278 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' EEVlJfj^. 



walk of the meetings and would have voted 

 for me, but were not at the election of officers. 



Mr. McKnight, if he had desired could 

 have stated I received just two votes to my 

 opponent's one; such a statement would 

 have settled the question, but fairness can- 

 not be expected when men side with my 

 opponents who claimed it was bribery and 

 corruption on my part because I gave an 

 oyster supper to members of the association 

 the last evening of the of the convention. 

 In justice to myself and the covert and open 

 abuse heaped upon'me by your correspon- 

 dents I trustyou will feel that I am entitled 

 to the above space. 



Brantfokd, Ont. Aug. 21, 18!)G, 



;=j^>;^Y^| 



Notes From Foreign Bee Journals. 



F. L. THOMPSON. 



RHEINISCHE BiENENZEiTUNG. — As much 

 is being said for and against Pastor 

 Gerstung's " organic conception of the 

 colony " it seems desirable to give some 

 account of it. Herr Cremer gives a sum- 

 ming up of some features of Gerstung's 

 system, as follows : The natural shape of 

 the colony as an organism is that of a sphere. 

 The combs may be compared to the gar- 

 ment of this organism. When a swarm is 

 building comb, a single oval comb first 

 appears, then two more one on each side, 

 while the first is enlarged; and so on. Hence, 

 and also for reasons to be given below, a 

 swarm should be given an uneven number 

 of frames, the middle one having the largest 

 starter, which should diminish in depth in 

 front and rear. 



When the middle comb touches the end- 

 bars of the frames the bees ordinarily pass 

 to the construction of drone-comb on all 

 sides, so far as they are able, of the central 

 worker-comb. In the normal German hive 

 aa ellipsoidal nucleus of worker comb thus 

 arises, with its two axes 9 and 14 inches 

 long, the latter being vertical. This Gers- 

 tuug considers too small for the proper de- 

 velopement of the colony, as the (jueen 

 meets with drone-cells too soon in her egg- 

 laying rounds, and swarming is prematurely 

 incited. Besides, a small brood-nest, need- 

 ing as it does the insertion of filled combs 

 for winter, thus has its outliues disturbed. 



Egg-laying begins in the center of the 

 cluster, the warmest part, and enlarges in 

 the form of a sphere. When the brood in 



the center is emerging, while the outer 

 circle contain eggs, one brood period of 22 

 days is completed. The queen then begins 

 another. This explains why every comb 

 has brood in all stages; but they are always 

 in a certain order. Thus if larv» are at the 

 center, next come eggs, then empty cells, 

 then old sealed brood, then young sealed 

 brood. The same order applies to points 

 opposite one another on different combs. 

 Half-depth frames are a " thorn in the 

 flesh" of the organism. 



In like manner, the bees of a colony 

 arrange themselves according to ages, as a 

 continuation of the order of the brood. As 

 hatching brood comes next to eggs, emerg- 

 ing bees are found next to eggs and young 

 larvse. As the bees keep like pace with the 

 larvae in increase of age, the latter receive 

 different stages of food at stages of growth. 

 After the brood is sealed, the efflux of young 

 bees from the center forces the nurse bees 

 outwards, where they find a new sphere of 

 activity, perhaps as comb-builders, while 

 the bees which they crowd out become 

 flight-bees. Not only every comb, but 

 every cell, every egg, and every bee, thus 

 has its own place. Many circumstances, 

 such as forage, temperature, or improper 

 hives or frames, combine to disturb the 

 ideal manifestation of the organic laws of 

 the colony, but never destroy them. 



MuENCHEUEB BiENENZEiTUNG. — Herr Kle- 

 in gives further explanations and applica- 

 tions of the Gerstung system. Combs of 

 the brood nest should never change positions, 

 and smoke should not be used in such a way 

 as to mix the bees up. 



As an organism the colony also has what 

 is analogous to a blood-circulation. This 

 Grestuug calls the " Futtersaftstrom " lit- 

 erally "stream of feed-juice. " He applies 

 the term to the honey conveyed by the flight- 

 bees to the younger ones, as well as to the 

 food prepared by the young bees. The 

 younger the bee, the more nearly this pro- 

 duct approaches the blood of the bee. It 

 increases with warmth and forage, induces 

 wax secretion and the sexual impulses, and 

 finally swarming. 



In the spring, a brood-nest which has be- 

 gun too near one side of the hive should be 

 moved to the center, the combs thus crowd- 

 ed off of one side being added to to other. 

 If this is not done, other colonies may have 

 six or seven frames of brood while this has 

 but flve; and queen, bees, brood and young 



