234 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 27, 



harmony is secured. The same fact 

 leads to somewhat similar precaution- 

 ary measures in introducing queens. 



In going to any place, bees seem to 

 be guided by direction rather than 

 sight. Thus it we move a hive, but 

 for one or two feet, the bees will, for 

 days, descend to the old position, and 

 then turn abruptly to the hive. I 

 have been led to notice a strange ex- 

 ception to this ; by placing honey on 

 a porch of one or two houses that are 

 exactly alike, but about 5 rods apart, 

 many bees were misled and swarmed 

 about the purrh on which there was 

 no honey. The experiment was sev- 

 eral times repeated. 



Experience shows that bees will 

 winter quite as well with pure honey 

 or sugar syrup for food, as though 

 they had pollen with it. They may 

 be kept healthy at least for a time, in 

 confinement, in summer, on a pure 

 hydro-carbonaceous diet, and will se- 

 crete wax and make comb with the 

 usual activity. But pollen is a sine 

 aua rum to brood-rearing. Probably 

 it is also necessary for the old bees, at 

 times of great activity. Bees also 

 need water. Unless very active, this 

 want seems to be met by the water of 

 the honey ; but in shipping bees they 

 are now generally fed with candy or 

 crystallized sugar, and unless water is 

 added, they perish in a few days. 



Nectar, as gathered from the flow- 

 ers, contains much more water than 

 does the honey. The bees leave the 

 nectar, which is often nearly as thin 

 as water, some time before capping, 

 until the necessary evaporation has 

 transpired. Bee-keepers call this the 

 curing process. Some nectar is so 

 thick that it is capped very soon, 

 though frequently it remains for days, 

 and rarely is it of suoh a nature that 

 it does not thicken, and ttie bees re- 

 fuse to cap it at all. Such nectar, 

 usually from bark lice, etc., is un- 

 wholesome, and unfit food, even for 

 the bees. If thin nectar is extracted, 

 bee-keepers evaporate the moisture 

 from it by artificial heat, as it does 

 not preserve its quality unless rid of 

 the superfluous water. 



One of the most terrible disasters 

 that can befall the apiarist is to be- 

 come the victim of foul brood. In 

 this terrible disease a fungus attacks 

 the brood, which causes it to become 

 putrid and disgusting. It is very con- 

 tagious. The disease is common in 

 Europe, and has brought ruin and dis- 

 couragement to apiarists in several of 

 our own States. Spraying with sali- 

 cylic acid has been found an efficient 

 cure. 



The enemies of bees is certainly 

 a matter of much interest to all scien- 

 tists, and especially to zoologists. 

 Among mammals, shrews and mice 

 are often quite destructive to bees. 

 The kingbird, Tyrannus Carolinensis, 

 captures worker bees, although it is 

 partial to drones. Toads and frogs 

 seem to lap up bees with no inconsid- 

 erable relish, and often work quite 

 successfully to deplete the hives. 



Bees have many and formidable 

 foes among insects. In the order Ily- 

 menoptera, a species of Xylocopa, 

 probably A', micans. has been ob- 

 served to kill bees in North Carolina. 

 The cow killer, Mutilla coccinea. de- 

 stroys bees in the States from Central 

 Illinois to Texas. It has been reported 

 several times that ants are at times a 

 serious foe to the honey bee. It is 

 stated that they not only worry the 

 bees by invading the hive, but that 

 they sometimes kill both the queens 

 and workers. 



The only lepidoptcrous insect winch 

 annoys American apiarists is the bee- 

 moth, Galleria cereana. And even 



this is no dread to the intelligent 



apiarist. It is found that strong col- 

 onies of bees — and none others pay— 

 and especially if Italians, will always 

 defend themselves against this enemy. 

 It is only weak orqueenless colonies 

 that succumb to this foe. 



Among Diptera, Bombylius Jfeas- 

 canus, is reported to enter the hives, 



in Texas, without resistance and lavs 

 its eggs, where the prospective larva' 

 will be nourished and cared for, with- 

 out labor on the part of the mother 

 fly. The family Asilidie affords the 



most serious dipterous pests to the 

 apiarist. Of these there are at least 

 3 species of Asilus, 2 of Mallophora. 

 2 of Promachus, 2 of Laphria, and 2 

 of Erax, that catch and kill bees. 

 These predacious (lies work the most 

 serious mischief South, but are not 

 exempt from blame even as far North 

 as Ontario. A parasitic fly of the 

 family TachinicUe is destructive to 

 bees in several of the States. 



In importing bees, the bee louse, 

 Braula coeca, lias been introduced 

 from Europe ; but so far it promises 

 to do little harm in our country. 



Amongst Heteroptera, Phytnata 

 erosa is a dreaded foe of the honey 

 bee. From its close mimicry of the 

 flowers of many composite plants, in 

 which it is wont to hide, it finds it 

 easy to grasp the bees with its unique 

 anterior legs, when it soon sucks out 

 their life juices. Mantis corolina kills 

 bees from Central Illinois to the Gulf. 



Many of the Libellulidw, chief 

 among which is Anax Junius, are so 

 fierce in their onslaught on bees, that 

 they have been termed bee-hawks. 

 These marauders depredate in all sec- 

 tions of our country. 



I need not speak, at this time, of 

 the value of bees in fertilizing flow- 

 ers, as that has been ably discussed 

 by our botanical friends. That bees 

 ever injure buckwheat or other plants, 

 by seeking nectar from their bloom, 

 as is sometimes claimed, is known to 

 be erroneous by all present. That 

 they are equally harmless to grapes 

 and other soft-skinned fruits is not so 

 generally granted. Personally, I have 

 never seen a case, though I have sev- 

 eral times gone quite a distance to 

 see them at the request of positive 

 individuals. In each case the bees 

 were found never to attack sound 

 fruit, but only to sip from such as had 

 burst, or been torn by other insects or 

 by birds. While I am not positive 

 that bees are never guilty of such 

 wrong-doing, I do feel certain that 

 such actions if ever true, are quite 

 exceptional. I have lived in Califor- 

 nia in the midst of apiaries and vine- 

 yards, and I have yet to see the first 

 case of such depravity among bees. 



The 2 great improvements in api- 

 culture since the Langstroth hive, 

 and scientific knowledge gave the 

 apiarist such control over his bees, 

 are the extractor and comb founda- 

 tion, both of which are recent inven- 

 tions. In both cases the thought came 

 from Germans, but perfection in car- 

 rying it out is due to Yankee genius. 



The honey extracter works on the 

 principle of centrifugal force, and by 

 its use honey maybe thrown from the 

 combs before it is capped over, or af- 

 terward if the cappings be first re- 

 moved with a knife. By this practice 

 the comb is used over and over again, 

 and as a result, at least twice as much 

 honey can be secured. Experiment 

 proves that it takes at least 20 pounds 

 of honey to secure one of comb, be- 

 sides the time of secretion is lost, as 

 bees are usually quiet when employed 

 in secreting the wax-scales. 



Extracting is often very necessary 

 to furnish room for the queen, so that 

 she may lay eggs. In times of great 

 honey secretion, the workers so fill the 

 cells with honey that the queen finds 

 no place for her eggs, so brood-rearing 

 ceases, and as the workers live only 

 for a few weeks during the active sea- 

 son, depletion of the colony is rapid 

 and sometimes is carried to a fatal 

 extent. 



When bees cease gathering, from 

 lack of nectar secretion the queen 

 stops laying, and all brood-rearing 

 ceases. Nothing is found to pay the 

 apiarist so well as to feed sparingly, 

 whenever there is a cessation from 

 gathering honey, and so keep his col- 

 onies strong. The extracted honey 

 furnishes a cheap and excellent food 

 for this purpose. 



Comb foundation is made from pure 

 beeswax and is a perfect copy of honey 

 comb, as just commenced by the bees, 

 except that it is much thicker. When 

 given to the bees, they at once accept 

 it, thin it to the usual thickness of 

 natural comb, and use the parings to 

 complete the cells. This saves the time 

 and work of wax secretion and comb 



building, and secures straight combs, 

 and exclusive worker cells. 

 Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Poor Crop, Wooden Separators, etc. 



.IAMES HEDDON. 



A May drought put white clover 

 back so it lapped over on basswood ; 

 the latter yielded honey very mode- 

 rately, and for a short time only. We 

 could hardly tell when it commenced 

 and left off. I report the white honey 

 crop (which is usually about 2 : J of all) 

 as not over 1 3 of a crop here. We now 

 look forward to fall flowers. " Hope 

 on, hope ever;" "Man never is, but 

 always to be blessed." 



Messrs. Greiner Bros, say their bees 

 are just going for the side boxes and 

 almost neglecting the top ones, and 

 that this individual experience of 

 theirs is better argument than any 

 philosophy. Yes, it is to them ; but 

 Mr. Demaree says that he is " sorry 

 that Mr. Heddon asserts that bees will 

 attach the comb to wood separators, 

 because it indicates he writes about 

 some things about which he knows but 

 little." I had used wood separators, 

 and know of their being thrown aside 

 by others. It is my duty, as a stranger 

 to Mr. Demaree. to try to point out to 

 him that there is philosophy in sup- 

 posing that bees would not be as likely 

 to attach a comb to a substance that 

 was moist with condensation, so hard 

 that the bees could not move the first 

 particle of it when they wish to lay 

 the first scale of wax with which to 

 make a " brace," and a substance en- 

 tirely foreign to them in a natural 

 state, as they would to wood, which is 

 their time-honored housing. I ought 

 to try to show him that the main rea- 

 son why tin is objected to, is a good 

 reason why the bees will not be so 

 likely to attach bits of comb to it, to 

 leak and muss up our surplus when 

 removed. I ought to ask him if he 

 has not found out that even painting 

 a surface tends to prevent comb at- 

 tachments? To convince him, I am 

 too far off; his experience is close by, 

 and his reason still closer. 



Dowagiac, Mich., July 13, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Cleome as a Honey Producer. 



D. S. GRIMES. 



My hobby has always been trees, 

 fruits and flowers, but .3 years ago I 

 added bees. Although ignorant and 

 inexperienced in the business, I found 

 them an interesting subject of study, 

 and soon learned to love them on ac- 

 count of their intelligence, industry, 

 and the sweet stores of honey pro- 

 vided for our table, here in an altitude 

 high and dry. 



In reading the experiences of the 

 correspondents of the Bee Journal 

 I have learned much. Since I learned 

 to treat bees with gentleness and com- 

 mon-sense, my daily pilgrimage 

 through beds of flowers and blocks of 

 nursery stock, on tire double-quick, 

 driving a few angry bees around, has 

 ceased— we understand each other bet- 

 ter. I have learned, also, that when 

 bees find but little honey to gather, 

 ami are hungry, they are cross. 



Last year I had 40 colonies, but my 

 manipulations in dividing and winter- 

 ing destroyed half of them. I have 

 the 10, save one, again— strong and 

 healthy (thanks to the Bee Journal 

 and Mrs. Harrison)— now gathering 

 and storing large quantities of excel- 

 lent honey from cleome, the Rocky 

 Mountain bee plant. Were it not for 

 this valuable honey producing plant, 

 bees in Colorado would find poor pick- 

 ing from now on. As the bloom of 

 the raspberry, white clover, and wild 



flowers of the plains pass out of sea- 

 son or dry up, then this bee plant 

 commences to bloom, and continues 

 to grow and bloom until cut off by 

 frost. To the apiarist this plant 

 promises a valuable future, and should 

 be better known. The seed being al- 

 most as heavy as mustard seed the 

 wind will not blow it away, but it re- 

 mains where it is first sown, preferring 

 the road-side or waste places, where 

 the plow and hoe are not used. Bees 

 probably do better in the parks and 

 valleys of our mountains than around 

 Denver, on account of the large quan- 

 tity and variety of flowers found there. 



There is a plant growing all over 

 the Rocky Mountains, up to the snow- 

 line, the mountain people call it "kin- 

 icanick" (I do not know the botanical 

 name). This plant lias small, thick, 

 dark-green leaves, growing flat on the 

 ground, covering the earth like a green 

 carpet, producing a small white flower 

 in early spring, which continues in 

 bloom a long time. Prom this plant 

 bees find pasturage equal to white 

 clover. 



A boarding house keeper, on Bear 

 Creek Canyon, at an altitude of 10,000 

 feet, has a small apiary doing remark- 

 ably well. He has never had a case 

 of dysentery, or any other disease, 

 among his bees, and his honey is equal 

 to the best California. Success to the 

 Bee Journal. 



Denver, Col., July 16, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Stingless Bees of South America. 



(.'. A. H.VROKY. M. I). 



Dear Editor: In compliance with 

 my promise, I send you a description 

 and history of the stingless honey bee, 

 as seen by me in Mexico, from "notes 

 made by me while there. This bee, 

 slightly differing in size and color, is 

 found in the heart of the dense for- 

 ests of the middle and southern parts 

 of Mexico, and all the States of South 

 America. It hangs its hive or nest 

 upon branches of trees, like the Apis 

 dorsata is said to do in Java and the 

 islands of the far East. This nest is 

 composed of nearly the same mate- 

 rial as that of the large yellow hornet, 

 is pear-shaped in form, is from is 

 inches to 3 feet long, and from a foot 

 to 20 inches in diameter, is divided 

 into partitions, orportions, not unlike 

 an orange, with passages an inch wide 

 running from top to bottom, of very 

 thin material, like gray or brown 

 paper. 



There are one or more entrance 

 holes near the top, each protected by 

 a cap or portico from rains, with one 

 or two holes at or near the bottom for 

 exit ; these holes are about 1 > 4 inches 

 wide, and are large enough to permit 

 several bees to go in or out at once. 



The hive is suspended by 2 or 3 lig- 

 aments of strong fibrous material, 

 slightly elastic, permitting the gentle 

 balancing of the hive from the action 

 of the wind. The hive is thoroughly 

 water-proof on the outside, somewhat 

 rough, of a brown or grayish brown 

 color; on the inside it is smooth and 

 of a delicate yellow, and extremely 

 clean. The honey cells are elongated, 

 about l .i inch in diameter, rounded, 

 and slightly perpendicular, and about 

 1 inch long. The brood-cells are 

 slightly less in size— 'i of an inch 

 long and 3 s in diameter — they are 

 placed like gently rising steps, one 

 above the other," adhering to each 

 other by one side. Some of these 

 nests are very large and heavy; some 

 must have weighed ton pounds. 



The cells are situated always oppo- 

 site each other, that is, are attached 

 to opposite sidesof the divisions, with 

 inch holes here and there for free 

 passage. 



The workers are about J^ inch long, 

 of a yellowish color, strongly made, 

 black head, black crescent on the back, 

 with white bars in the corselet divis- 

 ionsjiave very long tonguesand strong 

 mandibles— their only defense— which 

 inflict severe bites when the bee is 

 angry. 



The queen is nearly an inch long, of 

 a bright-yellow color, brownish head 



