1300 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Out. 15 



This is the more remarkable because of the 

 ineouvenient hives then in use. The pres- 

 ent advanced knowledge of apiculture is due 

 largely, I believe, to the movable frame in- 

 troduced by father Langstroth. Scientific 

 queen-rearing would have been a long time 

 developing to its present advanced stage 

 had it not been for the ease with which 

 Langstroth's invention made it possible to 

 manipulate the brood. 



The functions of the queen were pretty 

 well undei'stood by Mr. Evans, and he speaks 

 of her development by reason of the special 

 royal food which the workers did not re- 

 ceive; but with no movable frame then in 

 use, and the observatory hives being mostly 

 full-colony hives with glass on the outside 

 only, observation was difficult and required 

 a good deal of patience. It is not to be 

 wondered at, then, that the queen was cloth- 

 ed with royal authority and power, as the 

 following quotation would indicate: 



'But mark, of royal port and awful mein. 

 Where moves, with measured pace, the insect queeni 

 Twelve chosen Kuards with slow and solemn gait 

 Bend at her nod and round her person wait. 



And again: 



The pregnant cjueen her dutious slaves attend, 

 With plausive air the high-arch"d dome ascend, 

 Cling in fond rapture round the genial bed 

 And o'er her form a Uring curtain spread. 



In explanation of the last two lines a note 

 says: 



' ' When she enters the royal cell to depos- 

 it her eggs, a number of bees, clinging to 

 one another, hang before her a living im- 

 penetrable veil. On her return, a small 

 white egg is discernible in the cell, and her 

 courtiers still attend her with the same ap- 

 pearance of respect and homage." 



Mr. Evans had some correct notions re- 

 specting drones. Beautifully he describes 

 their lack of the necessary equipments for 

 labor: 



Their short probo.scis sips 

 No luscious nectar from the Wild-thyme's lips. 

 From the Lime's leaf no amber drops they steal. 

 Nor bear their arooveless thighs the foodful meal; 

 On others' toils, in pampered leisure, thrive 

 The lasy Fathers of th' industrious hive. 



The line commencing "From the Lime's 

 leaf " is explained as honey-dew. 



But here's a use for drones that some bee- 

 keepers of this latter day do not fully en- 

 dorse: 



Yet oft. we're told, these seeming idlers share 

 The pleasing duties of parental care. 

 With fond attention guard each genial cell. 

 And watch the embryo bursting from its shell. 



The poor drone, though, enjoyed only a 

 brief day of idle pleasure: 

 While love and pleasure thus your hours employ. 

 How short, vain flutt'rers, is your dream of joy! 

 Ere the fourth moon unyoke her silver car. 

 For vou the Fates their deathful v.oof prepare. 

 No widowed matron mourns your hapless doom. 

 Nor drops the tear of duty on your tomb. 

 Each kind affection turned to deadliest hate, 

 Springs the fierce female on her once lov'd mate: 

 Or, darting from the door, with terror wild. 

 The father flies his unrelenting child. 

 Far from the shelter of their native comb. 

 From flow'r to flow'r the trembling outcasts roam, 

 To wasps and feathered foes an easy prey. 

 Or pine, mid useless sweets, the lingring hours away. 



Of the workers he writes: 

 Yes! liglt-winged labourers! still unwearied range 



From flow'r to flow'r. your only love of change! 



Still be your envied lot, communion rare. 



To wreathe contentment round the brow of care ! 



No nice distinctions or of rich or grear. 



Shade the clear sunshine of your peaceful state; 



Nor Av'rice there unfolds her dragon wing. 



Nor racked ambition feels the scorpion sting; 



Your temper'd wants an easy wealth dispense, 



The public store your only affluence: 



For all alike the busy fervor glows. 



Alike ye labour, and alike repose; 



Free as the air. yet in strict order join'd. 



Unnumbered bodies with a single mind. 



One royal head, with ever watchful eye, 



Reins, and directs your restless industry. 



Builds on your love her tirm-cemented throne, 



And with her people's safety seals her own. 



Preparation for swarming and the piping 

 of the queen are described: 



At close of day when in her twilight robe 



Grey Eve envelopes half the weary globe. 



O'er the still sense a deep'ning laurmur grows. 



And busy iireparation mocks repose. 



Hark! the shrill clarion sounds! Full arm'd for flight 



The fresh-plumed monarch waves her pinions light, 



Pants for the morn, and chides t'ne tardy night. 



Now morning has come, and "ripening 

 Phu?bus warms the tempered air:" 



Mounts the glad chief! and to the cheated eye 

 Ten thousand shuttles dart along the sky. 

 As swift thro" ether rise the rushing swarms 

 Gay dancing to the beams their sun-bright forms. 



High poiz'd on buoyant wing the thoughtful queen 



In gaze attentive views the varied scene. 



And soon her far-stretched ken discerns below. 



The light Laburnum lift her pulish'd brow. 



Wave her green leafy ringlets o'er the glade. 



And seem to beckon to her friendly shade. 



Swift as the falcon's sweep, the monarch bends 



Her flight abrupt: the following host descends. 



Round the tine twig, like clustered grapes, they close 



In thickening wreaths, and court a short repose. 



While the keen scouts with curious eye explore 



The rifted roof, or widely gaping floor 



Of some time-shattered pile, or hoUow'd oak. 



Proud in decay, or cavern of the rock; 



Insidious Man, with specious friendship, forms 



A straw-built cot to shield them from the storms. 



With many a prop to fix the future comb. 



And scents with charmful sweets the vaulted dome. 



Swept from the branch, he bids whole myriads fall, 



By kind compulsion, in th' inverted stall. 



Drives with dank fume the loit'rers from the spray. 



And wards with leafy bough the noons fierce ray. 



The following lines describe what was the 

 common belief at the time if a swarm lost its 

 queen after hiving, even after the lapse of 

 several weeks: 



Nay, such the strong-linked chain of sweet controul, 

 Which binds to one fair head th' accordant whole. 

 E'en when a second moon serenely bright 

 Sheds on the infant realm her silver light. 

 Their widow'd throne in frantic mood they wail, 

 And cast, de.sponding, down the moulded scale. 

 Their voung deserted, rifled each full comb. 

 Loaded with sweets, they seek their long-left home. 



But they had learned from the experi- 

 ments of Huber and others that a new queen 

 could be introduced and save the colony. 

 He quotes Huber as being able to introduce 

 a queen to a hive that had lost its queen 

 twenty-four hours after the loss, but not 

 sooner. 



Another strange belief is mentioned in a 

 footnote: 



" When the bees of a crouded stall lie out 

 through great part of the summer without 

 swarming, or build combs on the outside, 

 this will always be found to arise from the 

 want of a second queen to lead them forth." 

 as though it were the young queen that led 

 the tii'St swarm. 



Continued. 



^. 



