1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



261 



plains of having only narrow cells at her disposal. 

 She doesn't care lor large cells, aad the race of 

 bees would be doomed for want of drones if nature 

 had not put a check to her desire to iniprcg-uate all 

 her eggs. This check comes from the workers, who 

 take care to prepare large and deep cells. If we re- 

 fer to the same law of attraction, we shall be able 

 to explain, also, this building of small and large 

 cells. 



The queen is but partly mother. She can lay 

 eggs, but she can not nurse her offspring. On the 

 other side, the workers are partly mothers also. 

 They do not lay, but they nurse; even more, they 

 suckle the young. 



For at least forty years it has been known that 

 the workers have two pairs of glands in their heads 

 and one pair in their thorax. Tiie anterior pair of 

 glands of the head is absent in the queens and in the 

 drones. They are fully developed in the young, and 

 atrophied in the old workers. It is in these ghxnds 

 that the milk, used by bees to nurse the young lar- 

 vte, is secreted. Mr. F. Cheshire thinks, also (and, 

 to my mind, justly), that the same milk is used to 

 feed the queen and incite her to la3\ The operat- 

 ing and subsequent obliteration of these glands 

 correspond with the double aptitude of bees as 

 nurses first, and as store gatherers afterward. While 

 young, thej- like to take care of the queen, and to 

 nui-se the larvu': when old, they are attached to the 

 fields, and like to store provisions. When young, 

 this devotion to the queen incites them to comply 

 with her desire to have all narrow cells; and as long 

 as she keeps pace with the building of the comb bj' 

 filling the cells with eggs, no other than worker- 

 comb is built. When old, the desire to store incites 

 them to build store, or large cells; and if the har- 

 vest is abundant, or if the prolificness of the queen 

 is equal to the rapidity of the building, or if the 

 queen is missing, the influence of the old workers 

 prevails, large cells are built, and in the height of 

 the breeding season the queen is compelled to fill 

 them with eggs. 



Let us remark right here, that the same law ap- 

 plies to the human family. A young mother will 

 gratify all the desires of her youngchildren, regard- 

 less of cost, while a grandmother will bo more care- 

 ful about expenses. She will mend old clothes, and 

 economize, to save or to acquii'C property. The 

 drying of her bieast, like the drying of the milk- 

 glands of worker-bees, changes the aptitudes and 

 the desires in both cases. 



This theory has not just emerged from my mind. 

 I explained it in some European i)apers about sev- 

 enteen years ago, and I am confident that no other 

 can explain as well this one of the mysteries of the 

 bee-hive. Yet something remains unexplained. Is 

 it the width or the depth of the drone-cells which 

 prevents the queen from impregnating her eggs? 

 There is a field open to the investigation of Mr. Er- 

 nest. ClIAS. D.VDANT. 



Hamilton, III., March, 18te. 



Friend D., I do not know bnt tliat we are 

 all getting into deep water in this snbject. 

 r think I can accept most of yonr reasoning ; 

 but in regard to old l;ees not being able to 

 teed larvte, if I remember correctly, wlien 

 this was discussed some time ago somebody 

 proved that old bees could care for the larva? 

 and food, just as well as any, where they are 

 obliged to. Perhaps somebody can point 

 out where it was. 



THE FIRM OF JANE MEEK & BROTHER. 



A Serial Story in Ten Chapters. 



BY KEV. W. D. RALSTON. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE DONATION PARTY. 



"Jjp FEW families belonging to Rev. Mr. Mcek's 

 gfM congre'gation lived about six miles south of 

 j^E* his church, on what was called Crab-Apple 

 -^'^ Creek. There were not enough of them to 

 form a church of their own; and as they 

 liveel so far from the church, and were not able to 

 attend regularly, Mr. Meek often preached for 

 them and their neighbors. on Sabbath afternoons. 

 Thus thej' had many pleasant and profitable meet- 

 ings in their little red schoolliouse, and he finally 

 succeeded in organizing and keeping up a real live 

 Sabbath-school there. His labors for thet^e people 

 were much valued by them; and every winter they 

 and a number of their neighbors made a donation 

 visit to the parsonage. These were memorable days 

 to the Meek children. Those honest farmers came 

 in their large farm wagons, laden with all kinds 

 of farm products, which filled Mr. Meek's cellar, 

 pantry, and feed-bins, until the poor man was act- 

 ually harrassed to find places in which to bestow 

 his goods, and even meditated doing as the rich man 

 in the parable did -pull those down and build great- 

 er. Usually these farmers were accompanied by 

 their wives and children, who brought baskets well 

 filled with provisions. 



A table was set, reaching from one end of the din- 

 ing-room to the other, on which were placed the con- 

 tents of the baskets. The minister and family, al- 

 though in their own home, were treated as guests, 

 and placed at the head of the table, around which 

 the others gathered, and due justice was done to 

 the good things before them. 



There was always abundance of talk and laughter, 

 and all present seemed to enjoy the visit verj' much. 

 On this occasion some one had brought a comb of 

 nice honey. When it was passed around it turned 

 the conversation"on bees and honey. As Jane and 

 Tommy now knew something about bees, they were 

 interested and amused at what they heard. 



Mrs Cole passed the honey without taking any, 

 saying, " I always liked the taste of honey, but I do 

 not eat anj', because I learned that, when the bees 

 suck the honey from the flowers, they swallow it 

 and carry it to their hives in their stomachs, and 

 then they throw it up Into their cells. I could not 

 think of eating what had come out of a bee's 

 stomach." 



Mr. Meek replied, " Mrs. Cole, you are a little 

 mistaken. Bees do not carry honey in their stom- 

 achs, but they are provided with a little sack for 

 that purpose. You know the little animal we call a 

 ground-squirrel, or chipmuck, has a little sack in 

 each cheek, in which it carries grain and nuts to its 

 hole; so the bee has a little sack, not in its cheek, 

 but in its thi-oat, in which it carries honey to its 

 hive. You know that, in all animals, there is a pipe 

 that extends from the mouth to the stomach. In 

 the worker-bee this pipe is really a little sack, called 

 the honey-sack. We might almost call it an exten- 

 sion of the mouth. The stomach is beyond, and no 

 honey passes from this sack into its stomach except 

 what is needed for its food. If we say the bee car- 



