308 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 18. 1899. 



center of which is at the apex of the head, with its con- 

 vexity uppermost, otherwise this bee is not at all peculiar. 

 The hive from which this bee came produced several of the 

 same kind. While this peculiarity is much more rare than 

 the one referred to above, I have found several cases on 

 record. It is probably a variation produced by something- 

 abnormal in the environment of the bees of this hive. 



Los Ang^eles Co., Calif., May 2. 



The Ang-er of Bees— Their Bravery. 



BY C. P. D.^DAST. 



THAT courage is not measured by size, is plainly proven 

 by the bee. We have no cause to be astonisht that 

 lions, tigers, bears, or other large animals have the 

 courage to defend their life or to attack others ; the idea of 

 valor calls before our mind's eyes the ponderous knights in 

 steel armor, and the feats of Hercules and Samson ; but 

 that a small insect that is hardly half an inch long, and 

 weighs but a few grains, should not only fight other insects 

 larger than itself, but should even attack any being by 

 whom it or its home maj' be threatened, whether the aggres- 

 sor be bear, lion or man, and that it should usually win in 

 the fight, is indeed wonderful. Without taking into account 

 the number of its enemies, without considering its own 

 feeble strength, it defends to the last its home and its 

 stores, even at the sacrifice of its own life, since the loss of 

 its sting is usually the cause of its death. 



It is true the bees are united ; Virgil says. " Mens omni- 

 bus una est " — the spirit of all is one ; all would rather die 

 than not conquer, when the fight is once beg-un. Among 

 these Amazons there is no such thing- as moderation or re- 

 straint when the battle is on, and their ardor degenerates 

 into fury. Not only must they win or die, but they persist 

 in following their aggressor far from the battle-field. King 

 David finds no better way to describe the obstinacy of his 

 enemies than to say, "Theycompast me about like bees." 



Brave men who have faced dangers of all sorts, as sol- 

 diers in battle, as firemen in dangerous conflagrations, 

 have no courage before a colony of angry bees ; and Delia 

 Rocca, in his treatise on bees (1790), gives two instances 

 where bees were employed to defeat an armj'. 



When a bee's suspicion is aroused, and she takes wing 

 to ascertain whether the enemy is about her home, her 

 flight assumes a special sound. Her buzzing is sharp, 

 quick, and very different from the noise made by a peace- 

 able worker returning from the field. This sound serves 

 as a call, a special warning to the sisters at home. It cer- 

 tainly attracts the others, and informs them as plainly as 

 a speech, that some danger is feared. You may move away 

 ever so cautiously, if a single bee has followed you, there 

 are ten chances to one that her ang-ry buzzing- will attract 

 others from the same hive, unless you can manage to put a 

 safe distance between )'ou and the place of strife. 



Slight jars, quick motions in front of the hives, and all 

 unusual actions about the apiary are liable to anger bees. I 

 have known the bees of a dozen hives to rush out ready to 

 fight, from the passage of a heavy traction steam-engine 

 close to the apiary, which jarred the ground in its passage. 

 Yet the bees in close proximity to railroad tracks become 

 used to the passage of trains. 



They are more intractable at times during atmospheric 

 disturbances, and their ill-nature is often a sign of an ap- 

 proaching storm. They have great dislike of clothes made 

 from the covering of animals, while clothing made of veg- 

 etable fiber is less objectionable to them. For the same 

 reason a brush made of asparagus tops, or of hemp, jute, or a 

 whisk-broom, is better to brush them off the combs than 

 either a hair brush or a feather broom, which they will sting 

 with persistency. There is nothing extraordinary about 

 this. They are accustomed to seek their living among 

 plants, and to be in constant contact with all forms of 

 vegetable life among the grasses, in the cah-x of flowers, 

 and about the leaves of the trees, while, on the other hand, 

 all animal life is by them naturally regarded as a danger. 



They naturally and instinctively hate the woolly fur of 

 the bear, and all that has a resemblance to it. Thus, woolen 

 clothes are obviou.slj' dangerous to wear, and the more 

 woolly thej' are the worse is the effect. They dislike black, 

 either because black is not a natural color among field- 

 plants, or because it also resembles animals. They will 

 sting a felt hat unmercifully. But Debeauvoys. in his book, 

 says that a white felt hat is as readilly attackt as a black 

 one. They seeem to know the weak spots in their enemies. 



for they aim at the eyes, the ears, the nose, and the mouth, 

 besides burying themselves in the hair with frenzy. 



Nothing angers them more than fighting- them, and for 

 that reason persons who are much afraid of bees are in 

 greater danger of being' stung than those who have no fear, 

 for they gesticulate and strike at them the moment they 

 hear their buzz, and a bee that might pass harmlessly is 

 apt to mistrust that something is wrong in the intentions 

 of the person who so unwiselj' attracts her attention. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



Some Interesting- Notes and Comments. 



BY EDWIX EEVINS. 



SPELLING Reform. — Now and then somebody kicks 

 about the American Bee Journal's spelling reform. 

 What's the use ? If any of us are too old to learn new 

 tricks, the editor says we don't have to. Just look here ! 

 Almost every one sees, or is liable to see, packages labeled, 

 " Buckeye Rolled Oats." What a waste of time and ink is 

 here. O mv countrymen 1 Why is not this label printed, 

 "Buki Roid Ots"?" " 



Bee-Supply Combin.aTion. — There is a little matter of 

 interest to honey-producers that needs a little airing. It is 

 charged, or at least broadly insinuated, by very respectable 

 authority, that northern supply manufacturers have com- 

 bined to keep up the prices of supplies. I know nothing of 

 the truth or falsity of this charge, but it does look as if 

 there may be something- wrong when the price of so inex- 

 pensive a thing- to make as B. Taylor's comb-leveler is held 

 at one dollar. 



HdFFMAN Fr.vmes. — I am with Mr. Davenport in mv 

 liking for Hoffman frames for all hives not deeper than the 

 standard. True, thej' get stuck up with propolis sometimes, 

 but even then I can handle them in less time than I can 

 handle the loose, hanging frames. As Mr. Davenport has 

 given a means of overcoming the inequalities of spacing 

 the Hoffman frames at the bottom. I shall like them better 

 than ever. I have never had much trouble on account of 

 these inequalities, but have sometimes thought that the 

 manufacturers might have done a little better job. I never 

 liked any spacer for the bottoms of the frames that reaches 

 across the hives and comes in contact with the bottom- 

 boards. Nor do I like nails or staples driven into the edges 

 of the end-bars. Some sort of spacer, however, is necessary 

 in hives deeper than the standard, and I have tried hard to- 

 think of one less objectionable than any I have yet tried. I 

 will throw out a few suggestions, and ask the Roots, or 

 some other manufacturer, to work them out to a practical 

 result. It seems to me that a metal spacer might be made 

 to reach across, and be permanently attacht, to the ends of 

 the hives just above their inside bottom edges, with pro- 

 jections pointing inward and reaching far enough to em- 

 brace the end-bars of the frames. Of course, end-bars would 

 have to be of uniform width, and perhaps a little narrower 

 than many in common use. 



I have a sneaking fear that the kind of spacer I have 

 here sugg-ested will be reg-arded as impracticable, but I will 

 continue to hope that something may come of it. It seems 

 as if an attachment with curved upper edges to guide the 

 frames into the spaces intended for them, and so slight as 

 not to admit of the accumulation of much propolis, may 

 have to be a feature of the spacer. 



End-Spaced Frames. — I took occasion once to write 

 something in derogation of frames that have to be spaced 

 at the ends. I wish now to modify what I said then, and 

 to say that I have no disposition to hurt their inventor. 

 You see, it was this way : That season I thought I would 

 use the thick-top hanging- frames, and somebody .sent me a 

 lot with the shortened top-bars. Of course. I had to use 

 staples or send the frames back, and I resolved to try them. 

 When these frames wei-e put in a hive they would not stay 

 anywhere in particular if the hive was jarred the least bit, 

 but rattled around in a most exasperating way. The Hoff- 

 manized bob-tailed frame is a very good frame to use. 



Taking an Inventory — Wintering.— It is now April, 

 and bees are flying a little for the first time in many days. 

 The atmosphere is chilly, the frost is not yet out of the 

 ground, the late snows are melting, and the country is one 

 vast sea of mud. In view of the disagreeable weather con- 

 ditions at this stage of spring, it may be a good thing for 



