378 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



these two attenuated portions of the 

 chitin are known as the true drum- 

 head and the opposite drumhead. 

 The "true drumhead is so called be- 

 cause it is connected with the deli- 

 cate nervous apparatus designed to 

 receive the vibrations of sound 

 waves; the opposite drumhead is not 

 thus provided and probably acts 

 merely as a sounding-board to re- 

 enforce the vibrations. The nerve 

 apparatus itself consists of a strand 

 of connected cells attached to the 

 elastically vibrating drumhead; this 

 strand of cells contains two sensory 

 cells whose most delicate projections 

 end in a so-called "peg," which is 

 characteristic of what is known as 

 chordo-tonal organs. 



That the insect distinguishes sounds 

 through the tympanal organ has been 

 satisfactorily proved by experiments 

 with crickets, since it has been found 

 that the well-known chirping sound 

 uttered by the male attracts only 

 those females in possession of this 

 organ whereas, when it was de- 

 stroyed, the female was incapable of 

 perceiving the ardent serenade of the 

 would-be wooer. It is reasonable to 

 conclude that the very similar but 

 more delicate organ in butterflies has 

 a similar function, though we cannot 

 test the matter in the same manner, 

 but it seems certain that many but- 

 terflies are affected by high, shrill 

 tones, such as that made by trie rub- 

 bing of a cork against a wet glass, 

 and that in the Endrosa aurita the 

 female answers a clattering sound 

 made by the male with a fluttering 

 motion of the body and wings. In 

 general, is seems especially the males 

 which are provided with a chirping 

 apparatus. But while the production 

 of sound is thus shown to be connect- 

 ed with the mating instinct and to 

 form a means of courtship, this func- 

 tion is also asociated with sight and 

 smell. An unexpected discovery is 

 that organs of hearing are more fre- 

 quently found in butterflies that fly 

 by day than in those that fly by 

 night. 



THE "MISSION OF FRIENDS'" 



Previous to the American Bee 

 Journal's subscription for the Franco- 

 Belgian devastated regions, our read- 

 ers will remember that efforts were 

 made by the above-named society 

 to help beekeepers. The man in 

 charge of this was Mr. Graham- 

 Burtt, a generous young Englishman 

 v/ho for several years devoted his 

 time to the rebuilding of beekeeping 

 in the devastated regions. We are 

 now in receipt of a letter, a report, 

 and several photos from Mr. Gra- 

 ham-Burtt. Unfortunately, the re- 

 port is too much detailed to find 

 place in our columns. But we clip 

 the following interesting features 

 from it. The diagram which accom- 

 panies the report, shows the area in 

 which work was undertaken, and in 

 which our representatives are still 

 distributing help. The heavy line 

 shows the furthest advance of the 

 Teutons. The line marked . — . — . — . — 

 shows the approximate position of 

 the parts where destruction was to- 

 tal. The black area shows the part 

 covered by the work of the Mission 

 of Friends. Since not any indemnity 

 has, at this date, been secured yet 

 from Germany, our readers can 

 judge of the amount of suffering still 

 unrelieved. The people in the de- 

 stroyed parts show a great deal of 

 courage. But they welcome heartily 

 anything which is done for them, as 

 will be indicated by the letter re- 

 ceived from Nancy, which we pub- 

 lish elsewhere in this number. 



We wish to call attention to the 

 fact that the A. I. Root people, pre- 

 vious to our own subscription, had 

 already furnished 400 hives with su- 

 pers and foundation at half price. 

 Our own lists show that they gave an 

 additional $300 worth, which is now 

 being distributed, with the amounts 

 subscribed in these columns. 



The report shows that the Society 

 of Friends, which sent a relief expe- 

 dition to France during the war of 

 1870, again sent a similar expedition, 

 under the name of "Mission des 



Amis," in 1914. The work of its 

 members is entirely voluntary. 

 In November, 1914, 33 of these 

 people landed in France, without 

 definite plans, but ready to turn to 

 whatever work seemed most needed. 

 The part which most interests us is 

 the supply of bees which they under- 

 took as post-war work, at the sug- 

 gestion of the Sous-Prefet of Ver- 

 dun, beginning with 20 colonies of- 

 fered by the American Red Cross. 



Hives were made, supplies were 

 purchased and an apiary started in 

 the spring of 1918. In the fall of 1918, 

 they had, in spite of the war condi- 

 tions, 5 skeps and 19 colonies in mov- 

 able frames ready for winter quar- 

 ters. 



With the coming of the armistice, 

 arrangements were made with the 

 Societe Centrale D'ApicuIture for 

 distributing bees and supplies, and a 

 list of beekeepers was obtained from 

 the Societe Meusienne of beekeepers. 

 Dombasle-En-Argonne was chosen 

 as the most suitable place for the 

 apiary, the mayor offering the use of 

 his orchard. Two huts were erected 

 to keep the supplies, and donations 

 increased the apiary to 40 colonies. 

 In spite of the unfavorable season, 

 chilly and cloudy, some honey was 

 gathered, and increase was obtained. 



The upshot of this work was the 

 distributing, in the latter part of 

 the summer of 1919, of 728 colonies, in 

 good condition for winter, 154 of 

 which were produced at Dombasle, 

 the balance being donations. The 

 greater number of the colonies, 584, 

 were in skeps. But it must be re- 

 membered that the greater number 

 of beekeepers in Europe are still in- 

 experienced in the management of 

 movable frame hives. 



The work of distributing help from 

 the subscriptions received in our col- 

 umns is spread over a much greater 

 area , since the funds are used 

 throughout northern France and the 

 devastated portions of Belgium. Our 

 representatives are aiming to supply 

 the help where the suffering is 

 greatest. 



Cash has been obtained for nearly 

 all the queens subscribed which 

 were not sent to Europe. A list of 

 this, with additional donations, is 

 published herewith. More help is 

 still needed and will be welcome. 



Letter from Mr. Authelin, of 

 Nancy, France : 



August 17, 1920. 

 Dear Mr. Dado.nt : 



The Society of Beekeepers of the 

 East met on July 29, at Nancy. They 

 desire me to transmit to you and to 

 the American beekeepers who have 

 shown generosity towards our suffer- 

 ing beekeepers in this distress, their 

 warm acknowledgements and thanks. 

 L. AUTHELIN. 



GRASSHOPPERS AND BEES 



Grasshoppers eat honeybees. Have 

 noticed them on the alighting board 

 on several occasions, but never 

 thought about them eating bees until 

 today. My attention was called to 

 one in the act of catching a bee. I 

 watched it until it ate off both wings 

 and legs; also ate off the head, and 



