May, 1909. 



American ^ac Journ^ ^ 



that the milky food is nothing other 

 than chyle produced in the digesting 

 stomach and forced back to the oesoph- 

 agus by a folding upwards of the stom- 

 ach-mouth to connect the oesophagus 

 with the chyle stomach, through the 

 honey-sack, without mixing the contents 

 with the contents of the honey-sack 

 (Cowan, "The Honey-Bee," page 122). 

 To my eyes the former explanation, as 

 given by Cheshire, is the more plausi- 

 ble, and I am inclined to believe that 

 Schiemenz is right. 



But all the scientists — Schiemenz, 

 Schonfeld, Cheshire, Cowan, DePlanta, 

 etc. — agree in stating that the food giv- 

 en to the worker-larvje after the first 

 3 days of their existence is different 

 from what is known as "royal jelly." 

 Cowan says: 



"The worker-larvae receive similar chyle food 

 the first 3 days, and on the fourth day it is 

 changed, and then the larvse are weaned, for 

 the first pap has a large quantity of honey 

 added, but no undigested pollen, as Leuckart 

 had stated. The drone-larvae are also weaned, 

 but in a different way, for, in addition to 

 honey, a large quantity of undigested pollen 

 is added to the food after the fourth day." 



Cheshire in turn says : 



"Microscopical examination of the food giv- 

 en to very young larvs reveals no trace of a 

 pollen-grain, and shows that it resembles in 

 nothing any part of the contents of the chyle 

 stomach of the nurses. It is, on the con- 

 trary, just such a fluid as a secretion might 

 be. As, however, the larva gains size and 

 power, the process of weaning commences, 

 and its food undergoes a change, having now 

 undoubted pollen, honey, and water added 

 to it, the glandular secretion being of Course 

 gradually withdrawn. The pollen-grains, more- 

 over, are living, and are generally found in 

 a growing condition, proving that they have 

 never entered the stomach of the nurse, and 

 certainly that they are not semi-digested. . . . 

 In the case of the queen-larva, I discover 

 that weaning is not adopted, but that secre- 

 tion, commonly, though as I hold, erroneously 

 called royal-jelly, is added unstintingly _ to 

 the end; so that at the close of the feeding 

 period, an abundance of highly^ nutritious 

 food, which I apprehend does not intrinsically 

 differ from that at first given to the worker- 

 larva, remains, and to which the cht^'salis ad- 

 heres for some time, possibly continuing to 

 draw from it, by osmose (fluid diffusion), 

 material which aids its development. .The 

 queen-larva does get a very small addition 

 of pollen, the residue of which collects in 

 the middle bowel; but this seems to be rather 

 accidental than otherwise." — ("Bees and Bee- 

 Keeping.") 



The two writers above mentioned, al- 

 though not agreeing as to the origin 

 of the milky food popularly called 

 "royal jelly," both agree that there is a 

 difference in the coarseness as well as 

 in the quantity of the food fed to the 

 queen and to the older worker-larvae, 

 respectively. They represent the most 

 practical views of the European scien- 

 tists, who have thus far been ahead of 

 us in microscopic studies. 



There is still another point to be set- 

 tled as it is seen, on the origin of the 

 food. I take it that Cheshire is right. 

 Yet, all these matters require confirma- 

 tion. Cheshire has made quite an er- 

 ror, according to our Dr. White, of 

 Washington, as to the bacillus of foul- 

 brood. Perhaps our young generation 

 of scientists will set many matters right 

 that are yet in dispute. One thing is 

 certain, we have to use a great deal 

 of caution in accepting new assertions 

 and the theories that have proven true — 

 such as the discovery of parthenogene- 

 sis, now an accepted fact — have to be 

 selected from among dozens of more 

 or less extravagant statements, and the 



European scientific publications are con- 

 stantly replete with all sorts of new 

 theories or ill-made experiments. 



The Bee-Sting and Formic Acid 



Now permit me to refer to another 

 part of the same number (April), of 

 the American Bee Journal, page 138, 

 which contains an article from the pen 

 of my old friend, J. E. Jolmson, who 

 used to inhabit our State, but is now 

 in New Mexico. 



Mr. Johnson says that the poison of 

 the bee-sting is not formic acid, and 

 he asks Dr. Bohrer whether he has 

 analyzed it. I am not an analyst, but 

 I can quote a number of authorities 

 who have analyzed the poison and find 

 formic acid in it. According to Girard, 

 (Les Abeilles, page 60) the poison of 

 the bee is "concentrated formic acid, 

 mixed perhaps with toxic substances." 



iNIr. Johnson says that formic acid 

 is very volatile and that the bee-poison 

 is not. This is in part an error, for 

 if it were not volatile, in part, how 

 could it cause our eyes to "button up" 

 just as if we were smelling of am- 

 monia, one of the most volatile sub- 

 stances? 



Again, the microscopists all agree 

 that in a short time, when exposed to 

 the air, the poison changes to crystals. 

 It could not very well do so unless a 

 part of its constituents evaporated read- 



Formic acid, originally obtained from 

 the ant (formica rufa), according to 

 the U. S. Dispensatory, has a smell 

 which is very peculiar, a smell of ants, 

 and so has the poison of the bee. For- 

 mic acid is used medicinally in chronic 

 paralytic diseases (Dispensatory, page 

 1495), and so is the poison of the bee. 

 This is another evidence that the sting- 

 pouch contains formic acid, though very 

 probably mixed with the element toxin, 

 mentioned by Mr. Johnson. 



I do not agree with Dr. Bohrer in 

 the statement criticised by Mr. John- 

 son, that comb honey contains poison 

 frotn the sfiiig, but I do believe that all 

 the products of the bee contain traces 

 of fortnic acid, because bees, like ants, 

 are producers of formic acid, and this 

 is the reason why both the poison and 

 the honey are recommended for rheu- 

 matism or paralysis. 



Altitude for Alfalfa. 



Another point on which I differ from 

 Mr. Johnson is his statement that al- 

 falfa is a high-altitude plant. It may 

 succeed best in this country in high alti- 

 tudes, but in Europe it grows finely 

 and produces great crops, clear down 

 to the sea level. But nevertheless, I 

 envy the fine climate that he mentions. 

 I have never made a stop in New Mex- 

 ico, but trust I may some day be able 

 to visit him, and have a little friendly 

 chat on our bee-questions. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Colony-Diagnosis in Spring 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



When the first warm days of spring 

 come every enthusiastic bee-keeper itches 

 to open his hives. If he has had much 

 experience he withstands the tempta- 

 tion, waiting till a month or so later 



before he breaks into the warm brood- 

 nests of his colonies. There are some 

 exceptions among those of much experi- 

 ence, but the rule is a safe one, and few, 

 even of experts, can afford to neglect it. 



"How, then," asks the beginner, "can 

 I know about my bees, whether they 

 have a good queen, plenty of honey, 

 etc?" Then he enquires finally — "What 

 is the harm?" 



I will answer the last of the two ques- 

 tions first. The harm is in loss of 

 queens. Until I stopped my practise of 

 early examination of colonies I invari- 

 ably found about one out of 10 queen- 

 less a month later, though at the time 

 of the early examination these queen- 

 less colonies were among my most flour- 

 ishing ones. Why the queens disap- 

 peared was a most puzzling problem to 

 me till I discovered this answer. At 

 a certain period in spring every normal 

 colony will have a vast majority of old 

 bees and a fair-sized brood-nest. Two 

 weeks later the colony will have a vast 

 majority of young bees and a some- 

 what larger brood-nest. If the colony 

 is disturbed at the time the old bees 

 are in great majority, old bees that are 

 wearied of brood-rearing and impatient 

 in every way, the queen often falls 

 victim to the impatient whims of those 

 old bees. Two weeks later the vast 

 majority of young bees will rule the 

 action of the colony, and the queen will 

 not be molested. 



Whether the answer just vouchsafed 

 is correct or not is of little moment to 

 me, knowing that I now no longer am 

 troubled with those vexatious losses of 

 fine queens in spring. Rarely indeed 

 does a colony now prove queenless in 

 spring under my present management. 

 This spring the 70 colonies in my home 

 yard all show ample evidence that they 

 are headed with good queens, though I 

 have not yet opened up a score of them 

 except to slip in combs of honey where I 

 thought it might do some good. 



Now for the first of the two ques- 

 tions : If the bee-keeper has done his 

 duty in the previous fall he need not 

 worry over the possible poor condition 

 of his colonies in the spring. In the 

 fall he should see that every colony has 

 a vigorous queen and plenty of stores, 

 and then he will know that such a colony 

 is good till the first of the next May. 



But, you say, the best of us will be 

 caught napping. Yes, and my remedy 

 for this is to wake up, and with eyes 

 wide open learn the condition of the 

 colonies fyoin the outside. 



There are various ways to find out the 

 spring condition of a colony without 

 opening the hive. 



First of all the spring flight tells me 

 much as to vigor of bees and numerical 

 strength. If bees fly with snappy, vig- 

 orous flight, and crowd the entrance, I 

 know the colony is well-to-do. 



In a few days, early in March, I 

 watch for water-carriers. Water-car- 

 riers are quickly recognized by an ob- 

 serving person. They tell us that breed- 

 ing is going on. 



Later the pollen-carriers tell a good 

 story. If pollen on a warm forenoon 

 goes in rapidly, and in large loads, I 

 know that the colony under observation 

 is beyond question in a prosperous con- 

 dition, headed by a good queen. 



About 3 weeks after the first water- 



