■;■ ■ ■ t;. 



84 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



life besides honey-production or queen- 

 rearing, and increased knowledge adds 

 infinitely to the pleasure of living. To 

 add to the sum of human knowledge 

 and to interest others in some new line 

 of thought is fully as commendable as 

 the production of something to tickle the 

 palate. Let us, therefore, hail with de- 

 light any advance in our knowledge of 

 bees. E. F. Phillips. 



Mr. France — I dishke being the first 

 to speak on a paper of so much value, 

 which has covered a vast amount of 

 ground; it is something that I hope, 

 when you get the Report, you may study 

 by sections. I have repeatedly asked 

 for something of this nature to be done, 

 as is expected to be done here on Mon- 

 day, and I hope all will try to attend. 

 The subject of bee-diseases will be 

 nicely presented. I don't know that 

 there is any definite part that I care 

 to take up personally in discussing. It 

 seems to me that Dr. Phillips has cov- 

 ered the ground. 



Mr. Victor — I would like to ask if 

 they have ever discovered that bees 

 hear? 



Dr. Phillips — I do know that bees are 

 very sensitive, but I don't know abso- 

 lutely if they hear. 



Dr. Bohrer — I was once driving nails 

 S or 6 feet from a hive of bees, and the 

 first thing I knew I was covered with 

 bees, and they must have gotten the vi- 

 bration from the ground. 



Mr. Rouse — Why does a swarm in the 

 air attract other swarms? 



Dr. Phillips — Bees secrete a light-col- 

 ored fluid in swarming, and by this they 

 attract each other ; there is a very strong 

 odor in the air, and the bees can smell 

 it. 



Mr. Rouse — Can they smell? 



Dr. Phillips — There is no doubt that 

 they smell. 



Mr. Anderson — There is one point 

 that meets with my convictions, and that 

 is the improvement of stock we were 

 discussing here yesterday — whether bee's 

 could be improved — and I believe they 

 can in all the different strains. 



J. Q. Smith — If bees can not hear, 

 why do queens pipe, and upon their pip- 

 ing the other queens answer? The pip- 

 ings are of different sounds. The first 

 queen has a clear sound, and the one 

 about to get out of the cell has a coarser 

 voice. 



Mr. Stone — I can not be made to be- 

 lieve that bees can not hear. Why can't 



they hear as well with some of their or- 

 gans as we do with our teeth? 



Dr. Phillips — We don't hear with our 

 teeth. 



Mr. Stone — Some ladies and a little 

 girl were traveling on the train with 

 me. The little girl asked if bees could 

 hear with their ears, and I said they 

 had no ears. She said they hear "just 

 the same as I do with my teeth;" and 

 the mother of the little girl said that she 

 knew of people that held their mouths 

 open to hear better. 



Mr. Rouse — I have worked in steam 

 mills and if I wanted to know that the 

 piston was working properly I would 

 put a stick on the pylinder end, then on 

 my teeth, and I could hear very dis- 

 tinctly. I don't know what caused it. 



Mr. Holekamp — I don't know whether 

 it is worth while to talk about this much 

 more. I certainly can hear from the in- 

 side of my mouth much better than on 

 the outside. 



Dr. Bohrer — There is one thing that I 

 wish to speak of that was mentioned 

 last night. Dr. Phillips did not hear 

 it; he is in charge of the Government 

 Apiaries at Washington, and through 

 him a number of queens were sent out 

 to be tested. I don't think that we can 

 recommend to him too strongly the mat- 

 ter of refusing to give any man a queen 

 to test her and her progeny, unless 

 those bees are sufficiently isolated from 

 other bees. I would just say, "My dear 

 sir, I will give you a queen, but you 

 must separate your bees 12 to 15 miles, 

 the farther the better." There is dan- 

 ger 12 miles, but I don't know about 15. 

 We have had our Italian bees injured 

 by the introduction of Cyprian blood. 

 If these bees can be placed in the hands 

 of careful men, that is all right. I am 

 sorry Italian bees in different localities 

 have not been improved. Forty years 

 ago I found the bees better disposi- 

 tioned than to-day. In the State of In- 

 diana I could open a hive without a pro- 

 tection on my face, but I don't find it 

 so in the State of Kansas where I live. 

 I never go to a hive without my face 

 and hands well protected. I wanted to 

 speak of this to the Doctor, for I know 

 there is harm being done by not hav- 

 ing the bees sufficiently apart from each 

 other. 



Dr. Phillips — Perhaps I would bet- 

 ter explain it, since the Doctor has taken 

 exception. In the first place the Bureau 

 of Entomology is the only organization 



