AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



467 



Outside Indications that Bees 

 are Getting Honey. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent writes, "How can I 

 tell when my bees are gathering honey 

 without opening the hives ? When bees 

 are busy going and coming from the 

 hive, and we see no pollen on their pol- 

 len baskets, does it indicate that they 

 are getting honey ? Pleas"e answer 

 through the American Bee Journal, 

 as I am taking that paper, and like it 

 very much." 



Bees may be flying very briskly, and 

 yet not be securing any honey from the 

 fields. When young bees come out for 

 the first time to take an airing, a casual 

 observer might think they were at work 

 very busily, while the truth would be 

 that they were doing nothing but play. 



These young bees have deceived very 

 many in times of scarcity of honey, in 

 being taken for robbers, for in actions 

 they behave very much as robbers do in 

 heading toward the hive and circling 

 away from it, and also in being full to 

 look at. I have often watched them, 

 asking myself the question, "How can 

 they be distinguished from robbers by 

 the inexperienced ?" and must say that 

 only in looks do they appear differently, 

 they being light colored and covered with 

 down, while robber-bees are generally 

 old, dark-colored bees with the down 

 scraped off. The actions of the two are 

 very similar. 



Again, in the summer season, when a 

 large quantity of brood is being reared, 

 I have often thought that the bees were 

 getting honey quite rapidly, immediately 

 after a long-continued rain, and won- 

 dered at it ; but an examination showed 

 that they were loaded only with water, 

 which is required in large quantities 

 when brood-rearing is going on rapidly. 



Once more : Bees often fly briskly 

 when neither honey nor pollen is being 



gathered, especially in the spring of the 

 year. At this season they will fly out 

 every pleasant day, marking their loca- 

 tion, etc., and getting ready for the 

 time when there is something which can 

 be gathered. Bees which are securing 

 honey do not fly as easily on their re- 

 turn as do bees when not at work, but 

 come down on the alighting-board with 

 a kind of dropping motion that at once 

 shows that the bee has a load of some- 

 thing. Then the sound of the wings is 

 different, for the motion is slower, and 

 gives only a tired hum, instead of a 

 sharp sound, as is given by angry bees. 



In times of basswood, when there is a 

 large yield, the bees will start out in 

 early morning, and come home loaded 

 so heavy that they will fall short of the 

 hive several feet, and often fall all 

 around in the grass and on top of the 

 hives, being unable to rise for sometime. 

 As the day advances they do not show 

 this so much ; but as night comes on, 

 they begin to fall as before, some even 

 staying out over night, darkness over- 

 taking them before they reach home. 

 In such times as this it is easy for any- 

 one to tell that the bees are getting 

 honey. 



In times of clover and other flowers, 

 when the yield is not so great, if you 

 will get your eye on a level with the 

 alighting-board, it is quite easy to de- 

 tect a loaded bee, even though the load 

 may be light, from one that has no load. 

 Such loaded bees hold the abdomen 

 lower down than bees with no load, so 

 that the abdomen strikes the board as 

 soon as the feet do, while with a heavy 

 load it strikes first, often causing the 

 bee to bound up, as it were, and some- 

 times tumble over entirely. Many an 

 hour have I watched the bees in this 

 way, to see what could be told from out- 

 side appearances. 



But so far I have given nothing defi- 

 nite, only as the increase of honey in 

 the hive kept pace with the signs from 

 without, which point to the above being 

 right. How did I tell for certain that 

 these outside appearances were correct ? 

 Well, if you will catch a bee and dissect 

 it, you can know for a certainty what it 

 has in its honey-stomach, and this is the 

 way I tell, if I am not sure I am right 

 from outside appearances. 



As the bee drops on the alighting- 

 board, with a quick motion put the 

 finger on the thorax, bearing down until 

 the thorax gives way, which will kill the 

 bee at once, and do it quicker than any 

 other way I have seen tried — even 

 quicker than the "painless death," as 



