THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



27 



be made an individual question 

 with each beekeeper. 



To obtain the best results con- 

 stant watchfulness and care are re- 

 quired, the exact condition of each 

 colony constantly kept in mind, and 

 the queen not allowed to slack up in 

 laying, for the chief factor is the 

 prolificness of the queen. Some 

 apiarists may say, that if we force 

 the powers of the queen too severe- 

 ly, we shall wear her out ere she 

 reaches what is ordinarily con- 

 sidered her prime. To this objec- 

 tion my answer is, the only use we 

 have for a queen is to keep up the 

 strength of the colony, and provide 

 for future increase, and if she lays 

 her complement of eggs in one 

 season, we get as much benefit 

 from her by the plan I describe, as 

 though she liad not been pushed as 

 hard, and had taken three years to 

 lay the same number of eggs. 



The use of this method of in- 

 creasing the number of colonies is 

 identical with that of using an 

 extractor to keep the comb emptied 

 as fast as it is filled, and prevents 

 natural swarms from issuing, by 

 giving empty comb for the queen 

 to fill ; the practical results are 

 nearly the same, save that with the 

 extractor we obtain no increase of 

 colonies, and sacrifice the enlarge- 

 ment of our apiary to the attempt 

 to obtain a large yield of surplus. 



I hope the method I have de- 

 scribed will be fully tried, and re- 

 ported upon, and also if any one 

 thinks he has a better, that he will 

 at once present it to the fraternity. 



Foxboro, May 16, 1883. 



A PHYSIOLOGICAL 

 ANOMALY. 



B\' A. J. Cook. 



The wings of the queen bee, like 

 those of all bees and most other 

 insects, are four in number ; two 

 anterior or primary, and two pos- 

 terior or secondary, which are 

 smaller than the anterior ones. 

 The anatomical structure of these 

 organs is likewise the same in all 

 insects. A set of double tubes, 

 one within the other, serve as a 

 framework on which is spread the 

 transparent part of the wing. The 

 inner tube carries the aerial food, 

 oxygen, and the outer one serves 

 as the blood conduit. All nour- 

 ishment, whether from the blood or 

 air tubes, reaches the membrane 

 by the slow process of absorption. 

 Here then, as with our own car- 

 tilages and outer skin, nutrition is 

 languid. 



The wings are moved by power- 

 ful muscles massed in rounded 

 form, very compactly, in the 

 thorax. These muscles are striated, 

 the same as are the voluntary mus- 

 cles of all higher animals, but they 

 are not surrounded b}^ fascia. 



We see then that the queen's or- 

 gans of flight are very similar, 

 structurally and functionally, to 

 the organs of higher animals. 

 Hence we should suppose that any 

 law that held among the latter 

 would be as strictly true of the 

 former. It is a generally recog- 

 nized truth, that any organ or 

 tissue is only strong as it is used. 

 Indolence means atrophy. He 



