1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



325 



■of water, and. though his head be entirely out, 

 he will drown just the same, because these 

 spiracles, or breathiiig-inoutlis. are submerged 

 under water. On a hot day. if tlie entrance of 

 a hive be closed, the bees will soon begin to 

 t^weat: and. thus becoming daubed, the delicate 

 spiracles are closed, and the bees die. 



KOYAI, .JELI.Y. AXD WHAT IS IT? 



Nothing in the book interested me more than 

 the discussion in chapter 18 in regard to the 

 roval jelly. Cheshire insists that it is a secre- 

 tion from' one of the glands: but Prof. Cook has 

 maintained that it is the product of the chyle- 

 stomach: and Mr. Cow an proves conclusively 

 that this is the right view, and eminent author- 

 itv is not wanting to sustain them. 



This chyle is produced in what is called tiie 

 chyle-stomach, shown at L. in the engraving: 

 and worker larva? are fed on this concentrated 

 food for three days, after which they are wean- 

 ^■d. "On the fourth day this food is changed 

 and the larva is weaned: for the first pap has 

 a large quantity of honey added, but no undi- 

 gested pollen, as Prof. Leuckhart had stated. 

 The drone larvie are also weaned, but in a dif- 

 ferent way: for. in addition to honey, a large 

 quantity of pollen is added after the fourth 

 day." And right here 1 can not do better than 

 (luote from Mr. Cowan: 



Microscopic examination showed that, in tlie 

 <jueen and worker larva', there was no uiidig-ested 

 pollen; whereas in the choiie larvfe. after the fourth 

 day, larg'e numbers of pollen grains were found, lu 

 one milligram, no less than 1.5,000 pollen grains were 

 •counted, and these were from a number of different 

 plants. . . . This work of Dr. Planta's. we think, 

 conclusively jiroves that the food is not a secretion, 

 and tliat the nurses have the power of altering its 

 constituents as they may require for the different 

 bees. . . . Royal jelly is, therefore chyle food, 

 and this is also most likely the food given to the 

 queen-bee. Schonfeld has also recently shown that 

 drones are likewise dependent up<in this food, given 

 to them by workers, and tliat, if it is withheld, they 

 die after tliree days, in the presence of abundance 

 of honey. This, lie thinks, accounts for the quiet 

 way in which drones perish at the end of the season. 

 It will now be easily understood, that, if weaning of 

 the worker larvae does not take place at the proper 

 time, and that the first nourishing food is continued 

 too long, it may be the cause of developing the ova- 

 ries, and so produce fertile workers, just as the 

 more nourishing food continued during the whole 

 of the larval existence in the case of a queen devel- 

 ops her ovaries, or even in the absence of a queen 

 the feeding of workers on this rich food may tend to 

 have the same effect. Tliis, then, is tlie solution of 

 royal jelly and brood food. 



I would say. in conclusion, that I enjoyed 

 greatly studying up this subject. It used to be 

 an old passion of mine: but it took such an im- 

 mense amount of time, and caused such a severe 

 strain on my eyes that I abandoned it. 



In my ettort to put the whole of this into com- 

 mon parlance. I may possibly have stated some 

 things incorrectly. If so. I shall be glad to have 

 ■our author or Prof. Cook set me riglit. 



THE CLOVER EXPERIMENT. 



E. E. HASTY TELLS US HOW HE PROSPERS IX 

 TRYING TO DRIVE DAME XATURE. 



mos. Never mind: just wait till we see what 

 we shall see. 



I have some feartiiat my phenomenon does 

 not secrete nectai' as freely as the unimproved 

 clover. I do not see bees on it. But then. I be- 

 lieve bees rather seldom go to one phtntoin 

 thing that is new to tliem. I have never yet 

 had even a square yard of it in bloom at one 

 time. So far as length of tube is concerned, it 

 seems to be short enough. 



I have had over a dozen sub-varieties of clo- 

 ver in tow: but tnie by one I have dropped 

 them, until I now have but four in training. 

 You see. it's like trving to drive the hens away 

 from their home. ' Y(ui can drive them a few 

 rods awav from the barn vei-y easily: but the 

 further you go. the more desperate they get in 

 the determination to get by you and go back 

 again. E. E. Hasty. 



Richards. ().. .March :u. 



STRAY STRAWS FROM PROF. COOK. 



Friend Miller pokes me up with a " straw" 

 .abo\it those clovers. Yes. doctor. Pve got an im- 

 proved clover (that is. part of the time I have it) : 

 but, just to pester me. it almost totally refuses 

 to bear seeds. And the seedlings, when I do 

 gel a few, about nine-tenths of them backslide. 

 The florets of this specimen of clover are double: 

 iind. as abnormal double flowers are usually 

 seedless, my tribulations are not miaccountable 

 happenings, but the regular course of the Cos- 



shall WE GATHER FIGS FROM THISTLES. OH 

 WHEAT FROM CHESS? P:TC. 



That was a very happy thought— securing 

 the ■' Stray Straws."' (iood. too. to use this val- 

 uable letter on tirst page, as it saves time: for 

 your readers will soon pick for these grain-laden 

 straws the fii'St thing. 



Does not Dr. Miller know^ that Michigan and 

 Rhode Island are both experimenting with bees 

 at their stations? They are both doing some- 

 thing with bees. and. I hope, for bee-keepers. 

 Was this among your •' Don"t knows." doctor? 



It is nearly as easy to quiet bees by the use of 

 carbolic acid as by tlie use of smoke. If such 

 practice antagonizes " foul brood."' those inter- 

 ested may well adopt it. It is surely worth a 

 trial by those whoai'e sufferers. 



Why does a writer in one of the recent jour- 

 nals say that it is proved conclusively that 

 •' foul brood '" results from chilled brood? I did 

 not suppose that there was a shadow of proof of 

 that statement. When figs come from thistles, 

 then we may expect foul brood from chilled, and 

 I think not before. That "• foul brood "" shoitld 

 be more common north, is easy to explain. 

 Disease alwavs readies for those of feeble 

 health. That" the microbe which attacks our 

 bees should form no exception is easy to believe. 

 The bee is native to a warm clime. North it is 

 apt to suffer from a ligorous climate— to become 

 enfeebled, and so form a ready seed-bed for this 

 dread malady. 



Dr. Miller places a minute interrogation- 

 point, inferentially at least, after my statement 

 that honev is a safer food for bees in quiet than 

 is cane sugar. I know of no experience, doctor, 

 that contradicts it. Do you? Suppose you feed 

 cane sugar in the fall. When the bees are act- 

 ive they digest it and place it in the cells. They 

 do this when active, uncontined. and able to 

 digest it. The old saying, that" "dyspepsiahates 

 a buck-saw."" applies here. Shut the bees up 

 and feed cane svru]). and you have a dilterenl 

 condition. I believe cane-sugar syrup, fed in 

 the fall, is superb for a winter diet for bees: but 

 fed in the winter, while they are precluded from 

 all exercise. I should fear it. As Dr. Miller in- 

 timates, there is that which is called honey, 

 which we would not care to eat, and better not 

 compel our bees to eat. at least during the time 

 of winter confinement. I am surprised at Dr. 

 Miller's big (?) regarding a cure for the " name- 

 less bee-disease."" I supposed it quite settled, 

 that removing the queen cured that ailment: 

 but here I quote the doctor: " I do not know."" 



I am glad to hear Mr. Cowan's book praised. 

 It is excellent. He gives the history of most of 



