THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



159 



[From the (London) Journal of Horticulture.] 



Dropsy in Bees. 



When "J. Devonshire Bee-lce.e'per^'' first hinted 

 that he had experienced a new disease amongst 

 his bees, I must confess I was a little perplexed, 

 thinldug and hoping that he was mistaken, and 

 that it would turn out little more than an ad- 

 vanced stage of what was already known as 

 dysentery. When, however, he explained its 

 nature, it flashed across me that I had had a 

 similar case in the preceding year in a weak 

 colony, and in which all succumbed to the dis- 

 ease save the queen, which I gave to another 

 hive; but in a few daj'S afterwards found her 

 abandoning the hive in a weak state and much 

 swollen. 



This case was allowed at the time to pass un- 

 investigated, and now I regret to say that an- 

 other instance came under my observation only 

 a few days since, in which I have to add to my 

 obituary the loss of another queen from dropsy. 

 The hive in which it toolv place was at the time 

 in good condition in every respect, but quite 

 dry, well ventilated, and well stored, and to all 

 appearance a perfectly healthy stock, although 

 it had sometime previously been breeding 

 drones and workers successively. I happened 

 to be taking a cursory glance at my hives, when 

 seeing something unusually large on the 

 alighting-board, I stepped forwartl and found 

 it to be tne queen in a weak state and much 

 swollen. I took her in my hand, and tried to 

 resuscitate her, but in vain. I next endeavored 

 by gentle pressure to expel the accumulated 

 water, but she did not survive tlie operation. 

 In this instance the queen and one worker are 

 as yet the only victims. I may now say with 

 certainty that the misfortunes which have befal- 

 len the apiary of "^ Devonshire Bee-keeper^'' 

 have made themselves no less conspicuous in 

 that of — A Lancashire Bue-keepek. 



The wars of bees are not confined to single 

 combats. General actions now and then take 

 place between two swarms. Reaumur wit- 

 nessed one that lasted a whole afternoon, in 

 which many victims fell. In this case the battle 

 is still between individuals, who at one time 

 decide the business within the hive, and at an- 

 other at some distance without. In the former 

 case the victorious bee flies away, bearing her 

 victim under her body between her legs, some- 

 times taking a longer and sometimes a shorter 

 flight before she deposits it on the ground. She 

 then takes her repose for a brief while near the 

 dead body, standing on her four anterior legs, 

 and rubbing the two hinder ones against each 

 other. If the battle is not concluded within 

 the hive, the enemy is carried to a little dis- 

 tance and then dispatched. 



Bees, when laden and returning to their 

 nest, fly in a direct line, which saves both time 

 and labor. How they are enabled to do this, 

 with such certainty as to make for their own 

 abode without deviation, has never been satis- 

 factorily explained. 



Stinging Insects. 



Besides the insects which seek to make us 

 their food, there are others which, although we 

 are apt to regard them with the greatest horror, 

 do not attack us with this view, but usually to 

 revenge some injury which they have received 

 or apprehend from us. Foremost in the list of 

 these are those with four wings, which, accord- 

 ing to the observation of Pliny, carry their 

 weapon, an instrument of revenge, in their tail. 

 These all belong to the Liunean order Ilijmen- 

 op'era; and the tremendous arms with whicli 

 they annoy us, are two darts finer than a hair, 

 furnished on their outer side with several barbs 

 not visible to the naked eye, and each moving 

 in the groove of a strong and often curved 

 sheath, frequently mistaken for the sting, which, 

 when the darts enter the flesh, usually injects a 

 drop of subtle venom, furnished from a peculiar 

 vessel in which it is secreted, into the wound, 

 occasioning, especially if the darts be not ex- 

 tracted, a considerable tumor, accompanied by 

 very acute pain. Many insects are thus armed 

 and have this power. But those wliich prin- 

 cipally attract our notice by exciting our fears 

 are the hive-bee, the wasp, and the hornet. The 

 first of these, the bee, sometimes manifests an 

 antipathy to particular individuals, whom it 

 attacks and wounds without provocation. The 

 effect produced by the sting of these insects is 

 dilTerent in diiferent persons. To some they 

 occasion only very slight inconvenience or a 

 momentary pain; others feel the smart of the 

 wounds which they inflict for several days, and 

 are thrown into fever by them ; and to some 

 they have even proved fatal. Yet ihey are cer- 

 tainly, in general, but a trifling evil. They be- 

 come, however, especially wafjys, a very serious 

 one to man}% from the dread of being stung by 

 them. An insect of a tribe never before sus- 

 pected of being endowed with such a mode of 

 annoyance, or.e of the order of Lepidoptera, 

 found at the Cape of Good Hope, is said to de- 

 fend itself, when captured, by stinging, whence 

 it is there named the Bes-moth, and it is added 

 that the puncture, which is very painful, is 

 speedily followed by swelling and inflammation. 

 — Kirby and Spcncc. 



Reaumur made a calculation, based on ob- 

 servations, of the quantity of bee-bread that 

 may be collected in one day, by a hive contain- 

 ing from 18,000 to 20,000 bees. He found, sup- 

 posing only half the number to collect it, that 

 it would amount to more than a pound; so tbat, 

 in one season, one such hive might collect more 

 than a hundred pounds. 



The degree of heat in a hive in winter is 

 great. A thermometer, near one, in the open 

 air to stood in January at 7'^ F. below the 

 freezing point; upon the insertion of the bulb a 

 little way into the hive rose to 23^ above it; and 

 could it have been placed between the combs, 

 where the bees themselves were clustered, it is 

 probable the mercury would have risen as high 

 as it does abroad in the warm days in summer 



