THE PLIGHT ACTIVITIES OP THE HONEYBEE 5 



present device, so that the only advantages to be gained, provided 

 the principle could be developed to do away with occasional multiple 

 recording by the same bee, would be a less frequent necessity for 

 cleaning the gates, and perhaps a relatively larger capacity for each 

 gate. 



THE COUNTING DEVICE 



If the bee-escape method of counting had proved successful, it 

 would have been necessary to use a weak current for making the 

 records. The first type of counter tried consisted of an ordinary 

 alarm clock with the balance wheel removed. A piece of soft iron 

 was then attached to the escape lever and an electromagnet was 

 placed on the framework. When this magnet was excited by the 

 closing of the circuit by the bee, it attracted the soft iron on the 

 escape lever and allowed one tooth of the escape wheel to pass. 

 When contact was broken, a light spring brought the lever back to 

 its first position. Thus one contact corresponded to one vibration of 

 the original balance wheel, and by knowing the beat of the clock it 

 was possible to count the exits or entrances from any particular 

 gate merely by reading the " time " on the dial. 



This instrument, though crude, proved promising, but was not 

 adopted for the present investigation. With the balance device 

 adopted, a much stronger current can be used. It was therefore pos- 

 sible to use a telephone-message register, already manufactured and 

 available, which consists of a simple cyclometer actuated by an 

 electromagnet, operating on a higher voltage (about 16 or 18 volts) 

 than would be required for the counter made from the clock. 



ARRANGEMENT OF THE APPARATUS 



For convenience in handling, each set of gates was attached to a 

 board hinged to the end of a 10-frame Langstroth hive body, so that 

 the instruments could be swung away from the hive and yet not be 

 detached entirely. When these boards were clamped to the hive, so 

 as to close the entrance, the outgoing gates were above and somewhat 

 in front of the incoming ones, the actual exit apertures being about 

 2 inches above the row of entrance apertures. This arrangement 

 proved very satisfactory, because it minimized the possibility of the 

 bees holding down the tunnels of outgoing gates by attempting to 

 enter the hive through them. 



A false bottom-board within the hive conducted the bees to the 

 outgoing instruments, and an outside alighting-board led the return- 

 ing bees to the ingoing tunnels. The incoming bees, on passing 

 through the contact mechanism, entered a small chamber below the 

 inside false bottom-board, and to enter the brood chamber proper 

 they passed through slots in this false bottom-board. A strip of 

 queen-excluding zinc was placed behind the outgoing gates and 

 a hove the slots at an angle of about 45°, sloping upward and back- 

 ward. This forced the bees in carrying their dead to drop them, so 

 that the dead bees fell through the slots in the false bottom-board to 

 a position behind the incoming gates, where they could conveniently 

 be removed and counted. 



Ventilation was at first provided by means of a maze which 

 admitted air but no light through a slot in the bottom-board. This 



