I20 Notes and Gleanings. 



some severe cold snap that may not come at all, is a question that will be an- 

 swered variously by various men ; depending, of course, somewhat upon the 

 facilities each one has for doing the work when the season comes. We cannot 

 frc-m our limited knowledge of the facts, decide this part of the question. 



Respectfully submitted. John M. Pearson,^ 



D. E. Brown, > Commiliee. 



W. C. Flagg, ) 



J. Huggins. Chairman of the Committee on Entomology, presented the honey- 

 bee and the following : — 



Your Committee on Entomology find before them three specimens of the 

 honey-bee ; to wit, the queen, the drone, and the worker. 



Every swarm of bees is composed of three classes ; viz., a queen, drones, and 

 workers. 



The queen is the mother of the entire increase of every family of bees, and is 

 longer than either drones or workers, and larger than the worker, but not so 

 large as the drone. The worker-bees are the smallest of the family. They con- 

 struct the cells, and are the laborers of the family. They gather the honey, and 

 upon their labor and skill depends the prosperity of the colony. The drones are 

 the largest bees of the family, being twice the size of the workers. They have no 

 sting, and may be handled with perfect impunity. They collect no honey, and 

 are never seen to alight on any flowers, or doing any thing to aid the prosperity 

 of the colony. To one not acquainted with the natural history of the honey-bee, 

 these lazy drones appear perfectly useless ; but, should they be banished from our 

 hives, depopulation would speedily follow. 



Mr. William E. Smith presented the following Report on Ornithology : — 



Mr. President, — Your committee would respectfully report that the prevail- 

 ing opinions with reference to birds are conflicting, and appear to be peculiarly 

 suggestive on several important points connected with horticulture. 



The present season will long be remembered for the excessively long-con- 

 tinued drought, the effects of which have been clearly distinct. A question arose 

 with your committee, in the impression on tree, plant, vine, and fruit, whether 

 the drought has not driven away a large number of birds before the usual time 

 of departure. Our individual experience is, that birds in general have been very 

 scarce this season ; but the experience of the members seems to warrant the 

 assertion, that birds have never been so plenty. 



So far as your committee can learn, the swallows left their summer haunts as 

 early as the 20th of August, orioles Sept. 10, blue-birds Sept. 26, the blue-jays 

 Sept. 15, the catbirds Sept. 20; while a few birds still remain — jays, catbirds, and 

 robins — to take the later peaches, grapes, and pears. Further particulars on 

 the time of departure of our various birds will be gratefully received by ;. mr 

 committee. 



The depredations of birds on the peach and grape have been severe ; some 

 estimating the daily injury as high as fifteen dollars a day. As usujl, the oriole 

 has been the greatest pest, preying chiefly on the UelawAre and Concord. In 

 every locality where fruit has been in near proximity to woods, there has been 



