1S39J 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



547 



ing state, or suflTei* from disease and the inroads of 

 enemies. Bees, in common with other animals, 

 are liable to various diseases. The Abbe della 

 Rocca informs us, that almost the whole hives in 

 the isle of Syra, in the Archipelago, were de- 

 stroj'ed by an epidemic disease which prevailed 

 Iron) 1777 to 1780. In. this case, some vice or cor- 

 ruption seemed to originate among the young 

 brood, which, mfecting the bees, produced their 

 death. A kind of dysentery of diarrhosa attacks 

 bees at certain seasons, which is extremely inju- 

 rious ; the commencement is seen by the foulness 

 of the combs, which must be pared, and the tainted 

 portion taken away. Some cultivators pretend to 

 cure this disease, which, they assert, arises Irom 

 the nature of the honey collected, by supplying 

 the bees with rosemary and lioney diluted with 

 water; others recommend a syrup, prepared with 

 equal quaniities of sugar and wine and a little nut- 

 meg, a singular remedy : and a third class con- 

 ceive a mixture of two pounds of clarified honey 

 and as much sugar, with a pound of white wine, 

 beneficial. Bees are likewise subject to a disease 

 of the antenna^, which, though not dangerous, 

 renders them dull and languid. It appears by 

 discoloration like moulding, and is said to be cura- 

 ble by the preceding preparation. Toads, frogs, 

 and mice, are reputed great enemies to bees : but 

 we doubt whether it be truly so with regard to the 

 two former, in this country at least ; and the ra- 

 vaffes of the latter are ceriainiy not general. Per- 

 haps, while the bees cluster together in rigorous 

 winlers, they may penetrate the hive and devour 

 the combs ; at other limes it would be too danger- 

 ous an attempt even for animals better protected. 

 Birds of several species, particularly swallows, 

 sparrows, and red-breasts, are also ranked among 

 the enemies of these insects: with respect to 

 which, likewise, we should wish to see the facts 

 better ascertained before giving them credit. Spi- 

 ders and snails, which are considered noxious, can 

 do little harm ; for in this island there are very 

 few, if any, of the Ibrmer capable of contending 

 wi'.h a bee, and the only damage done by the lat- 

 ter is soiling the hive. More dangerous are the 

 larviB of a small moth, hatching from eggs deposi- 

 ted within the hive, as they are destructive of the 

 comb, and likewise the sphynx atropos in its per- 

 fect slate ; but most (ormidable of all are wasps 

 and hornets, and plunderers of their own species. 

 The first two being strong and vivacious animals, 

 are able to destroy living bees, and suck the honey 

 li-om the abdomen; or they may penetrate the 

 hive, and consume the comb. When a wasp tries 

 to enter, it is resisted, but having made good its 

 way, we believe it is then little regarded, and may 

 leisurely satiate itself with honey. The nests of 

 wasps ought to be carefully traced out and de- 

 stroyed ; if in the earth, by pouring boiling water 

 down liieir hole, or kindling a quaiitity ol" straw 

 where they are less accessible. Observers confi- 

 dently affirm, that a whole swarm of bees, fi-om 

 defect of Jbod and other causes, sometimes inter- 

 rupt their natural collection, and becoming a band 

 of plunderers, rob the stores of their neighbors. 

 In this case, which will appear from the contests 

 perpetually taking place on the boards and about 

 the entrances of other hives, it is necessary to as- 

 certain whence the depredators come, whether 

 from neighboring hives or from those at a distance. 

 If their plundering seems to arise from want of 



food, as those scanty provisioned are more apt to 

 (bllow this method of supplying themselves, they 

 must be fed at night when the sun is down, and 

 while all the bees have relumed. It is reported 

 not to be an uncommon incident for a swarm to 

 abandon their own hive, and take possesion of an- 

 other to relieve their necessities. Bees, on losino- 

 the (^ueen, having no interest to prosecute their 

 labors, if brood be wanting in their combs, some- 

 times begin to pillage the hives in the neighbor- 

 hood. The obvious remedy is here to provide 

 them with a queen, whereby all their faculties be- 

 ing aroused, they will be reclaimed to their usual 

 nature. Schirach warns us, on removing comb 

 from a hive, to beware of scattering or dropping 

 it, and to replace the hive exactly in the same po° 

 sition as before, otherwise the inhabitants of strong- 

 er colonies will obtain more ready access to attack 

 the honey in the combs, or to collect what has fal- 

 len from them. The weakness of a hive is one 

 great inducement for its neighbors to pillage ; and 

 as cleanliness, and being kept free of vermin, pre- 

 serve the vigor and activity of its inmates, due at- 

 tention to them should not be neglected. Remo- 

 ving the hive which is the object of plunder, and 

 covering it with branches, has been recommended; 

 and such an expedient will certainly present a 

 good chance of escape. 



But all the devices adopted by us are poor and 

 insignificant, when compared with those resorted 

 to by the bees themselves to provide against dan- 

 ger. Here we have an opportunity of admiring 

 that wonderful instinct, which animals, standing 

 so low in the scale of creation, exhibit. Even 

 supposing them to possess nothing analogous to 

 reason ; that the regard for their queen, and the 

 watchful care of their young, result from some 

 pleasurable sensation ; that the massacre of the 

 drones originates from some sudden principle of 

 aversion; we cannot refer their precautions to avoid 

 danger to any relative source. It is evident that 

 they labor in concert ; that their operations tend to 

 one general object ; and that they are aware of it 

 being fulfilled. Surely all this cannot be done 

 without some mode of communication with each 

 other : but considering that every thing they per- 

 form is in the dark ; nay, that the perfection of 

 their work is partly proportioned to the privation 

 of light ; the difiiculty of conceiving how they 

 can know each other's proceedings is greatly in- 

 creased. It has been warmly contested, whether 

 bees are capable of imparling whnt we should call 

 thought in beings higher in the chain of animated 

 existence, and especially, whether there be any 

 thing resembling voice among them 1 We have 

 already remarked, that the Workers can retain 

 young queens in their cells afier attaining com- 

 plete maturity, which they are capable of doing 

 by strengthening the seal or covering with addi^ 

 tional wax; and that they regularly liberate the 

 oldest of those of different ages. A sound, which 

 we cannot compare to the buzzing of insects, by 

 the balancers beating on their wings, is heard from 

 the young queens. No researches, howe\i r, have 

 yet delected the organ, if it is an external one, 

 from which the sound proceeds. When a queen 

 is hatched, she seeks the cells of those that will 

 become her rivals, and uses every possible exer- 

 tion to destroy them ; but the worjters, to which 

 other queens, even in their imperfect stale, are pre- 

 cious, generally present the most decided opposi- 



