THE AMERICAN BEE JOUllNAL. 



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it is ouly fit for the food of young bees. Wc 

 okl ones never eat it." 



" And do tlie young princesses eat it loo?" 

 I asked. 



"Not at all," she replied. "They arc fed 

 upon royal jelly." 



"And'what is that ?" I asked. 



"Don't ask it !" she replied. " It is tlie 

 greatest secret of all. Off goes my head, if 

 I tell you ! " "And by the way," said she, 

 perliaps it -will be bettor to say nothing 

 about the Drone business." 



" Perhaps it will," I replied, "for I have 

 known our fairy-queen to imprison one of 

 her subjects in a pea-pod a whole hour, for 

 only pinching a gnat." 

 ^^ "Ah ! yes," said she, " not our idea of 

 discipline." 



She then escorted me to the door of the 

 Jiive. I thanked her, recommended less 

 work and juore dancing, invited her to call 

 on me in m}^ lily-bell, and took my leave, 

 feeling that I had really learned something 

 of the ways of the busy bee, if not how she 

 makes houey. The next day I sent to my 

 friend Deborah, by a buttcrtly, the finest 

 four-leaved clover I ever saw, knowing that 

 i to be the best return I could possibly make 

 for her kindness. — St. Niclwlas. 



Entrance Holes to Hives. 



The honey bee ordinarily in its wild state in- 

 habits hollow trees, the entrances to which 

 are either through long slits or large holes, 

 through which it has ample room to pass, 

 without brushing off the pellets that stick out 

 from its sides. A worker bee can pass easily 

 through a hole three-sixteenths of an inch 

 high, but in passing through a round hole of 

 that diameter the pollen would be dislodged. 

 A drone requires a hole nearly }i of an inch 

 in diameter to pass througli, so that in mak- 

 ing entrance holes to hives it is evident they 

 slioukl be at least H of an inch high, to allow 

 (li'ones, as well as the queen and workers, to 

 pass ; but they should not be any higher, if 

 >ve expect to exclude mice, immble bees, 

 "Sjjliornets and other enemies of the bee, larger 

 than they are. 



Now, did the bee carry its load behind it as 

 the leaf-entter docs, a round hole of >4 of an 

 Inch in diameter would be large enough, but 

 t-he load on each side sticks out from its sides 

 so that more room must be given laterally, 

 oven for the passage of a single bee at a time 

 -'-but as, during active working, there is. a 

 constant flow of passing bees, it must be 

 mucli Viider. 1 find the width should be at 

 least n in. But a single hole is not sulficieut, 

 even of th.at width, on account of their pecu- 

 liar manner of ventilation, by which they are 

 enabled to keep up a constant circulation of 

 fresh air through the hive and regulate the 

 temperature. There should be two such holes 



at least four or live inches apart, but on the 



same side; of the hive. All otlier openings 

 should be closed tiglit. If thus arranged, the 

 left hand hole will be used for ventilation, 

 and the other for tlie passage of most of the 

 bees. 



(inerry : Why do hv<'<. always use the left 

 hand hole for vent ilatlou '.'—Cor. Suulhern 

 Fanner. 



Movable Homes for Bees. 



It is well known tliat bees may be moved 

 from place to place, and, honey-secreting 

 plants being in abundance, they will store 

 large quantities of honey. A contemix>rary. 

 in illu.strating this, n)entions the following 

 circumstances said originally to have appear- 

 ed in the London Tinuss in 1830. It will of 

 course be taken with a large allowajice for 

 "salting " by those who know bees : 



As a small vessel was proceeding up the 

 channel from the coast of Cornwall and run- 

 ning near the land, some of the sailors ob- 

 served a swarm of bees on an island ; they 

 steered for it, landed, and took the bees on 

 board ; succeeded in hiving them innnediate- 

 ly, and proceeded on their voyage ; as they 

 sailed along the shore, the bees constantly 

 flev? from the vessel to the land, to collect 

 honey, and returned again to their moving- 

 hive ; and this was continued all the way ui> 

 the channel.— TFcs'tcr?! Buvdl. 



Honey-Dew. 



Amyntas, in his Stations of Asia, quoted 

 by AthenoBus, gives a curious account of 

 the manner of collecting this article, which 

 was supposed to be superior to the nectar 

 of the bee, in various parts of the East, 

 particularly in Syria. In some cases they 

 gathered the leaves of trees, chiefly the lin- 

 den and oak, for on these the dew was 

 most abundantly found, and pressed them 

 together. Others allowed it to drop from 

 the leaves and harden into globules, which, 

 when desirous of using, they broke, and 

 having poured water on them in wooden 

 bowls, drank the mixture. In the neigh- 

 borhood of Mount Lebanon, honey-dew 

 Avas collected plentifully several times in 

 the year, being caught by spreading skins 

 under the trees, and shaking into them the 

 licpiid from the leaves. The dew was then 

 poured into vessels, and stored away for 

 future use. On these occasions the peasants 

 used to exclaim, " Zeus has been raining 

 honey I" — History of Insects. 



The rule generally adopt'Ml for taking bees 

 is for the second party to furnish hives, take 

 care of the colonies for a term of years, and 

 return old stocks with half of the increase. 



