DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 23, 1881. 



No. 8. 



MS SI ydSflffiQ tifr M Mi 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



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Sting of the Honey Bee. 



Before we import the stingless bees, 

 or the great bee of Java, Apis dorsata, 

 with its immense stinging power, let us 

 consider the sting of the bees we now 

 have, as set forth in the following arti- 

 cle by Mr. Bledsoe, of Natches, Miss. : 



The bee sting, in the first place, is not 

 a perfect tube, nor does it work with a 

 telescope motion, strictly speaking. It 



^ 



Bee Sting magnified, showing the barbs. 



is a complex instrument, being com- 

 posed of three distinct parts, of which 

 the sheath forms one. These three parts 

 join near the edges, and form a tube 

 which, viewed sectionally, has the shape 

 of a triangle, the angles being rounded 



The sheath near its point is narrow, 

 but grows wider towards its base, where 

 it gradually embraces the remaining 

 parts, thereby keeping them in place in 

 their working. Near each edge of the 

 inner or hollow side of the sheath, runs 

 a ridge which fits a corresponding groove 

 in each of the other parts. Near its 

 point, which is rounded rather bluntly, 

 it is armed with two feeble sets of barbs, 

 numbering as many as four in each set. 



the sheath, and along which the parts 

 move freely. Each of these parts proper 

 tapers down to an exceedingly fine point. 

 Near the point begin the barbs, which 

 in some stings number as many as ten, 

 extending along the sting nearly one- 

 half its length, and are well-defined. 



The parts are of a horny consistency, 

 of a deep red color, and transparent, 

 they are also hollow along the greater 

 portion of their length, intended per- 



THE STING OF THE HONEY BEE, 



VERY HIGHLY MAGNIFIED. 



The whole Bee Sting, magnified. Point of Sting, higU-n maanifltd. Point of Sting, showing barbs. 



The base of the sheath orsting is large, 

 being broad and somewhat flattened, 

 with an oblong hollow, which consti- 

 tutes a receptacle for the poison just 

 previous to injection in the wound. 



The other two parts constitute the 

 sting proper, and in a sectional view are 

 semi-circular, the upper edges being 

 thicker than the lower ones, and squared 

 to each other, one of the edges having 

 a projection extending along the under 

 or inner portion of it, thereby forming 

 a rabbet along which the opposite part 

 freely moves. The under or inner edge 

 of each of these parts tapers down to 

 extreme thinness, while near the ter- 

 mination of the edge there runs a mi- 

 nute groove which corresponds with the 

 ridge mentioned in the description of 



haps to combine lightness and strength. 



The two chief parts at the base of the 

 sting gradually assume a nearly round 

 and tubular form, each terminating be- 

 yond the base of the sting within the 

 body of the bee, and has an arm at- 

 tached to it at right angles which forms 

 a part of the muscular mechanism by 

 which their movement is effected. 



Also, to each of the chief parts, and 

 located in the cavity formed at the base 

 of the sheath, is attached a plano-con- 

 vex valve, the convexity of which is 

 adapted to the inner side of this recep- 

 tacle, and they occupy about one-half 

 of the space therein. When the sting 

 is in action, each of the chief parts is 

 thrust out and withdrawn alternately ; 

 so that when working its way into a 



wound, the valves by their action force 

 out the poison which fills the cavity, and 

 which is received from a sac situated 



^3? 



Sectional View of a Bee Sting. 



apart from the base of the sting. The 

 poison readily passes along the tube 

 (which is a continuation of the cavity), 

 and finds its way into the wound with 

 great facility, owing to the peculiar for- 

 mation of the sting. 



It may often happen that one or both 

 of the chief parts of the sting are left 

 in the wound when the sheath is with- 

 drawn, but are rarely perceived on ac- 

 acount of their minuteness, the person 

 stung at the same time congratulating 

 himself at the same time that the sting 

 has been extracted. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Scrap of History on Importing Bees. 



C. J. ROBINSON. 



When the American Bee Journal 

 was first published in Philadelphia by 

 A. M. Spangler & Co., I commenced to 

 scan its 24 pages, but have not been a 

 constant reader ever since its first issue, 

 January, 1861. I have not seen a histor- 

 ical account of the introduction of the 

 Ligurian or Italian Alps Bees into this 

 country, published in the said Journal. 

 Statements by several writers have ap- 

 peared in different periodicals concern- 

 ing the first introduction of the Orien- 

 tal bees, but the several stories do not 

 agree as to date, incidents, nor as to who 

 was the first successful importer. A 

 correspondent of the New England 

 Homestead claimed that Mr. Cary, Cole- 

 raine, Mass., took charge of the first 

 Italian bees ever imported that were 

 made to live, and that "Mr. Parsons, of 

 Flushing, Long Island," was the impor- 

 ter, and gives the date of the first im- 

 portation in 1860. If the reader will re- 

 fer to the first numbers of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal he will learn from 

 Mr.P.J. Mahan's advertisement that he, 

 Mt. Mahan, was the first to land the Ital- 

 ian bees on the American continent in 

 September, 1859. Other parties who 

 imported bees advertised in the Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal at the same time, 

 but none of them disputed Mr. Mahan's 

 claim except Mr. Wm. Rose, of N. Y. 

 City, who contradicted a statement I 

 had made in an article in the Country 

 Gentleman, crediting Mr. H. with the 

 honor of being the first successful im- 

 porter of bees. In a subsequent com- 

 munication from Mr. Rose, published in 

 the Country Gentleman, he admitted 

 that he was not aware that Mr. H. 

 brought over bees at the same time of 

 the Government importation of Italian 

 bees. Believing that many readers of 

 the American Bee Journal would 

 like to learn the history of the introduc- 

 tion of the so-called Italian bees into 

 this country, I will, providing ye editor 

 allows, briefly narrate the facts and cir- 

 cumstances of the earliest importations. 

 It was in 1*53 that the Alps bees were 



