548 



FARMERS' RE G I S T E R, 



[No. G 



tion, and render her attempts abortive. Yet, from 

 the property which the queen possesses of emit- 

 ting that certain sound before lieard liom her cell, 

 their resistance becomes vain ; it paralyzes ail 

 their faculties; and slie proceeds to operate destruc- 

 tion. Tlie lijllowing ohservalions, by a dislin- 

 guished naturalist, on this head, lead to an illustra- 

 tion of tlie peculiarities among bees v/hen ex- 

 posed to danger, though they more immediately 

 relate to another branch of our subject. "The 

 first of a number of cells containing lemales, open- 

 ed on the ninth of June, and a young queen, 

 lively, slender, and of a brown color, escaped Irom 

 it. Now we understand why bees retain the ft3- 

 males captive in their cells so long alter the period 

 of transtbrmation elapsed; it is that they may be 

 able to fly the instant, of being hatched. The 

 new queen occupied all our attention. When she 

 approached the other cells, the bees on guard, 

 pulled, bit her, and chased her away: they seemed 

 to be greatly irritated against her, and she enjoyed 

 tranquillity only when at a considerable distance 

 from the cells. This proceeding was frequently 

 repeated through the day. She twice emitted the 

 same distinct sound or clacking that had been 

 heard in her prison, consisting oi" several monoto- 

 nous notes, in rapid succession : and in doing so 

 she stood with her thorax against a comb, and 

 her wings crossed on her liack : they were in mo- 

 tion, but without being unlblded or opened. What- 

 ever might be the cause of her assuming tJiis at- 

 titude, the bees were affected by it ; all hinig 

 down their heads and remained motionless. The 

 hive presented the same scenes next day. Twen- 

 ty-three royal cells yet remained assiduously 

 guarded by a great many bees ; when the queen 

 approached, all the guards became agitated, sur- 

 rounded her on every side, bit her, and commonly 

 drove her away. Sometimes, when in these cir- 

 cumstances, she emitted the sound, and assumed 

 the posture just described : fron) that monietit the 

 bees became motionless." Several queens were 

 successively liberated, some of which had led out 

 swarmn ; but eighteen cells still remained to be 

 cruarded. "The filih queen left her cell at ten at 

 night ; and two queens were now in the hive : 

 they immediately began fighting, but came to dis- 

 enfage themselves from each other. However, 

 they again Ibuiiht several times through the night, 

 without any thing decisive. Next da\\ the thir- 

 teenth of June, we witnessed the death of" one, 

 which fell by the u'ounds of her enemy. The 

 duel was quite similar to what occurs in the com- 

 bats of queens. The victorious young queen now 

 exhibited a very singular spectacle: she approached 

 a royal cell, and toolc this moment to utter that 

 sound and to assume that posture which strike the 

 bees motionless. For some minutes we conceived, 

 that, taking advantage of the dread shown by the 

 workers on guard, she would open the cell and de- 

 stroy the young female : and she in fact prepared 

 to mount lliecell; but in doing so she ceased to 

 emit the sound, and quitted the attitude which 

 paralyses the workers: the guardians of the cell 

 instantly resumed courage, and by means of tor- 

 menting and biting the queen, drove her away." 



These remark-? are necessary to illustrate, how 

 one of the principal enemies of bees can attain its 

 ends with impunity. The sphinx atropcs, which 

 was long unsuspected, has recently been discover- 

 <6d to be a most formidable ravager of llieir stores. 



In years, when they had multiplied to an uncom- 

 mon extent, whole districts of hives were plun- 

 dered of all their honey: and it was not until af- 

 ter the injury had been done, that it was iraced to 

 its reul source. Numbers of moths liad made 

 their way into the hives, and satiated themselves 

 with honey so long as it remained in the cells : 

 and possibly as it decreased, the season when 

 these anintals abounded came to a close. But it 

 must appear very surprising how a moth, quite un- 

 protected with external means of defence, and lia- 

 ble, at the moment of its entrance, to be juerced 

 by a thousand stings, each of which inflicts a mor- 

 tal wound, can venture on so hazardous a |)ursuit. 

 We must here recollect, however, that this identi- 

 cal insect is one, perhaps almost tlie only one, sup- 

 posed to possess somelhtng like voice : and, at the 

 same time, that the sound emitted by it bears a 

 narrow resemblance to the peculiar sound pro- 

 ceeding from the queen bee, which paralyzes the 

 workers. It is thence fiir front improbable, that 

 the first resistance opposed to the entry of the 

 moth may be productive of this sound, which, 

 though arising fiom accident alone, may have the 

 singular eflect of depriving the bees of the power 

 of repulsion. If these facts be finnly established, 

 and the conclusions just, it would be well worth 

 the attention of cultivators to investigate whether 

 any similar sound can be artificially produced, and 

 whether it will have influence on the bees. They 

 are perfectly aware of the presence of so redoubt- 

 able an enemy, and the danger resuhing liom it. 

 In autumn 1804, the copious collections of honey 

 v/hich liad been made during summer, had entirely 

 disappeared, and the moths were uncommonly 

 abundant. The owners of a number of hives re- 

 solving to protect them from further pillage, closed 

 their entrances with tin gratings, wlieie the aper- 

 tures were jiroportioned to the size of the bees, on 

 the ITih of Septend)er ; but not having enough 

 lor the whole, two were left unsecured. It was 

 seen next morning on examination, that, during 

 the night, the bees themselves had taken the ne- 

 cessary precautions, by contracting the entrances 

 of their hives, so as to make them quite sale 

 against invasion. Each was completely blockaded 

 by a wall, composed of old wax and farina, in 

 which the bees had taken care to leave apertures 

 corresponding to their own size : two, that would 

 prevent above two bees passing at a time, were 

 fashioned like inverted arches; a third was broad 

 enough in front to admit of the passage of several 

 bees at once, but so low, that they were obliged (o 

 lean over on one side to get through. All the 

 other hives proved, on inspection, to be construct- 

 ed in the same way, even where provided with 

 the tin gratings. In other instances, the bees had 

 const! acted a double wall at the entrance of the 

 hive, with covered galleries, so narrow, that no 

 more than a single bee could pass: fifty-three 

 swarms began ttiese operations in the course of 

 the same night. Bees, when attacked by plun- 

 derers of their own species, have been known to 

 adopt similar precautions. On the 9ih of july, 

 1S04, an observer having found some of those, be- 

 longing to a neighboring hive, lying dead on the 

 board of a sv.'arm that they had come to pillage, 

 watched the proceedings of the latter. On the 

 11th of the month, they had built up their en- 

 trance, leaving only two apertures at the part high- 

 est above the board, which would admit no more 



