AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
41 
Wonders of the Bee-Hive. 
Number VIII. 
In our last article on this subject, we gave an 
illustration tnat enables us to explain the wonder- 
lul fertility oi tne mother-bee, and the rapid in¬ 
crease of numbers 
in the early summer. 
We showed also the 
appearance of the 
worm hatched from 
the egg. as it changes 
its appearance from 
day to day. It is 
wnile it is in this 
condition that the 
bee-bread, comes into 
use, being worked 
over for me loud of 
the helpless worm, 
and, (as some sup- 
vose ,) mixed with 
honey and partly di¬ 
gested in the stom¬ 
ach of the working 
bees. It is consid¬ 
ered a settled iact 
that honey alone is 
insufficient for the 
nourishment of the 
brood; but in the 
Winter and Spring 
the bees are often 
glad to get unbolted rye-meal as a substitute for 
the pollen of the flowers, even when their last 
year’s stock is not exhausted. 
After the worm has been fed four or five days, 
and has attained its full size, it is left to undergo 
another change, and is closely 
covered up in its cell, like a 
child left to sleep in its cradle. 
Fig. 5 gives an enlarged repre¬ 
sentation of its appearance in 
the cell, and Fig. 6 shows it 
prepared to spin its cocoon. It 
has been a larva , it is to be¬ 
come a nymph or pupa. The 
cell is covered by the worker 
bees with a brown substance, 
somewhat like paper; and as 
soon as this is done, the larva spins its cocoon, 
which fits closely to the nside of the cell. After 
completing this work, for which thirty-six hours 
are said to be necessary, it gradually 
undergoes that remarkable change 
common among insects, which we see 
when caterpillars become butterflies, 
and the silk-worm a miller. So this 
worm is to become a winged bee, in 
obedience to the law of life, given it 
by its maker. If the cell is opened after a few 
days, the pupa is found, a white object represent¬ 
ed in Fig. 7, in which the different parts of the 
perfect bee can be traced ; and at the end of three 
weeks from the laying of the egg, the young bee, 
whose head is always turned to the opening of the 
cell, may be seen biting away the cover, and at 
last emerging from its cradle, to take 
its part in the duties and responsi¬ 
bilities of the hive. It leaves its 
cocoon behind it, a strong dark col¬ 
ored, paper-like web, which is never 
removed, and within which succes¬ 
sive generations of bees form their 
cocoonr in like manner. When a 
piece of old brood comb is melted, these cocoons 
retair their form, and may easily be separated 
from those ir. adjoining cells. 
Our next illustration, Fig. 8, is one that bears a 
good deal of study, and represents on a reduced 
scale, some of the most interesting objects in the 
hive. The greater part of the cells here shown 
are of the worker size; a-, few on the lower 
side at the right hard, are drone cells. A hole at 
Fig. 6. 
Fig. 7. 
Fig 8. 
p shows the thickness of the comb and the depth 
of the cells on either side. Just below this, at f 
are brood cells sealed over, from one of which a 
young hee is just escaping, having succeeded at 
least in thrusting its jet-black head and antenna; 
through the cover, while a little to the right, we 
can see more distinctly the worms, of various 
ages and sizes. Some of the drone cells below, 
at f, are also sealed over. The honey cells are 
seen at e, some of them full and capped, while 
others are only partly covered. These are sealed 
with wax, and have a lighter color than the cover¬ 
ing of brood cells. The form of the cover is also 
different. In the brood comb, each cap projects 
outward, convex in form. In the honey cells there 
is a slight depression, as if to resist the pressure 
of the honey. 
The engraving represents also the cells in which 
the queens are reared. They undergo like changes 
with the other bees, but come to maturity sooner. 
While the workers require twenty-one days from 
the egg, and the drones twenty-four, the mother- 
bee is ready to leave her cell on the sixteenth day. 
She is reared in an apartment of very different 
shape from other bees, and is fed with a different 
kind of food, to which the name of royal jelly has 
been given. In figure 8, b 
is a queen cell in which the 
inmate is still confined ; from 
a the queen has escaped, and 
the cover of the cell, which 
opens downwards, instead of 
horizontally, is seen attached 
to the side. At n we find a 
cell, not yet complete, in 
which is a royal worm. The 
cell at c has answered its pur¬ 
pose, and being useless hence¬ 
forth, the wax has been nib¬ 
bled away, so that only an acorn cup is left ; and 
at d, is represented a cell whose inmate has met 
with death by violence; for even among so indus¬ 
trious a community as a bee-hive presents, there 
is sometimes a conflict for the mastery. 
Fig. 9 shows a nueen cell of the natural size, in 
its ordinary position. Such is their love of ordet 
and symmetry, that the workers have laid the 
foundation of cells around the base, and have 
dotted the whole exterior, as if they would like to 
cover it also with hexagons. Indeed, there is ; 
great amount of attention devoted to the cradle o' 
the queen, from tin 
first moment its con¬ 
struction is com¬ 
menced. It is the 
constant object oi 
anxiety and almost 
devotion. Every bet 
in the hive seems it 
consider itself a 
special committee of 
inspe ction, for, one 
after another, in 
q nick succession, 
they run to it and 
examine it, inside 
and out, with tlie 
great' st. care. They 
do not apparently 
commit the well; to 
an “ intelligent coin 
mittee ” and take no 
fhrther thought, ex 
cept. to pay a levied 
tax In this respect, 
as well as in many 
others, our city 
dwellers—onr tax 
payers might well imitate the tiny inhabitants c 
the bee-hive. Their more frequent visits to, am 
surveillance of our parks and public buildings m 
course of construction, would ensure not only het- 
ler work, but more economy in 
outlay 
Fig. 10 shows the posit ion of 
the queen in the cell, while yet a 
nymph, and at Ihe top of the en¬ 
graving—which is the proper base 
of the cell, may he seen the royal 
jelly, which is furnished in surh 
abundance that some remains 
after the queen breaks away from 
her confinement. These beaut - 
fill illustrations give our readers a far better idea 
than mere words can do, of the inside of a boo 
hive, hut our facts are not exhausted, and we ha< e 
yet many more wonders to relate in successive 
numbers of this present, volume of the Agricul¬ 
turist. 
Fig. 10. 
Fig. 9. 
Farming and Gold Digging. 
We often hear the complaint of ill-luck in farm- 
-ing. Over and over again, we are told that agri¬ 
culture don’t pay for the toil and troubles con¬ 
nected with it Easily discouraged and discon¬ 
tented young men are leaving their country homes 
to seek their fortunes in the cit.y, or are roaming 
away to California to dig for gold. But how few 
find fortunes in the city ; or, if found, how unoer- 
certain is their possession. The history of thf 
past year is full of striking lessons on this point 
Nor is the success of gold-digging much greater 
In almost every community you will find families 
dressed in mourning, over the loss of a son oi 
brother who went to California years ago, in pur¬ 
suit of fortune, hnj, who, by undue exposure and 
toil, or the diseases of the climate, or the hand o, 
ruffian violence, was brought to an untimely end 
Or if you find one, here and there, who has been 
more successful, you will also find many who 
gained nothing, and very many who saved only 
enough from their hard earnings to buy their pas 
sage home. Had those gold-seekers invested 
