THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
11 
INTELLIGENCE OP THE HONEY BEE. 
(By Chables Dickens.) 
The wonderful working and production of the 
honeybee when we view the interior of a beehive 
fills one with wonder and astonishment. We 
behold there a miniature city, regular streets 
disposed in parallel lines consisting of houses 
constructed upon the most exact geometrical 
forms. These buildings are appropriated to 
various purposes ; some are storehouses in 
which provisions are stored in enormous quan- 
tities. some are the dwellings of the citizens, 
and a few of the most spacious are royal palaces. 
We find that the material of which this city is 
built is one which man with all science and skill 
cannot fabricate, and that it is employed to form 
edifices, such as the most consummate engineer 
could not reproduce, much less originate ; and 
yet these wonderous productions aie the result of 
the labor of a society of insects, so small that 
four thousand of them will only fill a quart 
measure. Nor has the problem thus solved by 
the bee yet been satisfactorily expounded by the 
most clever men. Its mysteries have not yet 
been fathomed. In all ages the attention of 
naturalists and mathematicians has been on- 
grossed by it. Nevertheless, the honeycomb is 
still a miracle. Besides the saving of wax 
effected by the form of the cells, bees adopt 
another economical plan suited to the same 
end. They compose the bottoms .and sides of 
wax of very great tenuity no thicker than a 
sheet of paper, but as walls of this thickness at 
the entrance would be perpetually injured by 
the ingress and egress of the workers, they 
prudently make the margin of the opening of 
each cell three or four times thicker than the 
cells. I need not refer to the perfect and well- 
known geometrical construction of the cells of a 
hive as evidence of design and high instinct. 
These cells combine the greatest amount of 
strength with the least expenditure of material 
and room that we are aware of. The equila- 
tertal triangle, the square and the hexagon were 
the only three forms of tubular cells that would 
leave no interstices. In the first form, how- 
ever, there would be a lost space in each angle ; 
a similar disadvantage would be found in the 
second, but not in the third. In the exercises 
of engineering powers demonstrative of mind, or 
by an instinct, surely Divine, the bees have 
adopted the last or hexagonal form. 
When left to act at will, bees show a remark- 
able intelligence in selecting and preparing a 
place in which to live and store their food. 
They never select a dead tree, seeming to know 
it is liable to fall at any time and thus destroy 
their home, but always select a live tree with a 
hollow centre that has a crevice for an entrance. 
The inner lining of such a tree would usually be 
of a pithy nature, which is a poor conductor of 
heat. Surrounded by this material they are 
protected against extremes of weather both in 
summer and in winter. After selecting the 
tree, which is always a good one, and capable of 
standing for a long time, they prepare the 
inside by removing all loose particles that are 
not too large for them to handle ; and those 
that are too large they glue solid with propolis, 
which is a product of various resinous buds. 
They also stop all crevices, except the main 
entrance, with the same substance, thus making 
the interior firm and warm. The tree, now, is 
in such condition that they can attach their 
comb to the interior and store it with honey. 
What seems to be intelligence is also shown in 
the way they ventilate their homes, and at the 
same time reduce the temperature when it 
becomes too warm for the wax, of which the 
comb is made. It has been determined that 
wax possesses the greatest tension at a tempera- 
ture of 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and at this tem- 
perature, with a range not exceeding two degrees, 
bees keep the interior of their hives by devices 
of their own. On a hot sultry day there may be 
seen successive lines of bees taking up their 
position at the mouth of the hive, joining the 
tips of their wings and working tue fans thus 
formed for ten minutes or more, and then 
retiring in order that the second line may come 
to the front and repeat the process, and these 
are followed by the other lines in succession. 
The observer has also noticed the fact that when 
a hive has been removed from a locality with 
which its inhabitants have become familiar, 
they, upon the next day (having been removed 
in the evening at dusk) before leaving for their 
usual labors, fly around the hive in every direc- 
tion, similar to carrier pigeons, as if to observe 
the surrounding objects and obtain a general 
acquaintance with the new neighbourhood. 
They then go their work, and after gathering 
their load of sweets from the flowers, a similiar 
circling and manoeuvring is noticed, as if to get 
the right direction back to their home. This 
fact shows traces of intelligence rather than 
those of instinct, inasmuch as the recognition 
of their home depends not on any character 
merely connected with the hive itself but from 
its relation to surrounding objects. Bees have 
been known to travel from five to seven miles 
from their home in search of food. Each bee in 
the hive has its individual work to perform, and 
as such, it is always accomplished, and hence 
we must infer that a willingness of spirit accom- 
panies the labor. No intrusion upon their 
rights or home is allowed, though bees never act 
except upon the defensive. The closer one 
observes their habits the more wonderful do 
they appear, indicative of both reason and 
intelligence. What lessons may be drawn from 
their study — lessons of patience, of industry, of 
forbearance, of economy, and care for the future 1 
One has only to go these apparently insignificant 
objects of nature to find displayed in them a 
very high degree of perfection — 
Creatures that by a willing nature teach 
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.” 
— Milclura Cultivator. 
DOOLITTLE ON QUEEN-IiEARING. 
Queens can be reared in the upper stories of 
hives used for ext) acted honey, where a queen- 
excluding honey-board is used, which are as 
