1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



129 



2. The dreadful antipathy of queens to each 

 othei' was destl-o^rM by thd retd(5Vlirof ' the an- 

 terince ;• fofthe two rivals, ofteii'pitet, "but never 

 too^ the least notice of each ottlfer; " . ,;' 



"When fluber put in a third qneen, whose an- 

 tepnte were whole, the bees treated her immedi- 

 ately as a stranger, and instantly imprisoiied her. 



These experiments throw some light on the 

 mode in which communication takes place be- 

 tween bees. In the first place, it is not improb- 

 able that of themselves they distinguish be- 

 tween a queen and a worker, since they pay 

 homage to the queen. We may then conjecture, 

 that, in order to distinguish one queen from 

 another, some communication must be made by 

 the individual queen to her subjects that she is 

 their sovereign, since, where the antennae were 

 amputated in two queens, both were equally 

 well treated, while a third, which had the an- 

 tennae entire, was instantly recognized as a 

 stranger. The mutilation of workers, by ampiy 

 tatioa of the antennae produces similar effects'; 

 it causes them to neglect their labors, run into 

 corners, and ultimately quit the hive, never to 

 return. Hence, it would seem that'the antennje 

 are the organs of communication. 



The senses of smell, taste, feeling, and vision 

 are attributed to bees ; Huber doubts that they 

 possess the sense of hearing; their s.ei^se of 

 sight is certainly acute in an extraordinary de- 

 gree. The antennai are supposed tq be the 

 organs of touch, (jertain it is, that the^e organs 

 alone enable the bee to work in the darkness of 

 the hive. '• • i .','.. . 



The s^nse of taste is not YQry refined, for it 

 matters'little to whatneighborlj.ood^the bep goes 

 to gather honey, or from what flowers. 



The sense of smell, no doubt, is also acute. 

 Huber placed hrney in boxes with small cord 

 valves, and put»them two hundred yards., fronj 

 the apiary. In a short time, some bees ■ had 

 pushed against the valves, and entered. Here, 

 the odor f^ouvthe honey, was almost shut within 

 the, boxes, and their sight could not have assist-". 

 ed| them, • , • . , 



Hviber thinks th,at the sense of hearing is., 

 vei;y obtuse in bees ; however, it can not be de- 

 nied that sounds are made by the flapping of 

 the wings arid other movements of the body, 

 which are 'distinctly heard and understood by 

 bees. •..'.,,,■ 



Instances have been stated in which bees rec- 

 oUe(jfed'.t|iej.i; queen. Another may be adduced, 

 which appears to prove that the faculty of rec- 

 ollection embraced a considerable lapse of time. 

 "In 'autumn," -says Huber, "honey had been 

 placed in a window, where bees resorted to it 

 in niiiltitudes. ,It was removed, and the shut- 

 ters closed during the winter ; but when opened 

 again, on the' return, of spring, the bees came 

 back, though nohoney remained ; undoubtedly, 

 th|ey remembered it ; therefore, an interval of 

 several weeks di(J not obliterate the impression 

 they had received." Renediur. 



[For the American Bee Journa!."! 



Novice. 



P;EA-p.. Bee Journal : We notice quite a 

 number ^f typographical error^in our com- 

 munication io,,,l;he JS^ovembcr number (ff the 

 Journal, but none of them serious except the 

 remark on page. 115j that we have more friends 

 than we have desiftd. Now, the worst part of 

 it is, that one would' jiot at once see how any- 

 thing so plaijsiQQulclbe a misi^rint, or how our 

 meaning could be.aUier than such a coarse, un- 

 grateful phi'age ,as the above conveys. 



If our friends, who have concluded they were 

 disappointed in us, and that they don't care to 

 follo-w us furth.erj wjllsuppjy.rfesaj'i^ed, in place 

 of tliQ word desired, perhaps they .may feel 

 differently. Our " botteivk-aif " has often re- 

 marl5;e.d that Qjiil".' J^ee friends " were nearer to 

 us than our own relatives, and that we exhibited 

 more pleasurg in seeing_tliem, and we really 

 believe a letter ©n -B^e.-culture w.ould be better 

 read and sooner answered jthan^ phe .from an 

 02i'?i brother. .,.'(•(•"" 



Again, we do hope ingratitude finds no place 

 among our many sins' and sliort-comiri^s. 



On page 113, read loest, insteii'd of '' nest," in 

 quotation from Mr. Tupi^erV ", , • • , ^ 



On i^age 114, inside column,, near the bottc^, 

 insert the word heat, before " wasevoive<^,'.'and 

 read /reez??i^, instead of " freezyj" find " insert 



lods, after " ventilation." 



fi'^ 



t'as, aiier •• veutiiatjou. •-..•",. ,r »' t V 



On page 115, read ifazew, 'in ..several^, places, 

 . iaistead' of. "Hayes." ,^ ,,■ ',' ,j / • , » ,. 

 ' ,dii inside colunjn of san^p page, aj."' the. bot- 

 tofn',' read- '''' 'but won't 'your extracted honey 

 sdiu', jf„it„be t)}o thin, &c." ' ' . 



Oil same page, in pext column,? half way 

 dowin„,'read fxlrai^tor for " extra." ', , 



Frofn Mr. Marsh's art^^e,, on page 120, we 

 shpuld.infer lie too,ha(J ^"patent . "hive to sell, 

 but if 'ijiay be a mistake." jWe are certainly 

 sorry tliat'^t Son't ", chime with nature" to feed 

 sugar, but 'we really dyn't know any better. 

 ^ Milk is the "-natural ifood " for calves, an 1 

 " nature " has^.prc^videa , a " natural way " for 

 them to^get jt,; but " unnatural man " has, for 

 agps, treated the " infantile bossies " in a cruel 

 an^ urmatijral way, — makes cheese and butter, 

 and even kilfs' 't'lie aforesaid jinnocents, when 

 th^y are a " lx)4her," 



Lest it might be inferred that we lacked in 

 veneration, we will give it, as our belief, that 

 t'is man's province and work to mold nature 

 to his purposes, and that whatever we desire 

 and are willing to work for, with sufiicient 

 fciVor and energy, will be vouchsafed us, al- 

 ways granting our wishes are wholesome and 

 proper. The Scientific American lately made 

 the assertion that the food we ate had 

 more to " do with tlie cause and cure of 

 disease, than all the medicines extant, and that 

 by withdrawing the particular food that was 

 doing the injury, many stubborn diseases soon 



