence the honey-flow or the 

 secretion of nectar of different blooms. It would be still 

 more interesting if we understood these matters better, then 

 we could discuss them with better understanding. Those 

 who have studied botany are well aware of what effect dif- 

 ferent kinds of weather, heat or cold, dryness or moisture, 

 etc., have upon the nectar-secreting glands of the flower of a 

 plant. This is another reason why bee-keepers should be 

 botanists more than they are. 



There are some things in connection with this subject 

 that seem like a mystery to some of us. One of these has 

 caused this question to be asked many times, " Why does 

 cotton yield nectar some seasons and not in others, although 

 the seasons seem to be as favorable in one as the other?" 

 The same has been said about other honey-yielding plants. 

 I have seen hundreds of acres of fine horsemint in full 

 bloom, yet not a single bee could be found on it. In South- 



west Texas, where .huajilla (Acacia berlandieri Benth.) 

 abounds, I have been told that in some seasons, and in cer- 

 tain localities, it does not yield nectar, although covered 

 with a profusion of bloom, and when the weather seemed 

 favorable for the secretion of nectar. A little more infor- 

 mation on such subjects as these would, I am sure, be of 

 much interest. Who can tell us— who knows — something 

 ] about these things ? 



Right along this line is a letter from Mr. H. C. Barnard, 

 of Georgia, in which he says : 



I was much interested in what J. .1. Wilder said about the way the 

 weather influences the honey-llow, on page 141. More observations 

 and study on this subject would not be amiss. It would certainly be 

 interesting to know why these thiogs happen, even if our knowing the 

 " why " will have no effect on the honey-tlow. 



In this connection I wish to state that I am a Co-operative Ob- 

 server of the U. S. Weather Bureau at this place, and it is easy for me 

 to look over the records and see what kind of weather it was during 

 a certain honey-now. The Co-operative observer gets no "money'' 

 pay, but the records are of value to many, and the Weather Bureau 

 sends him free several valuable publications. I have often wondered 

 how many (if any) of the 3000 or more Co-operative Observers are 

 bee-keepers. The Weather Bureau desires to have one Co-operative 

 Observer in each county in the United States that has railroad facili- 

 ties; so, brother bee-keepers (or sisters, either), if your county has no 

 Co-operative Observer in it, and has railroad facilities, apply for the 

 office and be of service to the Government and to yourselves, and help 

 us learn some of the " whys " of bee-keeping. In those counties that 

 already have Co-operative Observers (as Mr. Wilder's has) any one 

 can examine the records by asking the Observer. 



=\ 



2Ttr. pasty's 

 Ctftcrtfyoiigfyts 



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The " Old Reliable" as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Caucasian Bees in West-Central Asia 



So West-Central Asia, 1000 miles in, has no bees of 

 value except Caucasians, which have been brought there — 

 probably not so very long ago. I don't wonder that Benton 

 put in a (!) when he found modern frame hives there. Sus- 

 pect that the beautiful view, " he mont Elbrous— Vues de 

 Caucase," is not germane to Samarcand. where Mr. Benton 

 penned the border, but simply Mount Elburz in the Cau- 

 casus. A very saintly looking white mountain, anyway. 

 Page 270. 



Dr. Miller vs. F. Greiner on T-Supers 



Dr. Miller takes out 10.C00 sections from the T-super 

 without setting one to leaking. F. Greiner fails to take out 

 100 except a dozen or so leak. Why is this thus? May it 

 not all result from Mr. G. having a super with the tins im- 

 movable — all'ee same everlasting hills? Good plan to avoid 

 loose pieces ; but some good plans get carried a vast distance 

 too far. Page 271. 



Dadant's Few Swarms— Large Frames 



Getting over 6 tons of honey a year for two successive 

 years, with only 5 swarms [seen] in all that time — at an 

 out-apiary at that— was indeed a grand triumph for the 

 Dadants. A skeptical chap might say that there were a 

 dozen swarms that they didn't see; but what of it? We 

 can well afford to let Dame Nature devour a dozen swarms 

 plus S in return for such a splendid crop. Grant that a 

 thousand swarms went to the woods, and still the 25,500 

 pounds of honey sell for precisely the same sum in cold cash. 



We are interested in knowing — 



" About the natur' of the place 

 Ten miles beyond the end of space;'' 



and so we are glad to hear that the elder Dadant experi- 

 mented with a frame 18 inches long and 18 inches high. A 

 past-master of bee-art, full of enthusiasm for big frames, 

 found it too big. So I guess we may consider that 18x18 is 

 the end of space in that direction. How about the other 

 direction ? Wonder if 10x5 would serve for Ultima Thule ? 

 Page 271. 



Temperature Inside Winter Cluster of Bees 



Queer that the high-class bee-books which try to be ex- 

 haustive all skip the temperature of the inside of the winter 

 cluster. Mr. Doolittle fills the gap very ably indeed. 



