122 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



Some one has said, that the boo is 1o the iuseet 

 what the horse is to tlie animal. If 

 we look at the cut opposite (after 

 Cheshire), we shall see that the nerv- 

 ous system of the bee (represented 

 by the white lines), though complete 

 for the bee, is by no means as per- 

 fect as in that in the human body. 

 As it wotild take a physician to poirit 

 out the exact difference and marks 

 of inferiority, 1 will not enter into 

 full particulars here. The two me- 

 dial and parallel lines traversing the whole length 

 of the bee ' are what corresponds to the spinal 

 column, though not the same in structure. Along 

 its course, and intersecting at irregular intervals, 

 are little disks with a while spot in the center of 

 each. These arc nerve centers, or, as they are 

 termed, ganglia. From each of these ganglia, as 

 you will notice, is a branch of nerves, some of 

 which extend along the logs of the insect. As in 

 the bee, we have something in our bodies corres- 

 ponding to these nerve centers, or ganglia. They 

 preside over the involuntary muscles, as respira- 

 tion, digestion, pulsations of the heart, etc. It will 

 be observed that they relieve the brain of a large 

 amount of work. If the brain had to preside over 

 the hidden machinery of our bodies, besides con- 

 trolling our mind and actions with relcrence to the 

 outside world, it would be like a man with too 

 many irons in the fire. We should forget to 

 breathe, or to make the heart boat, while perform- 

 ing some of the difficult problems of life. 



Returning to the cut, if we touch the foot of a bee 

 the sensation travels up the leg, as it were by elec- 

 tricity, until it reaches its ganglion. The impression, 

 according to Cheshire, takes several courses, some 

 communicating with the brain, and others trans- 

 mitting the impulse to the other legs. The effect is 

 almost instantaneous, and the legs (if the bee is 

 held by the wings) will set up a vigorous kicking. 

 To illustrate further the difference between the 

 ganglia and the brain, as before stated, let us cut 

 off the head of a bee, and note the effect. The 

 brain, represented by the little lobes between the 

 eyes in the cut, is now completely separated from 

 the body of the bee, and yet the wriggling goes on 

 as before, and will continue to do so for iive or six 

 hours or more. With the tweezers we grasp one of 

 the legs. The other legs will come to the rescue, 

 and struggle vigorously to push oft' the oftending 

 object. The sting, too, makes a desperate attempt 

 to thrust out its fangs. In, fact, the headless vic- 

 tim seems to be so far in possession of his faculties 

 as to be actually alive. A mud-turtle, as I have 

 found by repeated experiment, will crawl about, a 

 week or more after his head has been completely 

 shot off'. Do the bee and the mud-turtle live, and 

 do they feel pain after decapitation ? Facts seem 

 to indicate that they do not, and that these singular 

 movements are only manifestations of the nervous 

 ganglia. In lower animals, these nervous centers 

 seem to be possessed of more functions than those 

 of our body. If a man is beheaded, all outward 

 movements of the body are suspended almostim- 

 mediately ; but not so with the bee. In removing 

 the head of a bee, the power of motion and the seat 

 of consciousness are completelj' separated, and the 

 line of communication between the norvo\is ganglia 

 and the brain has been broken. How do wo know 

 that, therefore, a bee docs not suffer pain V By an- 



alogy, and experiments upon the human family. 

 Well authenticated cases are related in medical 

 works, of soldiers in battle being shot in the back- 

 bone, thereby completely severing the spinal col- 

 umn. Below the wound, paralyzation sets in 

 throughout that part of the body. If the feet be 

 now tickled or pinched, they will jerk back violent- 

 ly ; but the wounded soldier has no knowledge of 

 these movements, excejjt as he sees with his own 

 eyes what is transpiring. After the spinal cordis 

 united, sensation returns to the affected parts. The 

 spinal cord in the neck of a frog may be severed, 

 and the phenomena will be almost identical with 

 the case just mentioned. From these, j'ou observe 

 that direct communication must be established 

 with the brain, in order that pain from bodilj' in- 

 jury may be felt. 



The physician gives cloroform and ether, eithei- 

 to paralyze the ner\-e centers, or to render the pa- 

 tient unconscious. In both cases he will feel no 

 pain while the operation is going on. So with the 

 bee. The seat of consciousness is removed, when 

 the head is cut off'. Ho may wriggle for hours, and 

 yet feel no pain. Like the mud-turtle, when his 

 head has been cut off, as the boy said, "He is dead 

 and don't know it." Ernest R. Root. 



EEE-TALK. 

 now wi; no oitr exti!.\cting. 



fE usually keep from 50 to 60 colonies in an 

 apiary, spring count, and we think that 

 number aliout right. That gives us a fair 

 day's work for our crew of boys, after go- 

 ing from four to nine miles with teams to 

 get there, and gives us time to go home and pack 

 our honey in barrels, and we think, to get the best 

 returns in honey, that number is large enough. 

 As we live in the borders of a town of 40C0 inhabi- 

 tants, there are plenty of boys whom we can hire, 

 as many of them have nothing to do, and are glad 

 to get a job. We hire them from 13 to 30 j'ears old. 

 Beginning with the 13-year-old boy, we pay him 

 the first year $6.00 or $8.00 a month. That depends 

 on what kind of a boy he is. We hire for the 

 lowest figure, and give him more if he earns it. The 

 ne.xt j'ear, if the boy has been faithful, we hire him 

 again, and give him about .1^2.00 more a month, and 

 about one month in a year is as long as we have 

 use for the most of the boys. As we have 11 acres 

 of land to cultivate, some of it in small fruit, we 

 hire one or two of our best boj's in the spring, about 

 April 1st, and keep them all the season. We com- 

 mence to extract about the 1.5th to the 30th of June. 

 Then we take in two more j'oung boys; and when 

 we have gone over all the bees once, we put on 

 our whole force. 



The last two years, including myself and my son, 

 our foi'ce has been ten hands, besides one carpenter 

 at work in the shop at home. I have no doubt but 

 some of the bee-masters will laugh at the amount 

 of help we employ to do oiir work. But, recollect 

 we spend from I'i to 3 hours on the road, going to 

 our work every morning, and as much coming 

 home again; go with two teams, one to carry the 

 boys and the other to haul the honey and traps we 

 have to take along, and we think we are working to 

 the best advantage. Perhaps we are net. 



V/e ha\e our apiaries laid out in rows, so arrang- 

 ed that we have what we call Main Street running 



