604 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



er than others, some being of a deep orange color. 

 The frames which have become yellow have, then, 

 been the last to take this color, and, consequently, it 

 is not the'pollen consumed by the bees that has given 

 this color to the frames. We can make these experi- 

 ments every lime we open a hive. We shall be convinc- 

 ed at the same time that the interior of the hive, the 

 frames especially, in the cracks and angles, will be 

 more or less yellow. The cause of the coloring of the 

 wood is the same as for the stain in the wax. This 

 cause was unknown when, happily, in 1890, I was for- 

 tunate enough to find the natuial and complete ex- 

 planation of it. 



In summer, at the height of the brood-rearing sea- 

 son we see many bees running around on the ground 

 in front of the hives. These are, for the greater part, 

 old bees, which, being aware of their incapacity, have 

 voluntarily abandoned their hives. There are some 

 old bees and some young ones, some outwardly all 

 ri^ht, and the others infirm. L,et us take a few and ex- 

 amine them closely. We will take, preferably, those 

 that are gray, quite hair3', having the abdomen sepa- 

 rate, and really .seeming to be cut in two in the middle. 

 Others will hive the abdomen fully rounded out, and 

 between the rings a faint yellow tint. The latter will 

 serve for our experiments. Let us take one of these 

 bees, seizing it by its lower extremity, when there 

 will issue from it quite a long thread of a beautiful 

 yellow color, emitting a mild perfume. This stuff 

 colors the hands, paper, wood, etc., with a fixed oily 

 appearance. Throw this stuff into water and it will 

 be found to give to it onlj' a faint yellowish cast, and 

 it will spread out into sinuosities, while in good alco- 

 hol it readily dissolves. If we warm a certain quan- 

 tity of this substance, and press it between two sheets 

 of paper, it will leave a greasy spot. 



This yellow matter contains, then, considerable 

 wax. But if we take for our experiments an old bee, 

 the liquid obtained will be dark brown and of a sick- 

 ening odor. This is the ordinary secretion of old 

 bees, while the odoriferous yellow liquid is the first 

 evacuation of the young bees. The yellow color of 

 these excreta is identical to that of the wood of the 

 hives. The drones do not have this matter to any 

 appreciable extent — at least I have never been able to 

 find any of it on them. D\iring swarming, the Isees 

 already excrete these substances, traces of which we 

 find on the leaves of trees and on our clothes. In this 

 case they always retain the wax, which serves them 

 for making their first combs. Hence it comes that 

 swarms build white comb. The young workers of 

 old colonies deposit their yellow color either on the 

 empty frames, which, in consequence, become grad- 

 ually yellow, or on the walls of their hives ; and for 

 this purpose they seek with special eagerness the 

 cracks and points At times they use simultaneously 

 this matter with the wax, and then they build yellove. 



As the bees seek to throw aside these excrementi- 

 tious matters, must we not therefore conclude that 

 the latter, while not exactly noxious, are entirely use- 

 less in the economy of the hive? What effects do 

 these substances have on the human bodj- ? I do not 

 know; but I am led to believe, from some indications, 

 that their action on it is not favorable. What, then, 

 may be the chemical composition of this 5'ellow color 

 in wax? The English professor, Hofstison, says that 

 butterflies, on leaving their cocoon, leave behind a 

 few drops of uric acid after they have colored their 

 wings yellow. From this I should be inclined to be- 

 lieve that the yellow color of wax, which at first is 

 the same as that of yellow butterflies, is due to uric 

 acid. That is ray opinion. I believe it to be correct, 

 and shall maintain it, even though it may seem re- 

 pugnant to others. J. Steigel. 



Viz 



BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 

 A missionary from China reports the ex- 

 traordinary death of five persons from eating 

 honey. Those who only tasted the honey, 

 which had an unusual appearance, sickened, 

 suffering great pains in the stomach. Others 

 who had eaten more died within two or three 

 days. 



Bees crossed once with the Caucasian spe- 

 cies are said to work the red clover to great 

 advantage, and distinguish themselves from 

 others in this way. 



CUPPING QUEENS A LA JONES. 



Introducing a Queen on a Caged Comb; an Experi- 

 ence with Bee-paralysis. 



BY A. NORTON. 



Dr. C. C. Miller: — Please answer this med- 

 ley of things in Gleanings. I should like 

 your ideas and those of friend Root on such 

 as he thinks worth noticing. This is merely a 

 little gathering-up of little experiences at dif- 

 ferent times. Speaking of the method of clip- 

 ping recommended by the Australian corres- 

 pondent in Gleanings last year, I tried the 

 same on two queens. The first one, as so in 

 as I had her legs between my thumb and fin- 

 ger, as per directions, began to twist herself 

 around so vigorously that I began to fear for 

 her safety ; for she performed great feats of' 

 suppleness, and was bidding fair to twist her 

 legs off, and I was afraid I had crippled her. I 

 had to take her up again and place her more 

 carefully so that she could not twist, her feet 

 being held between more than the two fingers. 

 I took up another queen to clip by this same 

 method. As soon as I had picked her up by 

 the wings, she curled up into a ball as if she 

 had been stung. While I had been careful, I 

 feared I had killed her. I put her on the palm 

 of my hand and stirred her around considera- 

 bly, but she did nothing but quiver as if in 

 the last pangs of death. Finally I placed her 

 back on the comb undipped. She soon pick- 

 ed herself up and went about her business. A 

 few days later I clipped her in my usual way, 

 which is simply to place the scissors under 

 her wings while walking on the combs, give a 

 little clip with a steady, careful hand, and 

 leave her unconscious, almost, of what has 

 happened. I find no difficulty or danger in 

 this method. Did you ever try it ? Do your 

 queens ever " play 'possum " ? 



Last season I placed a valuable queen in a 

 colony but recently made queenless, caging 

 her on the comb in a cage pressed into the 

 comb. I had to take a tender new comb, 

 which also was too thick, and projected too 

 far. Next day on looking in I found that the 

 cage had been dragged out of place by the ad- 

 jacent frame — whether in putting in the pre- 

 vious day or in taking out this time I did not 

 know. The comb was mashed, and the queen 

 was not to be found. I searched thoroughly 

 for her at sundry times for some two or three 

 days, and then sent for another queen. A 

 queen that I tried to introduce several days 

 later was not accepted, and then I thought to 

 look among some loose scraps of comb be- 

 tween the follower and the side of the hive. 

 There I found the queen with one leg crippled, 

 laying in the loose comb, a small guard of 

 bees with her. She had been accepted after • 

 some apparent struggle following her sudden 

 release after so short a confinement ; had re- 



