(?r(5 OLDEST BEE PAPER 

 -•'' IN AMERICA - 



VOL. XIX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 30, 1883. 



No. 22. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Bditob and Pboprietok, 



The New National Chemist. 



Prof. H. W. Wiley, of Purdue Uni- 

 versity, has resigned the chair of 

 chemistry there, to accept the position 

 of chemist in the National Agricul- 

 tural Bureau at Washington. Prof. 

 Collyer was removed by Commissioner 

 Loring, in order, it is alleged, that a 

 more intense sorghum sugar man 

 might be placed in charge of the 

 chemical laboratory. So says an ex- 

 change. 



He must remember that there are 

 other equally important interests re- 

 quiring the attention of the National 

 Chemist, and give these due credit, 

 as well as that of sorghum-sugar ! 



This Wiley is the one who invented 

 the " paraffine comb and glucose " 

 story, as a "scientific pleasantry," and, 

 with it, deceived Gov. Porter, of In- 

 diana, who, in his addresses before 

 the Farmers' Institutes held at Co- 

 lumbus and Crawfordsville, reiterated 

 the fraudulent fabrication, supposing, 

 of course, that he was backed up by 

 some authority, instead of being de- 

 ceived by a wily, cunning and crafty 

 unscientific joker, the sound of whose 

 very name is a suggestion. 



Webster thus defines the word 

 "wily:" "Full of wiles, tricks, or 

 stratagems ; using craft or stratagem 

 to accomplish a purpose ; mischiev- 

 ously artful ; subtle ; as, a wily adver- 

 sary." There was no need of adding 

 an "e" to that word ! 



Any one who could invent the lie 

 about " paraffine comb " being made 

 and " filled with glucose by appro- 

 priate machinery," and most likely 

 laugh in his sleeve at those, who. being 



deceived by it, were telling it as a sober 

 fact, and then enjoy the Joke for 

 months, without doing the least thing 

 to undeceive his dupes, is unworthy 

 the name of man — for he lacks both 

 manhood and integrity 1 Yet this 

 is he who is now National Chemist, in 

 charge of the National Chemical Lab- 

 oratory, and what for V An exchange 

 says it is because he is a " more in- 

 tense sorghum-sugar man " than his 

 predecessor. 



Is he so " intense " that he must 

 distort facts, manufacture a story, 

 and publish a lie about honey, in or- 

 der to serve his sorghum-sugar in- 

 terest ? Is this the key to his bold 

 attack on comb honey V 



Is he such an " intense sorghum- 

 sugar man " that it becomes neces- 

 sary to calumniate, by false reports, 

 that God-given and pure sweet — 

 honey — in order to make him the Na* 

 tional Chemist? If that is the meas- 

 ure of his " intense " ambition — 

 Heaven pity his poor contracted soul I 

 It matters not what station such an 

 one may occupy, all honorable men 

 vifill unite in execrating him. 



"Go ! mark him well ! 

 For him no minstrel rapture Bwell [ 

 High though his titles— proud his name- 

 Boundless his wealth, as wish mlghtclalm— 

 Despite those titles, power, and pelf ! 

 The wretch, concentered all in self. 

 LiTlng, shall forfeit fair renown: 

 And, doubly-dying, shall go down 

 To the vile dust from whence he sprung- 

 Unwept, unhonored, and unsung !" 



The Senses of Bees. 



Sir John Lubbock, whose very in- 

 teresting book we noticed in the Bee 

 Journal last fall, has recently read 

 to the members of the Linnean Society 

 an account of his further observations 

 on the habits of iusects made during 

 the past year. The two queen bees 

 which have lived with him since 1874, 

 and which are now, therefore, no less 

 than 8 years old, are still alive and laid 

 eggs last summer as usual. His oldest 

 workers are seven years old. The 



American Naturalist for April has the 

 following particulars : 



Dr. Muller, in a recent review, had 

 courteously criticised his experiments 

 on the color-sense of the bees ; but 

 Sir John Lubbock pointed out that he 

 had anticipated the objections sug- 

 gested by Dr. Muller, and had guarded 

 against the supposed .source of error. 

 The difference was, moreover, not one 

 of principle, nor does Dr. Muller 

 question the main conclusions arrived 

 at, or doubt the preference of bees for 

 blue, which, indeed, is strongly indi- 

 cated by his own observations on 

 flowers. 



Sir John also recorded some further 

 experiments with reference to the 

 power of hearing. Some bees were 

 trained to come to honey which was 

 placed on a musical box on the lawn 

 close to the window. The musical 

 box was kept going for several hours 

 a day for a fortnight. It was then 

 brought into the house and placed out 

 of sight, but at the open window, and 

 only about 7 yards from where it had 

 been before. The bees, however, did 

 not find the honey, though when it 

 was once shown them they came to it 

 readily enough. Other experiments 

 with a microphone were without re- 

 sults. 



Every one knows that bees when 

 swarming are popularly, and have 

 been ever since the time of Aristotle, 

 supposed to be influenced by clanging 

 kettles, etc. Experienced apiarists 

 are now disposed to doubt whether 

 the noise has really an effect ; but Sir 

 John suggests that even if it has (with 

 reference to which he expressed no 

 opinion), it is possible that what the 

 bees hear are not the loud, low sounds, 

 but the overtones at the verge of or 

 beyond our range of hearing. 



As regards the industry of wasps, 

 he timed a bee and wasj), tor each of 

 which he provided a store of honey, 

 and he found the wasp began earlier 

 in the morning(at4a. m ),and worked 

 on later in the day. He did not, how- 

 ever, quote this as proving greater 

 industry on the part of the wasp, as it 

 might be that they are less sensitive 

 to cold. Moreover, though the bee's 

 proboscis is admirably adapted to ex- 

 tract honey from tubular flowers, 

 when the honey is exposed, as in this 

 case, the wasp appears able to swallow 

 it more rapidly. This particular wasp 

 began work at four in the morning, 

 and went on without any rest or in- 

 termission till a quarter to eight in 

 the evening, during which time she 

 paid Sir John 116 visits. 



