TBE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



4n 



eipal points. The Dadants then began re- 

 viewing the work, bringing it up to the pres- 

 ent. They retained the original as much as 

 possible, but found it necessary to introduce 

 more new matter than was anticipated, hence 

 the work is largely Dadants.' A letter from 

 Father Langstroth informs us that he was 

 unable to assist in the work of revision. 

 We do not mention this to lind fault, but to 

 point out upon whom rests tlie responsibility 

 for the views expressed.— Chapter I is devo- 

 ted to the "Physiology of the Honey Bee." 

 We have never dissected a bee; never examin- 

 ed any part of one with a microscope; nor 

 made any of those line experiments to which 

 scientists are given. ^Ve do not say this to 

 be-little such experiments, all honor to the 

 men who make them, but our station in life 

 has been such that we have been obliged to 

 make all our experiments from a dollar and 

 cent point of view. Of course, we have read 

 all that the text books haVe to say upon the 

 physiology and natural history of the bee, 

 and know just enough to know better than 

 to set ourselves up as a critic upon these 

 points. Messrs. Dadant say: "We have 

 found it advisable to give a short descrip- 

 tion of the principal organs of this interest- 

 ing insect ; and abridged passages taken 

 from various scientific writers, whose works 

 have thrown an entirely new light on many 

 points in the physiology of the bee." So far 

 as our knowledge allows us to judge, we 

 should say that this part of the work is well 

 done. The original matter is brief, concise, 

 explicit; the selections excellent. — Before 

 going farther, we wish to state that, in this 

 review, we shall, as a rule, pass unnoticed 

 all well known and established facts ; giving 

 our attention to what there is new, and to 

 those points upon which authorities differ. 

 Practical subjects will be given the prefer- 

 ence. 



Chapter II treats of "The Building of 

 Bees." It is probable that, during the hon- 

 ey season, the young bees secrete wax invol- 

 untarily. If there is no place for the scales 

 of wax, they are gathered in small knots here 

 and there. Although old bees secrete less 

 wax, it has been proved that they do produce 

 small scales. Prof. Cook says that, during 

 the active storing season, when comb build- 

 ing is in rapid progress, nearly every bee 

 taken from the flowers has wax scales in the 

 wax-pockets. It is this point that we so 

 strongly urged in our own little book, viz., 

 that, during the honey harvest, the bees are 



involuntarily secreting wax; and, unless they 

 are given an opportunity for utilizing this 

 secretion, it is wasted. But there is also an 

 " other side " to this question; and Messrs. 

 Dadant most forcibly urge the use of drawn 

 combs in whicli to have the surplus stored. 

 For the sake of showing how comijletely we 

 agree with the Authors, we think we may be 

 pardoned for giving a short extract from 

 "The Production of Comb Honey:" — 



" When bees are gathering honey slowly, the 

 natural wax secretion probably furnishes suf- 

 ficient material, and there is probably abun- 

 dant time, for the building of comb in which 

 to store the honey. As the flow of honey in- 

 creases, the wax secretion is increased by an 

 increased consumi)tion of honey. Whether 

 it is profitable to allow this increased con- 

 sumption of honey depei ds upon the price 

 of wax compared with that of honey, and the 

 amount that is re(iuired of the latter for 

 the production of the former. But, as the 

 flow of honey increases, a point is finally 

 reached where the bees cannot secrete wax 

 and build comb with sufficient rapidity to 

 enable them to store all the honey they 

 might gather. A\ hen this point is reached, 

 and. possibly, a long time before, it is prof- 

 itable to use full sheets of foundation in the 

 sections. But the flow of honey can be, and 

 sometimes is, so increared that the bees can- 

 not keep pace with the bountiful harvest, 

 even with foundation in the sections, and 

 then drawn combs would be an advantage." 



We most thoroughly agree with the Da- 

 dants as to the conditions under which newly 

 hived swarms build drone comb. So long as 

 the queen keeps pace with the comb builders, 

 the result is worker comb. If she is old, her 

 powers failing, and the comb builders out- 

 strip her, they at once begin making drone 

 or store comb. The reason probably is 

 that storage can thus be furnished more 

 quickly and with less material. If the brood- 

 K nest is so large that the bees begin hatching 

 from the first-built cells, and the queen re- 

 turns to re-fill them, before the brood-nest is 

 filled with comb, drone comb will be built 

 from the time the queen deserts the comb 

 builders for the centre of the brood-nest. If 

 the honey flow ceases when the brood-nest is 

 partly filled with comb, and then begins 

 again just as the brood begins hatching, the 

 new comb resulting from the returning har- 

 vest will be of the drone variety. If the bee- 

 keeper wishes to prevent the consti-uction of 

 drone comb, when allowing swarms to build 

 their own brood combs, let him avoid old 

 queens and large brood-nests ; at the same 

 time giving every opportunity for storing 

 honey in the supers. 



(To be continued,) 



