192 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



stitutecl with a due regard to all the circum- 

 stances that required attention, must not be al- 

 lowed to set aside the striking facts of a con- 

 trary description recorded by Reaumur, and 

 corrobated by tlie almost universal sentiment 

 of writers on bees. 



Alter all, however, on this point, as well as 

 many others connected with the winter economy 

 of these endlessly-wouderlul insects, there is 

 evidently much j^et to be observed, and many 

 doubts which can be satisfactorily dispelled 

 only by new experiments. — Kirby «fc Spence. 



Baes in a Garret. 



The Editor of the Ohio Fanner relates what 

 he saw in the way of keeping bees in a garret 

 chamber by a Mr. ChatFee, of that State : 



"In the south gable end of this house, on the 

 second floor, several years ago, Mr. C. enclosed 

 two small rooms, four feet square, being low 

 under the rafters of each corner of the cham- 

 ber. In each of these rooms he has a hive of 

 bees in tiie common box-hive, set eight inches 

 back from the siding, and up the same distance 

 from the floor. The room is perfectly dark. 

 The bees enter through a slot in the siding of 

 tlie house, with a little foot-block to light upon. 

 Th'jy pass through the aperture into the dark 

 room, upon a board on which the hive stands, 

 travciling some eight inches on this open board 

 before they reach the hive. In the houcy sea- 

 son the inside of the hive is filled first, then the 

 bees build comb on the outside of the hive and 

 along up tlie siding of ti ^ house, several feet, 

 very muL-h after the manner of bees in the tro- 

 pical countries. These colonies have never 

 swarmed, and from them the family have all 

 the honey tiiey desire to use, going In and cut- 

 ting out a piece of the outside comb when they 

 like. In ths outside comb the honey is not so 

 full as it is when saved in boxes, but as thej^ 

 always have what they want, Mr. Chaftee says 

 the plan suits him Avell enough." 



I EAVE often been amused with hearing the 

 indignant tones of a humble-bee while Ij'ing on 

 its back. When I held my finger to it it kicked 

 and scolded with all its might Hive-bees, 

 when irritated, emit a shrill and peevish sotmd, 

 coniinuing even when held under water, which 

 Jolin Hunter says vibrates at, the point of con- 

 tact with the arr-holes at the root of their wings. 

 This sound is particularly sharp and angry 

 when they fly at an intruder. The same 

 sounds, or very similar ones, tell us when a 

 wasp is offended, and Ave may expect to be 

 stung. But this passion of auger in insecls is 

 so nearly connected with their fear that I need 

 not enlarge further upon it. — Kibcy. 



— ■-' .i - — ^%^ r iTni _ 



In EVERY' apiary tliere should always be a 

 stock of hives, surplus honey-boxes, &c., kept 

 in readiness for the swarming season. A 

 neglect of this precaution will olten be produc- 

 tive of great inconvenience and confusion, and 

 sometimes result in losses. 



[Fi'om tlie Hanover Ccntral-Blatt.] 



More igyptian Eees! 



After many unavailing efforts, I unexpectedly 

 received, on the oOth of April last, direct I'rom 

 Egypt, a colony of bees in their original hive. 

 Tins was a singular structure of tubrdar form, 

 lour feet long, and six inches in diameter, and 

 was made of i\ile mud. You can imagine the 

 apprehension with which I tapped on this tube 

 on its arrival, and how great was my relief and 

 joy when I heard, in response, a faint and 

 transient humming. 



'i he tube was immcdiatelj^ opened, and tlic 

 small circular combs I ut out. It was in large 

 part empty, antl the first parcel extracted from 

 its dark and mysterious depth was a mass of 

 blackened combs, matted and permeated by 

 hundreds of waxworms similar to our native 

 tribe. 



I began to think that I had been badly vic- 

 timized by my Egyptian correspondent, wlio, 

 I feared, had sold me, at a high price, a miser- 

 able starveling stock ready to perish. The dis- 

 section was proceeded with. I encountered 

 some bees, and soon after found also the anx- 

 iously looked for eggs, as evidence of the pre- 

 sence of a queen. With great care, and amid 

 constantly increasing anxiety, her Majesty was 

 sought for, but did not make her appearance 

 among a crowd of some fiiieen hundred work- 

 ers. There remained onlj^ twenty or thirLy bees 

 in the tube, when, finally, I perceived her run- 

 ning towards the mouth of the tube in evident 

 alarm, and succeeded in securing her. To all 

 appearances she was still quite young, and 

 diUered remarkablj^ from other bees in shape 

 and color, being much smaller than an Italian, 

 chocolate-hued, with prominent black wings, a 

 rather short abdomen cerminaling obtusely. 

 She was really a beautiful creature; and wJio- 

 ever once sees an Egyptian queen will readily 

 be able to distinguisii this type from among 

 thousands of the black or the ilalian race. 



The workers are about one-third smaller than 

 our common bees. Their upper three rings are 

 of a splendid bright yellow, with a wliitish 

 tinge. The remaining abdomcnal wings are of 

 a glossy black, with the interspaces white. The 

 anterior part of the boily is covered with grey- 

 ish hair, seenung as though besprinkled wiih 

 ashes. Their flight is very rapid, accompanied 

 Vvdih a peculiarly soft sound. They ditfer as 

 widely in appearance from the handsomest 

 Italians as these latter do from common bees. 

 They have a tiugular habit, when leaving the 

 hive, of turning on the wing six in&hes or a 

 foot from the hive, and hovering in its front, 

 apparently to reconn"'i-tre their home. E'cerij 

 bee does tins, without exccpiiuii; and even the 

 hybrids consiantLy do so. This peculiarity doeii 

 not appear to have been- observed by Mr. 

 Vogel, at least he does not mention it. In 

 fact, my Egyptians seem to dilfer considerably 

 from those of the Berlin impor'ation. Mine 

 were brought direct from the Delia of the 

 Nile, where bee-culture is extensively prose- 

 cuted; whereas Mr. Hammerschmidt procured 

 at Cairo those sent to Berlin. May not the like 



