NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, AT NO. 5£ NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultoral Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEiN, EDITOR. 



VOL. IX. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1831. 



NO. 25. 



5?iia~4?i3ii2» OiaSi^COSJ^a 



THE HONEY BEE. 

 Thomas G. Fesseivden, Esq. — 



Df.ar Sir — Among the whole tribe of insects 



no one lias, from remote antiquity, arrested the at- 



Lention of naturalists and philosophical investiga' 



lors with deeper interest tlian the hone;/ bee. It 



k'ill, nevertheless, be conceded that we are yet 



leficicnt in our knowledge, in many points of 



heir true character and peculiar system of econ- 



my, nor can our inquiries be fully satisfied, till we 



an learn to distinguish the precise line between 



lind and matter, or intelligence and unerring in- 



inct. Having devoted a portion of my latter 



ears to this recondite but pleasing subject, I have 



lund a gratifying resource in a correspondence 



ith intelligent apiarians, distinguished for both 



eoretical and practical knowledge. 



Presuming that the following correspondence 



ill prove interesting, or at least amusing to many 



your readers, I present it for insertion in your 



ry valuable vehicle of intelligence, and subscribe 



rself very respectfully, 



Your obedient servant. 



James Thacher. 



tter from Jerome V. C. Smith, fll, D. to Doct. 

 'bacher, dated, 



Quarantine Ground, Port of Boston, jSm^-. 3d, ]830. 



Dear Sir — By the promptitude of our friend, 

 BERT Treat Pai.ne, Esq. who is destined to be 

 American Astronomer, your note of the 2Stli 

 y, came to hand y esterday. I am wondering 

 V he couhl abstract liimself long enough from 

 society of the stars, to interest you with a liis- 

 )' of my apiary. 



5y the nature of your inquiries, I am fearful 

 suppose nie much better acquainted with the 

 jral history of the bee, than I really am, and 

 e philosophical in my investigations, than in the 

 uel, I may deserve credit for. 

 tlaced, as I am, on a small island, Quarantine, 

 luded by the nature of hospital duties, from all 

 reciable society, I have actually been obliged to 

 : rational enjoyment and happiness, in the 

 emplation of the structure and habits of every 

 ct and creeping thing that hajipens to make 

 ppearance: the moment my interest was excit- 

 found that it would never do to depend on 

 precarious supplies. Believing there was 

 h more to be known of the bee than has been 

 ■)vered, and, withal, hoping for a supply of 

 cts, I purchased a hive, in Dorchester, in the 

 '''; lg of 1827, at the price of eight dollars. The 

 was a pine box, about nine inches deep and 

 leen or fifteen inches square. Through the top 

 loffl lis box, was an aperture, perhaps two inch- 

 i diameter, over which ascconil box, precisely 

 he first, only smaller by several inches, was 

 d. The servant who went for them said 

 the lower box, with its contents, weighed forty 

 3, — and, therefore, was pronounced by the 

 an excellent hive. In truth I suspect it was 

 11 kirgdom, thinly inhabited, suflfering from 

 ils of an exhausted treasury, 

 haps you may grow weary of this detailed his- 

 if one hive; but in giving you the whole mat- 

 once, there will be no danger of being sur- 



feited by a future repetition of the same slory. 

 Well, afier being placed on the head of a barrel, 

 in the course of two days, they commenced opera- 

 tions by searching all the miserable little flowers 

 that had appeared. It was so apparent that they 

 couhl not procure food enough, that a piece of old 

 comb was filled with honey, on both sides, and 

 laid in the lower box, between their empty combs 

 and the floor. The attention of the island keeper, 

 who was in the habit of frequently looking at 

 them, by raising the box, was soon excited by ob- 

 serving that the bees had raised the horizontal bit 

 of coiSlI], to an inclined plane, by building a col- 

 umn of wax under one end of it, so that they were 

 enabled with ease, to get at the honey, which, by 

 the way, was old and adhesive, in all the cells on 

 the underside. A larger piece of old comb, charg- 

 ed, with reference to their mechanical skill in rais- 

 ing a great weight, to such a comparative height, 

 was now jdaced inside, and elevated on a col- 

 umn, as in the first instance, before we were aware 

 of their readiness to conmience the undertaking. 

 Whether they took portions of their own enijity 

 comb, or pared the foreign bit, to construct the 

 prop, we were not critical to determine. Flowers 

 were nowbeginning to appear in the garden, where 

 the hive was conveyed one evening, to a tempora- 

 ry house, about thirty rods from their first locality, 

 on the island. By accident it was discovered, that, 

 instead of returning to the hive, after the labors 

 of the ensuing day, they were clustering together, 

 iov.ards nightfall, on a tuft of grass, nearly on the 

 spot were the barrel stood. We roused them, repeat- 

 edly, vainly hoping they would go to the hive, but 

 the effort was unavailing, as they would join the 

 nucleus in a very few minutes. On viewing the 

 hive, there appeared to be a respectable number 

 there ; — the guard were on their posts, at the en- 

 trance ; — and on the whole, the usual order and 

 discipline appeared uninterrupted. Where was the 

 queen at this crisis ? Was she at the hive or on 

 the grass : — or had a royal princess escaped from 

 confinement, and were a part of the subjects fol- 

 lowing her destiny ? Fearing a total loss of those 

 on the grass, and soon too, as a heavy mist was 

 falling, the island keeper took a large earthen ves- 

 sel from the hospital, and waiting till they were 

 con)])aratively quiet, took them up by handfuls into 

 the pot, and poured them into their domicile. He 

 was stung in only one place, by pressing one be- 

 twixt his arm and sleeve. No extraordinary com- 

 motion resulted from carrying back the fugitives, 

 nor was there any subsequent excitement or turmoil, 

 within or without, that was extraordinary. 



Several times, a heavy piece of comb, charged 

 with honey, was laid over tlie hole, which commu- 

 nicated with the upper box, and as readily moved 

 or raised, that it might be searched, aa when 

 place! entirely within their habitation. 



On the loth of June, I placed over the aper- 

 ture, a glass hive, shaped much like an inflated 

 bladder, capable of holding nearly three pecks of 

 grain. It was blown of pure flint glass, very clear 

 and thick. Indeed, it resembles a balloon, more 

 than anything else. Near the top, is a ventilator, 

 like the mouth of a phial, in which a cork is some- 

 times kept. Suspended from the centre, is an ash 

 rod, three quarters of an inch square, reaching 



within six inches of the hole, through which the 

 bees pass from the old box. On this, are three 

 cross bars, reaching laterally, within two inches 

 of the glass walls. The globe is not set flat on 

 the top of the old hive : on the contrary, it stands 

 on several little blocks, half an inch high, so that 

 the bees can pass and repass freely, under the 

 edge of the glass, in various directions, towards 

 the walls of tlie wooden, tight, iron-bound case, 

 which encloses the glass. In the si<les of the 

 latter, are doors, through which, at leisure, I can 

 inspect the bees,atall their working points. Stand- 

 ing within a little building, in one corner of the 

 door-yard, which, from the circumstance of hav- 

 ing a dome, an arched dooi-way and a few |)illars, 

 is denominated the temple of indiislri/, I have made 

 such observations, from time to time, as are now 

 presented you. 



1. Of the Industry of the Bee. ' Jlany hands,' 

 says the proverb, ' make light work ;' this is true in 

 relation to a hive of bees. When my hive, in 

 1827, had about three thousand, — very little pro- 

 gress was made: some old comb was repaired, but a 

 very little constructed. They were constantly en- 

 deavoj-ing to rear the young — feeding them with 

 all the honey they could procure. Having been 

 presented with some Havana honey, of bad quali- 

 ty, they were fed with it plentifully. Such a sea- 

 sonable supply enabled them to rear a supply of 

 laborers. In the spring of 1828, although almost 

 destitute of honey, they commenced a small 

 mound of cunb, at the side of the hole, on the 

 upper side, within the glass bell. The question 

 at once arose, in my mind, whether there were a 

 class of bees, that were architects exclusively, as 

 it was certain, the season before, no building was 

 done ; but since the addition of new members to 

 the sovereignty, new comb was being constructed, 

 though there was no necessity for it, as there were, 

 to all appearance, empty cells enough to store all 

 the honey that might be collected during the 

 season. I marked those bees, on the head, with a 

 brush, dipped in whitewash, as they were stick- 

 ing the little pellets of wax together, on the bor- 

 ders of the new comb. By long, and sometimes, 

 tiresome observation, I found those masons kept 

 on the foundation, day after day, and that they 

 labored only a very small part of the time. It 

 would seem that they were sometimes waiting 

 for mortar ; and at others, when it was deposited 

 by carriers, close to where it was required, they 

 were in no hurry to use it. Apparently examin- 

 ing the work, two bees would accidentally meet, 

 and were they not interrupted by any order from a 

 superior, would dress each other's limbs, wings, 

 feelers, &c, precisely as cattle in a field will lick 

 each other's head and ears. This is very com- 

 mon : I have seen them dress each other in this 

 way, a whole hour ; and I have also, seen them 

 quit, instantly, as though commanded, and resume 

 their work. The honey gatherers seem at times 

 to skulk about the hive, as though they were un- 

 willing to go abroad ; sometimes, a numerous body 

 of them, wandering over the cells, are suddenly 

 driven out, and the front of the hive presents a 

 very sudden activity. I am induced to suppose 

 they want urging, and perhaps punishment, at 

 times, to complete their task, — How is it, tha< we 



