IS'.)-: 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



539 



sill' must he prcHy :\k<h1. Wo shall havo a good 

 doul nioiv to say aliDUt Tunisian bocs now that 

 wo havo ivturniHi front Tunis, bnt must icsiM'vc 

 this for a special anioli'. We hanliy need tell 

 our corrfsiiondoiit. thai, alilmiiyrh we niado tlio 

 most i-aroful iiivt-siijiations, wo failod to lind 

 anv (tf the soi-ailod I'unio bees. — Eus. B. li. J. 



THE SECRETION OF WAX BY BEES. 



DK t.AVi:NS ( (INCI.rSION NOT COIJUOHOHATEI) 

 AT rilK KAXSIXO AIMCl'I.Tl HAI, KXl*. STATION. 



Tliorocont articloof Dr. Millorin (Jlkanings, 

 rocounting tho oxperimonls of DoLayens, of 

 I'-raiu'i'. upon tho subject of wax socrotion, 

 brings before ii< once more this oft-debated 

 question. 1 lind it impossible to reconcile the 

 results t)f that e\|)erimonl with the recorded 

 experiences of other apiarists. It seems that 

 tile nine colonies that l)uilt their own combs 

 ipai'tially at least) gathered aisoasniuch honey 

 as the nine that were provided with combs. If 

 the bees socr(>to wax whenever gathering honey, 

 whether combs are noedi d or not. then this re- 

 sult w as to be expi cted. Hardly any one be- 

 liov(^s this now, so that wo ar(> forced, if we 

 acknowledge the exactness of the experiment, 

 to one of two conclusions — either that wax is 

 secreted at times with almost no loss to the 

 bees, or that the building of comb sometimes 

 leads the bees to greater exertion-. This latter 

 seems to be the conclusion arrived at by the 

 experimenter. 



Now, our experiment last summer to deter- 

 mine the amount of honey consumed in secret- 

 ing a pound of wax, was not very conclusive. 

 There were some elements of uncertainty, and 

 the experiment will be repeated this summer. 



Colony No. 1 was given a virgin queen and no 

 combs. 



Colony No. :.' was given a virgin queen and 

 combs. 



Colony No. 3 was given a laying queen and 

 com bs. 



Colony No. 3 was used merely for a compari- 

 son of work done. The bees were fed 21 lbs. of 

 honey in 10 days, and the wax secretion by No. 

 1 amounted to ll'^ oz. During the experiment 

 No. •-* gained in weights lbs. more than No. 1, 

 so that this 8 lbs. should represent the 11>4 oz. 

 of wax secreted. It was intended to conduct 

 the experiment immediately after the close of 

 the basswood harvest: but some honey was 

 gathered by tiie bees at this time. 



No. •.' was a heavier colony than No. 1. and 

 gathered and consumed more honey: but it was 

 scarcely possible to estimate this variation with 

 any assurance of correctness. This season this 

 experiment will be repeated with all these ele- 

 ments of uncertainty eliminated so far as pos- 

 sible. 



Mr. Samuel Simrains says that, in testing 

 this matter of wax secretion, the bees must 

 have access to both water and pollen, and that 

 no bro<xl should l)e produced. The bees should 

 not he contined to tlie hive, and should gather 

 no other food than that supplied. I am assured 

 that he is right; and that the above method, 

 followed out with care at the proper time, will 

 give nearly true results. Pollen, of course, en- 

 ters into thi! food of bees secreting wax. so that 

 the abundance or scarcity of this will cause 

 different results to be obtained at different 

 times. 



DeLayens is imdoubtedly right, that the 

 practical question with this problem of wax 

 secretion is that of money income to be derived: 

 but if we can know how much honey is con- 

 sumed on an average by the bees in the secre- 



tion of wax, wo then have a fact as a basis of 

 future work in this diri'ction. 



Thus far this season no honey to speak of 

 has been gathered i)y the t)ees. and it now looks 

 as if wo should i)e compelled to feed if any ex- 

 periments of this kind, depending upon the 

 iioney-llow, are to be consummated. 



I hope that Mr. E. h'rance is repeating the 

 experiment of which he wrote in (Jij^ani.nus 

 last fall, with the modilii-ations that oxiiorionce 

 taught him should hr made. That bees mix 

 from hive to hive when in rows, w(^ all know; 

 but the extent of this mixing when then! are no 

 landmarks to guide the bees is not generally 

 realized. When Mr. V. places his experimental 

 colony by itself ho can be quite sure of his re- 

 sults. I imagin(>, however, that his results of 

 last summer wore about correct. I have ob- 

 served that, when bees are placed under abnor- 

 mal conditions, they live longer, or their func- 

 tions are more active, and in various ways the 

 common rules of th(Mr whole lives seem" to be 

 changed in the attempt to bridge the chasm 

 that endangers the life of the colony. This 

 shows us how strangely the mind of the bee 

 conirols its body. We. of course, have often 

 observed this in the human family, and yet I 

 think that the bee is not less govtM'ned by its 

 feelings and desires than many of us. 



Dr. Miller has agreed to leave to me the 

 question of how queens go through perforated 

 zinc. I think ho has left it in rather poor hands, 

 for I know almost nothing about it. Whether 

 the thorax of a queen increases in size after 

 mating is a rather delicate question. I found 

 it impossible to measure it accurately by any 

 mechanical means, and resorted to the practical 

 test of the zinc itself. I placed two strips of 

 zinc so that the opening between them could be 

 delicately adjusted at the opening of a cage. 

 With this I found that a young queen would 

 make the most frantic exertions to escape, and 

 would pass through as soon as the opening 

 became large enough to admit her thorax. The 

 same queen when laying would not go 

 through exactly the same opening. She would 

 not, however, try as hard as when a vir- 

 gin, and was not as anxious to get out. My 

 belief is, from these tests and from other ob- 

 servations, that the thorax of a queen is no 

 larger after mating. The difference seems to 

 be caused mostly by the activity of the young 

 queens. I think that Ernest is a little mistaken 

 in his assertion that the abdomen of a queen 

 ever prevents Iter passage through zinc. Any 

 one who has handled queens knows that the 

 abdomen is not as hard as the thorax, and 

 would be readily compressed to allow the 

 queen to pass. Also, if this idea were true, 

 would not queens sometimes be hung in the 

 zinc with wings, legs, and thorax on one side, 

 and abdomen on the other? 



If bees are reared in contracti'd cells, or are 

 supplied with too little food or heat, they are 

 sometimes small at birth. However, they usu- 

 ally s(jon attain their normal size. It is also 

 often true of queens. But this developmcMit 

 after birth is not at all dependent upon their 

 mating, and generally takes place soon after 

 birth. Hut can we ever hope to get our zinc to 

 such perfection that no virgin will ever pass? 

 I think not: for, as long as small queens are 

 reared, so long shall we be troubled occasional- 

 ly in this way. Sometimes a poor ()ueon will 

 be reared in any apiary. It is impossible to 

 avoid this. 



Since, Prof. Cook has ,so earnestly interested 

 him.self, and obtained the co-operation of the 

 State Board of Agriculture, Prof. H. W. Wiley, 

 and others, in testing the validity of the pres- 

 ent methods of honey analysis, I think it is the 

 duty of all to furnish him with samples of hon- 



