7(54 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



I sent for 25 more, about half of which have 

 been sold, so that there are now in use between 

 fifty and sixty among my customers. 



I have not from this number had one really 

 favorable report, but a number have reported 

 unfavorably. A common complaint is, that the 

 hiver becomes so clogged with drones as to 

 interfere with the passage of the field workers. 



Early in the season I placed three on the 

 three strongest out of ten strong colonies be- 

 longing to a neighbor. Those colonies cast no 

 swarms, though all the others did so. While 

 most bee-keepers have had a fair amount of 

 swarming, it has not been an old-fashioned 

 swarming season, or I should be inclined to 

 recommend the hiver as a non - swarming 

 device. I have noticed the same effect in my 

 own yard, where hivers were early placed on 

 colonies showing strong signs of swarming. 

 Days went by before the swarms issued, and 

 then the bees went back instead of into the 

 new hive prepared for them. It was ten days 

 before they came out again, probably with a 

 new queen. That time the hiver was ofl', so 

 they were gathered off a ti-ee. The next time a 

 weak swarm was caught, the most of the bees 

 returned to the old hive. At another time, 

 with an after-swarm, several young queens got 

 through the hiver, rendering it of no use in that 

 case. 



The later form of the hiver may be made to 

 serve an important purpose, aside from its main 

 object. The two small sections, with perforat- 

 ed zinc in the front, may be used in retaining 

 swarms after they have been hived. 



I am very sorry that I am not able to make 

 a favorable report on the hiver. A device that 

 will efl'ect its purpose every time will be eagerly 

 purchased by the farmer members of the bee- 

 keeping fraternity, especially as it will enable 

 them to keep bees without interruption toother 

 work in swarming time, and consequent loss of 

 time demanded by other interests. 



I hope Mr. Alley may yet give us a really 

 practical hiver ; but this one, at least with 

 me so far, does not fill the bill. M. S. West. 



Flint, Mich., Aug. 24. 



[This report may be exceptionally bad, but it 

 rather strikes us that these automatic swarm- 

 ers were boomed pretty heavily before they 

 were even tested. If the majority of the others 

 who have tried them have had similar failures, 

 it means a big disappointment.] 



ENEMIES OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



READ IN WASHINGTON BEFORE THE A. A. A. S. 



The foes of the honey-bee are more numerous 

 than would be supposed. We find them among 

 the highest class of animals, and also among 

 the lowest of all organisms. Three classes of 

 vertebrates contribute to the group; many in- 

 sects are included, while one of the most dead- 

 ly of the microbes finds a i-ich pabulum in the 

 brood of the honey-bee. 



Among mammalia, bears, except that man 

 has so nearly exterminated the species, would 

 be counted among the honey-bee's worst foes. 

 Bruin braves the anger and attack of the bees, 

 impelled by an exceeding fondness for honey. 

 The dense hair and thick epidermis serve well 

 to fortify for the most part against the stings. 

 In some experiments with a tame bear it was 

 found that she would never hesitate to satisfy 

 her taste for honey though the latter were 

 guarded by scores of bees. The bear would 

 close her eyes and rush to the feast. The shut- 

 ting of the eyes was not simply an expression of 

 satisfaction, but, rather, to protect them, as 



she never closed her eyes when given a bottle 

 of honey to suck. In taking the honey from 

 the hive, the frequent head-shakes proved that 

 she had to take the bitter with the sweet. 



The shrews and mice are serious enemies. 

 These, however, make their attack in winter, 

 when the semi-stupor of the bees prevents any 

 considerable resistance. Owing to their minute 

 size these little mammals, especially the shrews, 

 are able in almost every case to gain access to 

 the hive. Whether or not these animals eat 

 the live bees, I am unable. to say; but they cer- 

 tainly eat the dead ones, and so gnaw away at 

 the combs, in their search for the pollen at" the 

 base of the cells, that they often fall in one 

 shapeless mass at the bottom of the hive. Very 

 likely the irritation consequent upon such dis- 

 turbance kills the bees, which are afterward 

 devoured. 



The king-bird, one of our most rapacious fly- 

 catchers, is a very serious enemy of the honey- 

 bee. This bird. I dare say, would not refuse' a 

 large sleek drone; but that it confines its at- 

 tack to these is certainly not true. I have tak- 

 en worker bees from the stomachs of these birds 

 several times, after watching it capture the 

 bees. The bird flies from some convenient 

 perch near the apiary, snaps up a bee. returns 

 to its perch, works a moment with the bee, 

 when the latter is swallowed and the whole 

 operation repeated. I have wondered whether 

 the manipulation to which the bird subjects 

 the bee just prior to swallowing it renders the 

 latter unable to sting, or whether, as in the 

 ease with the toad, the bird receives a sting for 

 every bee swallowed. The fact that a bee will 

 sting, with opportunity, for hours after the head 

 is removed, or even the abdomen cut in two at 

 the middle, makes it seem impossible that the 

 king-bird could liandle the bee so dextrously, 

 except that it were wise enough to extract the 

 sting, so tiiat the bee could not sting; and yet 

 the motions always observed just before the 

 swallowing act are significant. Why is not the 

 bee swallowed at once? Of course, this inter- 

 esting question could be easily settled by a 

 careful examination of bird and victimized bees 

 — a thing which I shall surely do upon the first 

 opportunity. 



The toad is no mean enemy of the bee. As 

 evening approaches, or even on dark cloudy 

 days, this rough-skinned batrachian sets him- 

 self near the entrance of the hive, and, by aid 

 of its long viscid tongue, will catch and swal- 

 low a dozen bees in a very brief time. I have 

 often seen this interesting performance. Once, 

 after a toad had taken five bees in succession, I 

 took the toad, examined its stomach, and found 

 therein five stingless worker bees. I then ex- 

 amined the toad's throat, and found all the five 

 stings sticking in this vital cushion. Is the 

 toad callous to these venomed pricks, or is he 

 a sort of martyr to his love for the bee and its 

 load of sweet? As I could never see any scowl 

 or wince, I have imagined that the toad, unlike 

 the bear, was not very sensitive to such venom- 

 ed stabs. 



The insect enemies of bees are quite numer- 

 ous. Among the bees, a species of andrciuv often 

 enter the hives in the spring as pilferers. Often 

 the bees pay no attention to them, though a 

 honey-bee from another hive enters at its peril. 

 I have wondered whether these andrencv could 

 have a protective scent, or whether they are re- 

 garded by the bees as too insignificant to excite 

 either afarm or apprehension. Species of bom- 

 bus also enter the hives — usually, however, 

 only when the hive is opened, as the entrance 

 is commonly too small to permit ingress. Once 

 in. and the hive closed, the bumble-bee receives 

 rough treatment. The bees attack it and 

 soon rob it of life and its hairy covering. 



