2f^8 



GLEAJflNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



tho center; the mandibles are serrated, denticulate, 

 •r sometimes edentate. 



The form of the palpi differs considerably in the 

 various species; in some, the two elongate basal 

 joints of the labial palpi are narrow, and only slight- 

 ly widened at their base; others are more widened 

 at the base, and have also a broad, thin, semi-t):ans- 

 parent, llattened margin. The tongue also varies 

 g-reatly in its relative proportion to the labial palpi, 

 being longer or shorter in different species. 



The arrangement of their brood-cells resembles 

 those of wasps — horizontal combs and vertical cells 

 at one side of the comb only. These are about one 

 and a half inches in diameter, and used for brood 

 only. The honey-pots in the nest belonging to me 

 are from three-eighths to half an inch diameter, and 

 are coated with resin, with an opening at the en- 

 trance large enough so that oTily one bee can pass 

 through at a time; these pots are filled with pollen 

 and honey. Some of the Tritjona construct their 

 nests in the hollow trunks of trees, others in banks 

 on the ground; some suspend their nests from the 

 branches of trees, whilst (me species constructs its 

 nest of clay, it being a large size. Mr. Stretch found 

 a nest of TrUjona at Panama several feet in length, 

 in the hollow of a tree, containing thousands of in- 

 dividuals. Mr. Peelialt, of Catitagalla, in Brazil, 

 kept four species of Trbjona in his garden, to study 

 their habits. He had one hive of Trifjoiia Mosiiuito, 

 one of Tri\jona riifiaus, one of Tr'njona Mnndacaia, 

 and one of Trignna Urucu. He says he has observ- 

 ed " Trigana r-iijicrus swarm just like the European 

 honey-bees, about the end of March, when the cold 

 time begins, whilst in April, May, June, and July, 

 they appear to increase very scantily — I suppose in 

 order not to raise loo many useless feeders. Their 

 mode of life appears almost identical with those of 

 Apis Mdliftca. I have found only one queen in a 

 hive." 



Tho quality of the honey varies considerably in 

 the ditferent species of Tr('(/o?ia; of one it is said to 

 be very good; that of another, tolerably so; of an- 

 other, it is poor and rather tasteless, whilst that of 

 Bonie is said to be unpalatable. This may be account- 

 ed for by the different species of the genus Trigona 

 visiting different flowers, caused by the different 

 relative length of their tongue, adapted for reaching 

 the nectaries of the particular howcrs which they 

 usually frequent. Those species of Trigona that 

 have their tongue short, frequent flowers having 

 open corollas, whilst others, furnished with an 

 elongated tongue, extract their food from elongated 

 tubular flowers. 



Although the Trigona can not sting, an apiarian 

 would be compelled to beat a hasty retreat if he 

 should attempt to meddle with their nest. For such 

 an offense, the little fellows will make a terrible at- 

 tack on any person, and in a second the hair and 

 eloth<;s of the attacking party are filled, and with an 

 offensive sq»eaking they will cut off his hair — a 

 much worse disfigurement than a sting. (Here we 

 seethe wisdom of the Creator in endowing all liv- 

 ing creatures with instincts or instruments for their 

 preservation.) It is therefore impossible to succeed 

 in any way with such a species, and the natives can 

 get possession of only a taste of tho honey which is 

 found in their nests, by threatening them with death 

 and destruction by building a large straw fire, and 

 stifling the bees with smoke. A) I of these stingless 

 bees, and also the better qualities which do not make 

 an attack on the hair, and which are In some respects 



similar to ours, resemble ours in outward appear- 

 ance only, but in nature have nothing In common 

 with the Apis 3IcJlifica. 



The wax-like material of the comb is resin, which 

 Is gathered from the trees and leaves, and accord- 

 ing to its kind is more or less greasy, black, gray, 

 and yellow. The hind part of the Trigona body, in 

 consequence of the missing organism for the secre- 

 tion of wax, is comparatively too small, and there- 

 fore this wax is not of animal origin, a'^ is the case 

 with ours, but a vegetable substance. For this rea- 

 son, those bees need less honey for their nourish- 

 ment; they do not live together in large families, 

 and have small houses and little work. 



I think I have said quite sufficient to prevent my 

 clever American-Cousin bee-masters from wasting 

 their money on such profitless insects as " stingless 

 bees." William Cakr. 



Newton Heath Apiary, Near Manchester, Eng. 

 ■ ^ i«>^— 



the: coiuiivg bee. 



" AND HOW TO CATCn niM." 



^pp^EAR GLEANINGS:— As you give me so many 

 Mn) ^ood ideas onmypetoccupation, bee-keeping, 

 I don't know but I ought to add a mite to your 

 useful store of knowledge, provided your worthj' 

 editor thinks it worth adding; and as the "Coming 

 Bee" S(!ems to be the great absorbing theme of the 

 day, ransacking the distant "isles of the sea," 

 and the far-off " Eastern climes," if possible to " find 

 him," I thought perhaps a few items as to how to 

 "catch him" nearer home might be of interest to 

 many of your readers, and especially your ABC 

 class. My experience in bee-keeping runs back 

 over a period of 35 years, in Virginia, Iowa, and Cal- 

 ifornia. I think I owned the first Italian queen west 

 of the Mississippi River, which I got from Mr. Lang- 

 stroth in July, 1801. For the first 6 or 8 years I " bred 

 for stripes," as that seemed all the go; but I finally 

 came to the conclusion, that honey pays better than 

 stripes, and so changed my "base of operation," and 

 soon had tho satisfaction of knowing that I was 

 right. 



I sold out in Iowa in April, 18T2, and came to Cali- 

 fornia, and soon had a lot of foul brood on shares, to 

 try my luck in bees in California. Then in Novem- 

 ber I bought 45 colonies, intending to make bee- 

 keeping my business while I remained here. Arid 

 now, in as few words as I know how, I will tell you 

 how I have managed them, and let you be the judge 

 as to whether or not I acted wisely; and if I am on 

 the track of the " coming bee " or not. 



I tacked a label on each hive, and made a note, not 

 of the stripes (some had one, others two and three, 

 and some had none), but of the amount of honey 

 each one made, and also of their other good and bad 

 qualities. Then when the season closed I made a 

 note of each colony in my memorandum-book, se- 

 lecting my breeders, and condemning those with un- 

 desirable qualities, while all was yet fresh in my 

 memory. 1 then bred my queens and drones from 

 my best queens, and destroyed my poorest, and this 

 I have kept up ever since. I also get bees from dif- 

 ferent places, far and near, to improve my stock 

 and prevent in-and-in breeding; and as a further 

 improvement of my stock I sent an order for 13 Ital- 

 ian queens to Mr. J. Oatman & Son, Dundee, 111., as 

 Mr. J. Heddon and others claimed that he had the 

 best stock of Italians in this country for business. 



