08 PHT3I0LOGT OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



the first two weets of the worker-bee's life, the impulse for gath- 

 ering honey and pol!«i does not exist, or at least is not devel- 

 oped ; and that the development of this impulse proceeds slowly 

 and gradually. At first the young bee will not even touch the 

 honey presented to her ; some days later she will simply taste it, 

 and only after a further lapse of time will she consume It 

 eagerly. Two weeks elapse before she readily eats honey, and 

 nearly three weeks pass, before the gathering impulse is suffi- 

 ciently developed to impel her to fly abroad, and seek for honey 

 and pollen among the flowers. 



163. " I made, further, the following observations respecting 

 the domestic employments of the young Italian bees : 



" 1. On the 20th of May. I took out of the hive all the combs it 

 contained, and replaced them after examination. On inspecting 

 them half an hour later, I was surprised to see that the edges of 

 the combs, which had been cut on removal,* were covered by 

 Italian bees exclusively. On closer examination, I found that 

 they were busily engaged in re-attaching the combs to the sides 

 of the hive. When I brushed them away, they instantly returned, 

 in eager haste, to resume their labors. 



"«. After making the foregoing observations, I inserted in the 

 hive a bar from which a comb had been cut, to ascertain whether 

 the rebuilding of comb would be undertaken by the Italian bees. 

 I took it out a few hours subsequently, and found it covered al- 

 most exclusively by Italian workers, though the colony, at that 

 time, still contained a large majority of common bees. I saw 

 that they were sedulously engaged in building comb ; and they 

 prosecuted the work unremittingly, whilst I held the bar in my 

 hand. I repeated this experiment several days in succession, 

 and satisfied myself that the bees engaged in this work were al- 

 ways almost exclusi-vely of the Italian race. Many of them had 

 scales of wax visibly protruding between their abdominal rings 

 (201). These observations show that, in the early stage of their 

 existence, the impulse for comb-building is stronger than later 

 in life. 



164. "5. Whenever I examined the colony during the first 

 three weeks after the Italian bees emerged,-! found the brood- 

 combs covered principally by bees of that race : and it is, hence, 

 probable that the brood is chiefly attended to and nursed by the 



• Mr. Donhoffjthe writer of this quotation, used theDzieizon hive, the combe 

 of "wMoh are suspended in the hive by an upper bar only , and cannot be taken 

 out unless their edges, that are built against the sides of the hive, are out. 



