346 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Nov. £, 



We see, then, that secretions from 

 these glands may be poured into the 

 tube ot the central rod, or into the tu- 

 bular sheath. The tubular rod opens 

 at the tip of theligula (/in ^4), but the 

 tubular sheath is imperforate except 

 at its base, where it joins the tube of 

 the mentum, and so has connection 

 with the duct of the glands, with the 

 cesophagus, the mouth and the tube of 

 the central rod. 



When the mouth-organs are not in 

 use, the tip of the ligula, fin A, ex- 

 tends only to the tip of the labial palpi, 

 K, K in A, and all the parts, t, K, A", 

 and mx, mx in A, are doubled back 

 under the head. By the action of sev- 

 eral pairs of muscles, variously at- 

 tached to these parts and to the head, 

 these parts are straightened, prepara- 

 tory to use ; then by the injection of 

 liquid into the tubular sheath, the lig- 

 ula is fully protruded. By holding a 

 bee between the fingers (a bumble bee 

 is the best), we can see the tongue vary 

 in size as it is protruded or retracted 

 as we offer it sweets. Of course, a 

 good lens is necessary in this demon- 

 stration. 



The source of the liquid that extends 

 the tonge is, I think, that which comes 

 from the glands already mentioned. 

 It we take a dead bee that is not rigid, 

 and whose sucking-stomach is full of 

 honey, and press on the abdomen, the 

 nectar will come forth from the mouth- 



Glands and 1'ube, 



Diagram reduced from American Naturalist. 



©pening, and not from the end of the 

 ligula. The sheath does not expand, 

 and of course the ligula is not pushed 

 out. But if we press on the mentum, 

 either when the stomach is empty or 

 when it is full, then the sheath is dis- 

 tended, and the tongue is pushed out. 

 In thus pressing the mentum of a 

 bumble bee till the sheath was burst 

 open, I have found that the liquid that 

 came forth was often entirely without 

 sweet taste. Therefore, unless it came 

 from the salivary glands, it must have 

 come from the glandsdescribed above. 

 It is hardly supposable that the mu- 

 cous from the tube would be suflicient. 

 Again, it is just as necessary for the 

 tongue to be thrust out — yes, and more 

 necessary— when the sucking-stomach 

 is empty, as when it is full. But if 

 nectar from the stomach is what is 

 used, how would the bee extend the 

 tongue when the sucking-stomach was 

 empty ? The enlarged ducts from the 

 glands would, on ttie other hand, al- 

 ways have the material ready to effect 

 this important purpose. 



It has been suggested that the secre- 

 tion from these glands is used to 

 change the nectar into honey, or in 

 case the bees are fed cane sugar, to 

 change a part of the cane sugar to 

 grape sugar. That such a change is 

 Drought about is certain, but it is done 

 in the stomach, and if the secretions 



referred to perform this function, they 

 must be carried down with the honey. 

 Thus, they would perform two func- 

 tions, one a physical and the other a 

 chemical. This is thought to be true 

 of our own saliva, by many physiolo- 

 gists. It certainly aids in comminut- 

 ing the food, and many think that it 

 aids in transforming the starch of the 

 food into grape sugar. 

 Lansing, Mich., Aug. 18, 1881. 



Kor the American Bee Journal. 



How I Winter Bees Successfully. 



G. W. ZIMMERMAN. 



After 29 years' experience with the 

 movable comb bee-hive, my success 

 has depended on judgment as regards 

 the winter, whether mild or severely 

 cold for a long time, and the condition 

 I find my bees in. First, how to 

 prepare them for winter, and the treat- 

 ment thereafter. There has been so 

 much written on this point, I will only 

 say see that each colony hits 20 to 25 

 pounds of honey in September— 

 whether gathered early or late makes 

 no difference, so it is ripe, with proper 

 winter passages through the combs. 

 I regard it as essential, when the bees 

 are having their last flights in the fall, 

 to remove the cloth or honey board 

 and place two sticks across the frames, 

 then a piece of coffee sacking single 

 or double : lay thereon two very dry 

 bricks, not too hard burned ; now 1 

 use clover-chaff, sawdust, line straw 

 and forest leaves well mixed together, 

 with which I cover the sacking and 

 brick 4 inches deep. This will absorb 

 all the moisture arising from the bees. 

 Thus treated, we will hear no more 

 about taking out the top packing, dry- 

 ing it, and putting it back again. The 

 above preparation will do for in or 

 out-door wintering. 



I have tried the following experi- 

 ment several times, with success in 

 in saving my bees : A few years ago 

 the bees were nearly all dying off with 

 dysentery in this neighborhood. I ex- 

 amined my G5 colonies in the house, 

 and found nearly all uneasy, very wet, 

 and bodies distended. I procured a 

 stove, set it up in the house, and re- 

 moved the top cloth and front block, 

 and heated the room quite warm. All 

 the bees that were affected with dys- 

 entery came out all over the hives. I 

 done this twice, from evening till mid- 

 night, keeping it dark ; they all dried 

 off, and clustered quietly back in their 

 hives again. They had discharged 

 their feces, coming out and going back. 

 The result was, I saved all but two 

 queens. I will practice this again if 

 any become uneasy, and give the re- 

 sult in the spring. 



Napoleon, O., October 8, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Honey Report for 1881. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



By turning to page 217 of the Bee 

 Journal for 1881, the reader will lind 

 that my bees were united down to 30 

 colonies, to get them in shape so 1 

 could reasonably expect a profit from 

 them ; and how it was so wet and cold 

 up to the 27th of June that the bees 

 could do but little on white clover, as 

 weil as a full report of my apiary up 

 to that time. 



On June 29th the weather became 

 favorable, and the bees went to work 

 in earnest on the remaining clover so 

 as to store a little surplus. Basswood 

 bloom opened July 8, and I expected 

 to see a "rush" made for it by the 

 bees, as usual ; but to my disappoint- 

 ment, there seemed to be but little 

 honey in it, and when the end came 

 my hopes were nearly blasted, for I 

 had taken scarcely a box of honey up 

 to this time. Basswood is generally 

 my main dependence for a honey crop, 

 but this season proved that nearly a 

 failure from it may be expected one 

 year in eight or ten. However, the 

 bees were in the best possible condi- 

 tion to take advantage of it, so I could 

 not blame myself for not having done 

 my part well. 



Red clover has not blossomed with 

 us for several years past, on account 

 of a worm working in the head, and I 

 was quite a little surprised, along the 

 latter part of basswood, to see fields of 

 the large kind growing red with blos- 

 soms. As the fields became redder, I 

 hoped the bees might yet store some 

 from this source, but did not expect 

 such a yield as was finally obtained. 

 Teasel was also now in full bloom, and 

 the few acres that were within the 

 range of my bees' flight commenced 

 to yield abundantly. The combs in 

 the boxes commenced to grow as if by 

 magic, and the bees poured out for the 

 clover and teasel fields in about equal 

 proportions, working from early morn 

 till late at night. Thus 10 days were 

 passed, when the yield gradually drew 

 to a close, terminating about the first 

 of August. Acres of buckwheat soon 

 began to be white, but day after day 

 passed and no yield from that source. 

 Thus the season for 1881 was ended. 

 Four years have now passed since 

 bees in this locality have stored a sur- 

 plus from buckwheat, so that with me 

 a honey yield is the exception rather 

 than the rule. 



Asa result of my season's work I 

 have to report : comb honey. 3,31 7 lbs,. 

 and 718 of extracted, giving a total of 

 4.035 lbs., or 134J£ lbs. to the colony 

 foranaverage. The30 were increased 

 to SO, which are in good condition for 

 winter. When spring opened I only 

 had one really good colony, and this I 

 concluded to work for ex traded honey. 

 I will give the result, so the reader 

 may know the amount of honey gath- 

 ered from the different sources : Wil- 

 low, 5*4 lbs.; apple, 19^( lbs.; white 

 clover, 58J4 lbs., basswood, 97 lbs.; 

 red clover and teasel, 232 lbs.; making 

 a total of 412 lbs. I have also reared 

 and sent out 83 tested queens the past 

 season, which, of course, quite mate- 

 rially lessened the yield of honey. 



I worked an apiary of 15 colonies 

 away from home, and from this I ob- 

 tained 874 lbs. of box honey, and 1,400 

 lbs. of extracted, giving a total of 

 2,274 lbs., or 151% lbs. per colony. 



Nine years ago I commenced to keep 

 a correct account with the apiary, 

 and I find, by looking over said ac- 

 count, that the average yield of honey 

 per colony for the last 9 years foots 

 up 92 pounds for each year. Thus, if 

 a man keeps 100 colonies of bees, he 

 will have 9.200 lbs. of honey for his 

 yearly income, worth at least 15 cents 

 per pound, giving a cash income of 

 $1,380. Who will say bee-keeping 

 does not pay as well as any other pur- 

 suit in life V 



One result of the past season has 

 pleased me very much, which is that 

 nearly all our colonies of bees gave 

 about an equal result. I have been 

 breeding for years to see if I could not 

 get all colonies to come up to the stand- 

 ard of the best, and not have one col- 

 ony give a large yield and another 

 nothing. When we. as apiarists of 

 America, can so perfect our bees that 

 all colonies shall give as good results 

 as have been obtained by the best in 

 the past, then there will be no need of 

 further importation of bees, for Apis 

 Americana will be the best bee in the 

 world. 



Borodino, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1881. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



District Meeting in Indiana. — The 



Indiana Farmer gives the following 

 notice : 



As will be seen by the notice given 

 last week, Mr. Charles Schofield, Vice 

 President of the State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association for this district, has called 

 a meeting of the bee-keepers of Marion 

 and adjoining counties, to meet on 

 Saturday, Nov. 5, for the purpose of 

 organizing a local Bee-Keepers' So- 

 ciety. There is quite a large number 

 of bee-keepers within the territory 



embraced in the call, and there is no 

 reason why we should not have a good, 

 strong local association. There is no 

 question as to the benefit to be derived 

 by societies of this kind, and we hope 

 there will be interest enough shown to 

 make the meeting a success. 



A Fierce Combat.— The Louisville 

 Home Journal of last week tells the 

 following little story concerning the 

 fighting qualities of the Cyprian bees : 



A devotee of apiculture within hear- 

 ing of the bells of Eminence, Ky., pro- 

 cured a colony of Cyprians, of which 

 he was very proud. But one day his 

 pets became excited, and made a vig- 

 orous attack upon their master. Re- 

 treating to the house, he put on his 

 veil and gloves, tied strings around 

 the ankles of his pants, and went out 

 with smoker, etc., determined to tame 

 them. He forgot, however, a small 

 hole in the crown of his hat, and in an 

 unmentionable part of his pants, of 

 which, after the regulation amount of 

 smoking, about 20 vigorous bees in the 

 hat, and as many in the pantaloons, 

 reminded him most forcibly. The bee 

 master retreated, still fighting for 

 mastery. The battle lasted all day. 

 The master was forced to run over 

 into another county. Every hand on 

 the place was routed ; the horses and 

 cattle were stampeded ; dogs and cats 

 were driven into the brush ; the poul- 

 try came next, and bolted for the 

 woods; sitting hens and ducks were 

 driven from their nests, and night at 

 last put an end to the conflict. The 

 bee master did not attend the Bee 

 Convention last week, but there is no 

 need to ask why. 



Hood Blood Tells.— The Cincinnati 

 O range Bulletin, very aptly puts it 

 thus : 



It is needless to recommend to the 

 bee-keeper who gets the best blood in 

 his barn, to also keep good blood in 

 his hives. Blood pays in all cases, and 

 if our farm would flow witli " milk and 

 honey," we must adopt the best breeds 

 and best appliances. The prime ob- 

 ject in making a bee farm, is to pro- 

 vide pasturage at a time when the bees 

 do not get honey from what is termed, 

 -l natural sources." The first thing 

 our bees want in spring is pollen, and 

 we can imagine with what admiration 

 the first pollen-ladened bee is greeted 

 as it enters the hive. 



As we have so often asserted, " best 

 bees " and " best pasturage " are the 

 " winning cards." We are glad to see 

 our position on them so generally en- 

 dorsed. 



Bee Pasturage.— 0«r Home and Sci- 

 ence Gossip records itself as follows : 



Among our valuable bee-exchanges, 

 we include the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, Chicago, 111., an eight-page 

 weekly, which is the largest paper we 

 receive devoted exclusively to bee- 

 culture. In the number for Sept. 28, 

 Dr. Tinker speaks very highly of what 

 he terms the " golden honey plant," 

 and claims for it the prestige of 

 eclipsing all the August and Septem- 



■lip 

 sr r 



ber noney-producing plants, while Mr. 

 T. G. Newman, the editor of this val- 

 uable paper, says " every bee-keeper 

 should lend encouragement to the de- 

 veloping of new honey plants, as some- 

 times the more popular varieties are 

 not suited to all climates and soils." 

 We deem this very sensible advice, 

 and hope all our bee-keeping readers 

 will take pains to heed it. 



(^ The Marshall County Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will meet at Marshall- 

 town, Iowa, Saturday, Nov. 5, 1881, at 

 1 p. m., in Judge Bradley's rooms, 

 Woodberry Block. Subject for dis- 

 cussion, Wintering. 



J. W. Sanders. 



Le Grand, Iowa, Oct. 25, 1881. 



