30G 



GLEANINGS IN Bii^E CULTUUE. 



Apr. 



ly concluded then, and still think, that the queen 

 jrave her signal loi* the swarm to issue, and that the 

 bees heard it. The queen may not always signal 

 the time foi- swarming, but T feel confident that she 

 did in this particular instance. 



Again, the very existence of this piping note of 

 the queen proves, to my mind, that it was not cre- 

 ated without a purpose, and this jturpose manifest- 

 ly was that the bees should hear it and act accord- 

 ingly, as they choose. 



During my e.\perimcnts recently in determining 

 how long a few bees would live, caged on Good can- 

 dy, I learned one or two other things besides. 

 Some of the cages that 1 had for this purpose con- 

 tained a single bee, and others a dozen or more. 

 The cages were scattered through the various 

 sections of fv paper-holder, perhaps two or three 

 cages in a section; and were so arranged that the 

 occupants of one cage could not see those of anoth- 

 er. On several occasions I noticed that, when the 

 bees of one cage set up a buzzing, the rest all be- 

 gan, until it seemed like a whole swarm. Now, I 

 think the bees of one cage must have heard those 

 of another, in order for all to buzz at the same 

 time as they did, for all other means of commu- 

 nication were cut off. 



DO SPIDERS HEAR AND APPUECIATE MUSIC? 



Whether the bee hears the drumming of tin pans, 

 or can appreciate the delicate sounds of music, 

 might be a matter o' doubt— at least, I never heard 

 of a bee that was spellbound at the sound of 

 music. It is said that Sir John Lubbock, after play- 

 ing the violin before his bees, was jiot able to in- 

 duce them to waltz, beat time, or try the key of 

 " one sharp " on him. Whether Sir John ever tried 

 any thing of this kind, I am not prepai-ed to say; at 

 any rate, an indilTerent behavior on the part of the 

 bees is not to be wondered at. In books of natural 

 history we read that spiders, however, seem to ex- 

 hibit signs of keen enjoyment at the sound of the 

 guitar or other instruments. When 1 first saw this 

 statement it was too much for me to believe; but 

 chancing, one evening, to play my accordion some 

 years ago in the factory, one of my friends who 

 was with me ejaculated all at once, "Oh, look at 

 that monstrous spider!" As I continued to play, 

 the insect advanced toward me, for reasons that I 

 did not then suspect, and, before I was aware, it 

 was perched upon my knee, whereon rested my ac- 

 cordion. Feeling a cold chill creep down my back 

 as I discovered this intimate friendship, I shook the 

 ugly " baste " upon the floor, stamping my feet as I 

 did so. The spider made good his retreat, and dis- 

 appeared under a pile of boards. When quiet pre- 

 vailed, and I had resumed my playing, lo and be- 

 hold! our good friend crept cautiously out as be- 

 fore. I will not say that he waltzed, but he did act 

 as though he were spellbound. I then recollected 

 what I had read, and naturally concluded that it 

 was the music that delighted his worship. If I 

 ceased playing, the spider soon crept away; and 

 whenever I resumed he would reappear. I made 

 repeated trials, with the same results, and on sep- 

 arate evenings too. On one or two occasions I call- 

 ed him out in this way to show him to my friends, 

 who were a little incredulous. 



It seems hardly possible that the vibrations caus- 

 ed by the music produced an agreeable sensation 

 upon the antenn<t> of the spider, and that it was on- 

 ly a delicate sense of touch, and not of hearing. On 

 the contrary it is reasonable for mo to suppose 



that the spider not only heard, but enjoyed, the mu- 

 sic. Whether a bee can appi-eciato musical sounds 

 or not, we can not decide; but if a spider can enjoy 

 them, I liclieve a bee can hear at least the "zeep, 

 zeep," cf the queen. E. K. Root. 



I will add to what Ernest has said about 

 the calling of a queen, that I have repeated- 

 ly seen l;ees start, as if with one accord, 

 toward a strange queen when she uttered 

 this strange " zeep. zeep;'' and. nnore than 

 that, I have seen the bees on a neighboring 

 frame start en inasse towartl the point from 

 which the sounds proceeded, when a strange 

 queen uttered this call; and. if I am not 

 mistaken, I have seen them do it when the 

 frame containing the queen was in one hand, 

 and the bees that started in response to the 

 call were held on a frame in the other hand. 

 I am satisfied that bees can hear the call of 

 their (lueen, or of a strange queen; but I 

 am also well aware that a pistol may be 

 fired within a few feet of them without our 

 perceiving even a flutter or vibration of the 

 wings. 



HOW TO TAKE OUT SECTIONS. 



THOSE 4000 liASSWOOD-TREES MENTIONED IN THE 

 ABC. 



AN you tell me some good way to take the first 

 row of sections out of your crate? It is easy 

 enough after that. — 1 doubt not that many 

 others vrould be glad to know the result this 

 year of the 4003 basswood-trees mentioned on 

 page 30 of A B C— When I return combs to second 

 story of the hive after extracting last time, the bees 

 usually clean them up by gathering the honey into 

 a few cells in the center of each comb, making it 

 necessary to pars all combs through the extractor 

 again. How can I get them to take this honey be- 

 low, or will it be all right to leave it in the combs? 

 Salem, Columbiana Co., Ohio. M. F. Tabek. 



Friend T.. the easiest way to take the sec- 

 tions out, if the case is ail full, is to turn 

 the case over, and. with a suitable follower, 

 press them out all at once— the case being 

 raised half an inch from the top of the table, 

 with suitable strips of wood in each end. If 

 you want to remove the filled ones, and leave 

 the others to be finished, we usually have 

 but little trouble in getting the first one out 

 by means of a screw-driver or a heavy-blad- 

 ed knife. — During 1S85 our bassw6od-or- 

 chard yielded a tolerable crop of blossoms, 

 and quite an army of bees could be seen go- 

 ing in the direction of the trees every morn- 

 ing while they were in full bloom. As there 

 are some heavy forests of basswood near by, 

 however, it islikely that quite a large part 

 of the bees visited "these forests. — The only 

 w^ay to get every drop of honey out of your 

 combs after extracting, is to leave on the 

 upper stories until the bees collect these lit- 

 tle patches of honey and carry them down, 

 toward the approach of winter. If some 

 honey is left in the combs over winter it 

 does no harm, providing your combs are 

 wintered in some place secure from moth 

 or robber-bees ; that is, you do not want 

 robbers to work at them wdien they com- 

 mence to work in the spring or late in the 

 fall. 



