THE FLIGHT ACTmTIES OF THE HONEYBEE 5 
present device, so that the only advantages to be gained, provided 
the principle could be developed to do awa}^ 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. 
AYhen 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 laiowing 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 de\dce 
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 
above 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. Tliis 
