226 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 



lowing fall equaled in strength the 

 uninoculated colonies of the apiary. 



During the studies made in 1912, on 

 the disease occurring in nature, it 

 was found that each of the 19 colo- 

 nies of the apiary contained son 

 sema-infected bees at one time or 

 another. These colonies gained in 

 strength during the summer and con- 

 tained a smaller percentage of No- 

 sema-infected bees in the fall of the 

 year than in the spring. The per- 

 centage of colonies that died during 

 the winter 1912-1913 was less than 

 during the winter 1911-1912. Xosema 

 ion was present in the apiary in 

 1913, 1914 and 1915, but a relatively 

 fewer number of colonies died during 

 the latter years than in 1912. 



It is seen again that while some 

 colonies do die of Nosema-disease, by 

 far the greater number of infected 

 ones do not. The colony, therefore, 

 tends, in a general way, to recover 

 from the disease. In other words, in 

 the case of Nosema-disease the ten- 

 dency of the colony to recover from 

 the disorder is greater, as a rule, than 

 is the tendency of the disease to de- 

 stroy the colony. 



(Continued in August Number) 



The Senses of Bees 



By J. E. Grane 



DURING the summer of 1918, 

 while inspecting a yard of 

 bees, I incidentally asked the 

 proprietor if he knew where the bees 

 got the wax with which to build their 

 combs. Much to my surprise, I found 

 he had not the slightest idea as to 

 where the wax came from.. Later I 

 put the same question to another bee- 

 keeper, who was the proud possessor 

 of 100 colonies, and found him no 

 wiser. So I have been wondering if 

 our journals and writers are not tak- 

 ing more space in discussing hives, 

 tools and necessary manipulations to 

 secure the greatest profit, than in the 

 study of the bees themselves, which 

 are among the most interesting crea- 

 tures with which we have to do. 

 More space in proportion to its im- 

 portance. I mean. 



Suppose we think for a little time 

 "ii the senses of bees. Have we 

 stopped to think that bees have vari- 

 ous senses the same as ourselves, 

 and are guided by them the same as 

 we are? Hearing, seeing, tasting, 

 smelling, and the sense of touch or 

 feeling, and perhaps others. I have 

 placed hearing first, although there 

 are many who still doubt whether 

 bees can hear. 



The fact that bees make several 

 distinct sounds would indicate that 

 they arc made for a purpose. Those 

 with some experience recognize the 

 sharp, high key of an angry bee. "I 

 no like it when they go zing," said a 

 Frenchman who used to visit one of 

 our yards. .Neither do we like it, for 

 we feel instinctively that not only 

 the bee that makes the sound is 

 likely to sting, but others will be at- 

 tracted by the sound and sail in to 

 drive away the intruder. How many 

 times have we seen a swarm in the 

 air apparently in trouble? We find 

 the queen that has dropped to the 

 and place her where the bees 

 had begun to cluster, and, presto! 

 what a change! There is now a joy- 

 ful sound and the bees flock to the 

 spot where the queen was placed. 

 Almost alw ys, if a swarm has clus- 

 tered within r^ach, I take a pint or 

 more of bees and place at the en- 

 trance or inside the hive, that they 

 may first find the home they want 

 and call the swarm when shaken in 

 front of it. 



What wonderful eyes bees have! 

 Thousands of them covering a large 

 part of the head, and so arranged that 

 they can see in almost every direc- 

 tion at the same time. This is import- 

 ant, as they cannot turn their heads 

 as birds and animals can. How de- 

 sirable that they take in so large a 

 part of the landscape at once in their 

 search for flowers. Lacking the 

 power to change the focus of their 

 eyes, some of these compound eyes 

 may be adapted to seeing long dis- 

 tances, and others to near-by ob- 

 jects What an admirable arrange- 

 mi in ! 



While bees have a keen sense of 



Experimental apiary and garden of W. J. Sheppard, Nelson, Britis 

 Toledo. Ohio 



ih Columbi 



taste they can hardly be said to be 

 fastidious, for they gather many dif- 

 ferent kinds of honey; the mild-fla- 

 vored kinds as well as those that are 

 bitter or rank tasting. This is well, 

 for if they were willing to gather 

 only the choicest grades, they would 

 starve in many places, yet when they 

 can choose, they, as a rule, prefer the 

 finer, mild-flavored kinds. There are 

 well-marked differences in different 

 colonies, some working much better 

 on dark, ill-flavored honey than oth- 

 ers. Black bees, as a rule, will gather 

 much more of buckwheat honey than 

 Italians under the same conditions. 

 Some colonies take more readily to 

 gathering honeydew than others, 

 although it is within the reach of all. 



The sense of smell in bees is so 

 acute and wonderful that we can 

 hardly comprehend it ; their very ex- 

 istence depends upon it. It may even 

 surpass that of a fox or blood-hound. 

 By it bees can recognize their own 

 queen from a stranger. The bees that 

 stand on guard at the entrance of 

 their hive can, by their sense of 

 smell, tell the inmates of their hive 

 as they return from a flight from 

 bees from other hives. Von Butel 

 Reepen believes that bees recognize 

 eight different odors about their 

 hives. But this sense is one of the 

 most important in their search for 

 honey or nectar. 



A friend was telling me some time 

 ago how he stored some Honey in a 

 spare room on the first floor of his 

 house; after stopping every crack 

 and crevice of doors and windows, he 

 found bees getting into the room, and 

 on watching he found the bees came 

 down the chimney and into the room 

 through an open fireplace. Have we 

 stopped to inquire how the bees find 

 the flowers that yield nectar? Of 

 course bees can see fruit trees or a 

 field of buckwheat or mustard and 

 be attracted to them, but most flow- 

 ers that yield nectar are compara- 

 tively inconspicuous, and something 

 is needed to guide the bees in their 

 flight other than their eyes. A 

 hunter goes to the fields or woods 

 for a day's recreation hunting bees. 

 If he finds a bee on a flower he feeds 

 it and sends it home to get the line; 

 but if he finds no bees he burns a 

 little piece of comb that the odor 

 may drift off with the smoke and at- 

 tract the bees. One hunter, unable to 

 find a bee. used this method and after 

 waiting a long time a bee appeared, 

 which they were able to line some 

 six miles to its home. A bee leaves 

 its hive in search of honey, flying in 

 ever widening circles until it comes 

 across the odor of some nectar-yield- 

 ing flower, when it follows it as a 

 fox-hound follows the trail of a fox 

 that has passed, it may be, several 

 hours before. Nothing seems to es- 

 cape them in their search, whether it 

 be an isolated burdock back of the 

 barn, a little patch of mignonette in 

 the flower garden, or a few stray 

 clover blossoms in the lawn. 



How about the drones? They do 

 not gather nectar nor guard the hive, 

 and vet we are told this sense is 

 more highly developed in them than 

 in worker bees. The only excuse for 

 drones is said to be the perpetuation 



