10 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



as likely that they smell with them as that 

 they see with them, which some have sup- 

 posed thej' did. Invisible and subtle parti- 

 cles emanating from odoi'ous bodies (often 

 so fine that they elude all attempts to de- 

 tect them by any other means), coming- 

 in contact with the olfactory nerve -fibers, 

 produce the sense of smell. These atoms 

 are mixed with and float in the air, and 

 in order to collect them a considerable 

 volume of air must be made to pass over 

 the surface — a thing which the wings cer- 

 tainly accomplish in an eminent degree. 

 It is highly probable that the sense of 

 smell is lodged in the wings. 



The sense of hearing in bees has never 

 been located by naturalists, although that 

 office has by some been attributed to the 

 antennae also. Is it not more probable 

 that the wings exercise it ? The impress- 

 ion of sound is produced on the organs of 

 hearing in all animals by vibrations of 

 elastic bodies (commonly the air). A deli- 

 cate, thin membrane stretched across what 

 is called the drum of the ear, receives the 

 impression, and communicates it by means 

 of an intricate arrangement of parts to 

 the auditory nerve-fibers, ov papilla;. What 

 appendage of the bee would be more suit- 

 ed to receive such impressions than the 

 thin, stiff membranes composing the 

 wings ? 



But it is not intended in this article to 

 discuss these questions. I only throw 

 them out as suggestions. Whether the 

 wings are the organs of smell or hearing, 

 or not, does not materially affect the jioint 

 I wished to make, /. c, that the clipping 

 of a queen's wings is an injury to her. We 

 have seen that they perform the office of 

 lungs, and that a queen with clipped 

 wings is in the same condition that a man 

 would be with part of his lungs gone. 

 Those who have seen human beings in 

 that condition need not be told how use- 

 less they are for the active duties of life. 

 An insect like the bee, with a differently 

 distributed vitality, may not be injured to 

 the same extent, but that it is injurious no 

 one certainly can doubt; and if by the 

 mutilarioii, the sense of smell is destroyed, 

 and the queen rendered deaf, her useiul- 

 ness would certainly be imjiaired. 



In the act of fl3ing the bee makes an- 

 other use of the trachea}. At the moment 

 of elevating its wings it may be seen to 

 increase in size suddenly, which is the ef- 



fect of drawing in through the spiracles a 

 quantit}^ of air, which is distributed over 

 the whole bod}', thus rendering it of less 

 specific gravity ; the air being further ex- 

 panded by the warmth of the body acts 

 like the heated air of a balloon, and en- 

 ables the insect to rise easily and sustain a 

 long flight, even when loaded with honey 

 and pollen. In the act of alighting it ex- 

 pels the air with which it has been inflated, 

 and falls suddenly to the alighting' board 

 of the hive. If the landing place is nar- 

 row and elevated, and it misses reaching 

 it, the bee will be sure to fall helplessly to 

 the ground, and can only rise again bj^ 

 inflating its body. Bees with larger bod- 

 ies than our honey-bee, the large bumble- 

 bees have at the base of the abdomen, in 

 addition to the ordinary air-vessels, two 

 large sacs, called a«r vesicles, which are 

 supposed to be used alone for inflation in 

 fljnng, and some other insects have in the 

 heavier parts of their bodies similar sacs. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Italian Bees.— Their Worthlessness. 



We give below, an extract from the dis- 

 cussion that took place at the meeting of 

 the Bee-keejiers' Association, of OberHess, 

 in July last, by which it will be seen that 

 there are some in Grermany as well as this 

 country, who have no faith in the Italian 

 race of Bees. 



The question before the Association for 

 discussion was : What practical results 

 have thus far been obtained by the intro- 

 duction of the Heath bee as compared 

 with that of the other imported races — 

 Carnolian and Italian ? 



Herr Don-, of Mettenheim, said: Gents, 

 Since 1857 I have interested myself in im- 

 ported races of bees, especially the Italian. 

 I was their warm defender, and protected 

 and guarded them as pet children, and 

 thus became possessed of fine, pure colo- 

 nies, and also some crosses in the first and 

 second' degree. But when I seek to find 

 out what has been the practical result 

 from 1857 to the present, what return I 

 have had for my trouble, outlay of money, 

 etc., in the introduction of different races 

 of bees, I am forced to acknowledge that 

 all the foreign races combined are not 

 worth an iota. I will not include the list 

 by foul-brood which was introduced int(.> 

 my apiary through' these importations. 



