1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



61 



which I frequented three years before 

 the war broke out. That time of my 

 sojourning in Hungary I will also de- 

 vote to the translation and publish- 

 ing of the "Hive and Honeybee." 



Meantime I shall send you any pho- 

 tos concerning beekeeping which I 

 may be fortunate enough to get. 



Rumania. 



THE FLYING TIME OF A BEE 



By S. H. Sabine 

 ^While out driving on a country 

 road a short time ago I had the in- 

 teresting experience of following a 

 bee for nearly half a mile, and under 

 such circumstances as to enable me 

 to time its flight. 



I was driving at perhaps 20 miles 

 an hour, when I discovered her flying 

 just ahead of me and to the right of 

 the road. I slowed down the car so 

 as to keep her in sight, and at the 

 same time noted the speedometer, 

 which showed a speed of 17 miles. 

 She was flying parallel with the road 

 against a slight breeze and in as 

 straight a line as if following a 

 beaten path. The only variation 

 which I noted was that she darted 

 up and down occasionally, sometimes 

 flying ten or twelve feet above the 

 ground and again settling down to 

 about five or six, although the field 

 along the roadside was level and 

 there were no obstructions in her 

 path. 



I concluded the reason for the up 

 and down flight was that the wind, 

 being against her, carried her up like 

 a kite, and then she would gradually 

 settle to her former level. 



I lost her at a turn in the road, as 

 I had to follow the man-made high- 

 way, while she was following the in- 

 visible highway which, no doubt, led 

 to some distant source of nectar sup- 

 ply. 



On page 351 of the October num- 

 ber, following your answer to the 

 question "Why do bees cluster before 

 flying to their new home?" you ask 

 for. suggestions. 



It has occurred to me that per- 

 haps one reason may be that the old 

 queen, not having been outside the 

 hive for a considerable period of 



Colonel Smolensky opening a hive. Wni. Slovig at extreme left. 



time, is not in any condition to take 

 an extended flight, and stops at the 

 nearest resting place to recuperate 

 for a breathing spell. 



This may be compared to a man 

 who has been confined to his bed for 

 a time and going out for his first 

 w-alk. He would probably stop at 

 the first street corner and lean 

 against the fence for r. few minutes' 

 rest before going on. 



This, however, does not seem to 

 be the only reason, as a swarm with 

 a clipped queen will cluster when 

 the queen is not with them. 



Dallas, Texas. 



THE NATIVE CHINESE BEE 



By C. G. Golding 



In "Beekeeping," by Dr. E. F. Phil- 

 lips — MacMillen Rural Science Series 

 — the author writes, anent "Races of 

 Bees," on page 203: 



"Chinese-Japanese. These bees are 

 placed by von Buttel-Reepen as sub- 

 varieties of indica. The Chinese bee 

 has a heavy coat of long, dirty, grey 

 hair; the Japanese bee lacks this." 



Never having seen one. I am unable 

 to contradict the von Buttel-Reepen 

 description of the native Japanese 

 honeybee, but I can state that this de- 

 scription of the Chinese honeybee is 



Apiary, honey hou^c ami -.vinter shclltr ot CoIoik! Smolensky, near \'ladivostok 



incorrect. Von Buttel-Reepen must 

 have had the common Chinese wild 

 bee in mind; this insect .appears 

 about the end of March, or begin- 

 ning of April, and dies out by the end 

 of May. During its brief lifetime, it 

 appears to devote its attention almost 

 exclusively to the broad bean (Vciia 

 faba). The Chinese wild bee, which 

 is a trifle larger than the native 

 honeybee, and very thick in build, is 

 covered entirely with a heavy coat ;of 

 long, dirty grey hair. It does not, to 

 my knowledge, live in colonies. In 

 habits, it. resembles the common 

 Ijumblebee, which occurs througliout 

 China. It would be interesting to 

 learn when von Buttel-Reepen vis- 

 ited China, how long he was in the 

 country altogether, and what prov- 

 ince he visited. 



Now for a short description of the 

 Chinese honeybee: 



In common with all honeybees, the 

 abdomen consists of six rings. The 

 top is marked with four bands, the 

 first is a broad one and the remain- 

 ing three are narrow. The bands 'on 

 the average worker are dull yellow 

 in color; those on young, or nurse 

 bees are ligliter yellow. The belly 

 is yellowish brown. The head, thorax 

 and legs are very dark brown; the top 

 of thorax is thinly covered with a 

 short yellowish-brown down, which 

 is thicker on the sides and under- 

 neath. The queens are dark colored, 

 and the drones are black. So much 

 for markings. Now for traits: 



The Chinese honeybee is, I opine, 

 the gentlest of its kind in the world, 

 and I never use smoke when handling 

 a hive, neither do I wear gloves nor 

 a veil. I often stand in front of a 

 hive when examining the frames! and 

 have never been stung when in this 

 position. Not that the Chinese 

 lioneybee never stings; it can, and 

 does sting like fury on occasion. A 

 hive, however, can generally be 

 opened between 9 a. m. and 5 p. m. 

 without fear; but after 5 p. m. the 

 l)ees almost invariably sting directly 

 they alight on one. Chinese honey- 

 bees are good workers, never enter 

 the wrong hive (except, of course, 



