1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAIU 



339 



which Is all right if kept clean. Iron tnaij do if once coated 

 with ivax and kept from riistlnrj. 



4. The wax must be allowed to cool as slowly as possible, 

 and must not be overboiled. 



5. If very clean beeswax is wanted, it should be rendered 

 till the water comes off clear. 



6. Damaged beeswax can only be returned by sun heat, 

 and must then be puriSed again. 



While we are on this subject we might as well give it a 

 thorough examination, and if any of the readers desire to 

 make further enquiries they will be welcome 



Hancock Co , 111. 



First Day of Spring Among Out-Apiaries. 



BT HARRY 8. HOWE. 



On the morning of March 15, Mr. W. L. Coggshall and 

 myself were discussing " bee-prospects " by the door of his 

 shop, when I remarkt: "The unusually early spring has 

 started the season for out-door work with the bees from two 

 to three weeks ahead in this locality." 



"Yes," said he; " and those south yards should be seen 

 soon." 



"But the bottom has droptout of the roads, almost." 



"That is so ; but there is no immediate prospects of their 

 being any better, so if you want to take Topsy and the old 



D. W. Heise. 



buggy, go ahead. You can see your own south yards, too, 

 while you are at it." 



"All right." 



Getting out a bee-veil I started over the worst possible 

 kind of roads — roads which are a disgrace to the boasted civi- 

 lization of the State of New York. 



Mr. Coggshall has no home yard, the nearest one being 

 about one-third of a mile from home. This one, however, had 

 been visited, so the first stop was at the Brown yard, seven 

 miles south and east. Here are 50 colonies all alive. 



The first work is to see that all of the hives that may 

 have become tilted during the winter are properly leveled up. 

 Next, the alighting-boards are put in place. This is very im- 

 portant at this time. There would be two or three times as 

 many dead bees in front of the hives where the boards had 

 got displaced as there would be In front of those having the 

 boards in place. One good way of fastening them in place is 

 to drive two staples in the entrance block and then hook two 

 more through them. These are then driven into the end of 

 the alighting-boards, the other end of which is allowed to rest 

 on the ground. 



The Brown yard is all in single-story Eclectic chaff hives, 

 with old style Hoffman closed-end frames. This yard has 

 given the smallest average loss since it was establisht of any 

 of the yards. 



The next yard south is Etna, where there are 60 colonies. 



smooth brick pave- 

 mud she had waded 

 is just west of the 



all alive. About half are in two-story chaff hives, the rest in 

 Coggshall's big packing boxes. 



The work of cleaning out the entrances with a crooked 

 wire, and then shutting them down to about 1}4 inches was 

 repeated. Each colony that did not clearly show its condition 

 from the entrance was lookt into and its condition noted. This 

 yard was rather shorter in stores than any of the rest. Many 

 of them had eaten the honey away from the top-bars, leaving 

 that below. They seemed to have more brood than was good 

 for them at this time of year. 



There is another of Mr. C.'s yards at Ellis, five miles south 

 yet, but it is over such a big hill, and the roads are so bad, 

 that it has to be skipt for the present. This can be done the 

 more safely, as they are all in packing boxes, and do not have 

 to have their entrances contracted. 



Turning to the west the Varna yard of 120 colonies, all 

 alive, comes next. This is the yard that the editor of Glean- 

 ings took such a fancy to, when he was out here last summer. 



Next in order is Forest Home, where all were alive a few 

 days ago, so no stop is made. 



Passing through Ithaca, the mile of 

 ment made Topsy forget the 18 miles of 

 through to get there. The Ithaca yard 



city, where there are 107 colonies, still all alive. On the way 

 back from this yard to Ithaca, where I put up for the night, 

 I found a few blossoms of trailing arbutus. 



The next two days see the same story repeated, with only 

 slight changes caused by local conditions at the different 

 yards, until 700 colonies with a loss of two is the record so 

 far. There are several hundred colonies yet to see before the 

 records are all in, but from the sample we can judge the 

 balance. 



" But the end is not yet." 



The bees have more brood and less honey than I ever re- 

 member to have seen on the first trip in spring. This leads 

 me to take rather a pessimistic view of the future. We can 

 winter bees all right, but to "spring" them — there is the rub. 

 It looks now as if we should have to feed to get through the 

 spring, at least in some of the yards. 



Usually we have the honey from the winter loss to brace 

 up the light ones. Those that go out from now on will not 

 have enough honey to do much good. 



If the weather should turn very cold in April we would be 

 almost sure to have a heavy spring loss. 



Tompkins Co., N. Y., March 20. 



[Accompanying Mr. Howe's article came this paragraph 

 by Mr. Coggshall himself, dated May 14: — Editor.] 



I have just finisht looking over the out-apiaries, and I find 

 7 per cent. dead. The balance are in fair condition. I expect 

 to lose 5 per cent, from old queens, as I do not requeen. When 

 I had only 300 or 400 colonies, and lookt after them alone, I 

 requeened every two years and dipt the queens. I do not 

 know but it would pay to put on extra help and requeen. 



W. L. Coggshall. 



^ 



Can Bees Hear ?— How Sound Affects Thera. 



BY F. C. KENYON, PH. D. 



On page 197, in the report of the meeting of the North- 

 western Bee-Keepers' Association, I note a question and a few 

 remarks on the subject of the hearing powers of bees. Any- 

 one who has handled bees and heard the different tones made 

 by their wings, the angry buzz, the calling buzz when one lifts 

 off the hive-cover, and noted the action of other bees must, it 

 would seem, come to the conclusion that in some way or other 

 they are affected by sound — and that is the essential part of 

 hearing. That they have no visible organs of hearing similar, 

 or rather like those found at the base of the abdomen of 

 locusts, or ou the legs of certain grasshoppers, is certainly 

 true, and that is doubtless what Mr. Bruner meant that he 

 had not been able to find. 



The fact is, however, that probably most, if not all, in- 

 sects hear ; that is, are affected by sound or air waves ; and as 

 in all animals the nervous system takes part in the hear- 

 ing. Various beetles make a squeaking noise by rubbing the 

 abdomen and thorax together. The cricket chirps by rubbing 

 its wings; some of the thousand-legged animals or millipedes 

 have certain modified legs the rasping of which one on the 

 other produces a noise. Some South African spiders have 

 jaws and palpi so modified that sounds can be produced. In 

 most of these cases the power of producing sounds appears to 

 have the effect of letting other insects know of the where- 

 abouts of the one making the sound. Even the mosquito ap- 

 parently hears, and an organ has been discovered in the lower 



