1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



261 



tlie box and wire cloth. One who has such 

 ingenuity for improvising implements will 

 be pretty sure to succeed with the bees. 



which friend R. mentions. Such facts are 

 very valuable. Thank you, friend R., for 

 giving us the facts so promi)tly. 



FERTILIZATIOTV OF QUEENS. 



THE MISSING LINK ALMOST SUPPLIED 

 ENTIRE. 



M BRIEF notice of the following was 

 ^ sent a few days ago by one of the A 



' B C class, and I wrote at once for full 



and complete particulars, which our friend 

 supplies. 



I had no queen to g-ive to a queenless swarm, so I 

 let them rear one themselves; in a few days they 

 had about 10 or 11 queen cells. On July 29th, I pave 

 my bees, or the most of them, a g-eneral overhaulinf?, 

 as I usually do about once a week, if I can possibly 

 g-et time. Well, that day, 1 noticed the cells were ail 

 hatched or destroyed, but saw nothing of a queen; 

 I did not look at all cfose however. I noticed no 

 eggs, and knowing that the queen had not had time 

 enough to be fertilized, I closed the hive. I then 

 watched my hi^•e very closely. The next day at 

 noon, I noticed the bees of this hive lying out in 

 great numbers. I told my wife to notice them for 

 fear they might swarm; but I thought at the time 

 that the queen was out on her trip. I quit work a 

 little earlier than usual at the office, and went home. 

 The bees of this hive were still lying out. I then 

 went to hoeing in the garden, just opposite this 

 hive, about 2 rods away. After hoeing awhile, I 

 rested myself upon the hoe handle, and on turning 

 around to the left, about half way, I noticed two 

 bees; my first thought was "they are fighting," as 

 they seemed to be in a fighting attitude; but, in an 

 instant, I could distinguish the queen, then the 

 drone seemed to drop over or backwards and be 

 dragged by the queen. I was about 5 or 6 feet, per- 

 haps not more than 4 feet, away. It seemed to me 

 that the drone made an effort to catch hold of leaves 

 and stems of marigold they were crawling upon. I 

 also noticed that the queen stopped and bent over, 

 with her head under like; but this only lasted a mo- 

 ment; the queen started with the drone again, when 

 the drone seemed to catch between the leaves which 

 checked the queen, yet the check was only just no- 

 ticeable when I saw the queen getting further from 

 the drone, about J4 or ^^ inch; then she flew, but 

 seemed to come in contact with something and fell; 

 she instantly rose however and made straight to the 

 hive. No sooner had she entered than all the bees, 

 except a few, followed her. When she separated 

 from the drone, she drew a white substance from 

 him, which, as near as I could see, was close to 

 the queen, rather thick, about the thickness of the 

 body of the queen, and then it gradually tapered 

 down to a fine thread or nearly so, being about Y2 

 inch long. I could see it very plainly in the air, 

 when the queen was going toward the hive. Now, 

 all this did not take half the time it takes to tell it. 

 When I first saw the queen, I started to catch them, 

 but rather checked myself for fear I would lose 

 them out of sight, but then I thought I must catch 

 them. I jumped, but too late; the (jueen flew. As 

 soon as I saw she had entered her hive, I went back 

 to look for poor drone. I found him lying on the 

 ground with his bowels almost all gone. I then went 

 to the hive to open and find the queen, but I guess 

 the bees thought I had no business there just then; 

 I had to leave them. I then went back to the place 

 of meeting, thinking what a dunce I was for not 

 catching the couple before they had a chance to get 

 away; you know, "After the cow is stolen, we al- 

 ways lock the stable." O. L. Roseman. 



Montezuma, Iowa, Aug. 5th, 1878. 



From this it seems quite probable, that 

 the (lueen and drone both fall to the ground, 

 as bumble bees do (see page 74, Mar. No.), 

 and that our friend found them, just at this 

 point. The queen had probably whirled 

 about, until nearly free from the drone, and 

 as she crawled up the stalk of marigold, he 

 was torn entirely from her. Many of us 

 have seen riueens coming home with the 

 wdiit€ thread like string hanging to them. 



Since above was set up, a neighbor, Mr. 

 Giles Davis, of Liverpool, Ohio, furnishes 

 the following, as a sequel to the article. He 

 was standing in front of a box hive of black 

 , bees, during the height of the swarming 

 season, while drones and bees filled the air 

 ! in great abundance, when a queen came 

 i out of the hive, and was struck by a drone, 

 ; when only a few feet from the entrance of 

 i the hive. ' Both remained together, and fell 

 towards the ground, but finally, rose again 

 and went off out of sight. Our friend pro- 

 posed to watch the hive, until the queen 

 came back, but a swarm coming out, and 

 then another, his attention was called away, 

 and he did not see her again. This seems 

 to indicate that fertilization does not always 

 take place high up in the air, as is generally 

 claimed, but that it may take place a few 

 feet from the hive ; in the case of a queen 

 with crippled wings, it seems that she might 

 become fertile, even though able to tly only 

 a yard or two, and then afterwards get back 

 into the hive. We have now got the matter 

 closed down pretty definitely, but shall look 

 anxiously for further facts on the subject. 

 Who will give the next link in the chain of 

 evidence;* 



BEE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. 



SEND with this two samples of bee plants. Bees 

 to-day covered the flowers or both plants. I 

 also enclose a bee-like insect that seems to be 

 very busy on plant No. 1, and also on mustard flow- 

 ers. 



Please give the names of the plants and insect, 

 and the business of the insect on the flowers. 



S. W. Morrison, M. D. 

 Oxford, Pa., July 17th, 1878. 



Plant No. 1 is a specimen of Pucnanthcmum Lini- 

 foHum, a wild basil, of which there are a dozen or 

 more east of the Mississippi. If 1 judge by the spec- 

 imens sent me from all quarters, and by what bee- 

 men say of this one and several of the others, I 

 should decide that it is a fine honey plant. 

 Mich. Ag. Col., Lansing, Mich. W. J. Deal,. 



Plant No. 2 is the button bush, Cephalan- 

 thus Occidentalis. It is a small shrub grow- 

 ing in marshes and on the banks of streams, 

 and blossoms in July. It is thought worthy 

 of mention, as a honey producer, by Prof. 

 Cook, in his "Manual of the Apiary." 



The insect we sent, by request, to S. S. 

 Rathvon, of Lancaster, Pa., who writes con- 

 cerning it as follows : 



Your specimen is one of the "Leaf-cutter, Bees" 

 CMcgachUc Latimamm), and is a male. It was this 

 circumstance that delayed the answer; for, I had 

 long known the female, which does not possess the 

 raptorial anterior feet; and, in order to insure its 

 identification, I submitted it to Mr. E. T. Cresson, 

 who is one of the best, if not the very best, hymen- 

 opterologists in the country. If any thing peculiar 

 in its habits has been discovered, not known to sci- 

 ence, you will confer a favor by communicating it. 



Smith described the female of this insect as a dis- 

 tinct species, under the name of Maijachile Acuta, 

 and the male as M. Fcmorata; but the most able hy- 

 menopterists recognize it under Say's name, given 

 above. The sexual distinction was for a long time 

 unrecognized. So you see, that it lequires a long 

 period, in some cases, to develop the full history of 

 an insect. These bees are solitary in their habits ; 

 the females only engage in constructing a nest, 

 which is usually composed of circular pieces which 



