Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1854-06-28
The Lifetime of n Bee.

Familiar as man has been with the hive
bee from the earliest ages, it Is somewhat
strange that its duration Of existence should
have so long remained vague and unset
tied point. or rather, perhaps, that the re-
suits of recent observation should differ so
widely from those which the aLclents- de-
duced from their observations. For exam
pie; Virgil states that the working bees do
not protract their existence beyond the sew
entIi year; but in general, as it would aP-
pear, the length Of life allotted by the an
clients to the working bees extended from
seven to ten years. On the contrary, in la
ter times. writer's on bees have regarded II
as not much exceeding a year. But then
the notions both of ancients and modeins
upon this subject have Jeen either purely
conjectured, or founded on indetermnaie
premises. Indeed, as DR.. Bevan observes,
with respect to the anclents, we are not
sure as to whether their estimate applies to
an individual bee or to community OF these
insects. II it applies to the extinction OF
bee community, they were perhaps, not fai
wrong. DR.. tevan, the gentleman whom
we have just quoted, and who conducted
series of experiments, is OF opinion, howev-
er, that the life of the working bee. so far
from extending over period of seven or
ten years, does not exceed six, or at most
seven months that drone's existence ter
inmates IN about four months while the
queen bee sees many generations pass "a
way, and may enjoy a protracted life OF
four or even five years. A good ia nily of
bees, he observes, being known to consist
of from twelve thousand to twenty thousand.
and fertile queen TO breed that number al
least every year. which, under favorable
circumstances, is usually thrown off by
swarming it appeared TO me to follow, as
matter of course, that swarming were pre-
vented by aGording hive room to the bees,
the number during the breeding season
would be often more than doubled, and that
if their lives were extended even 10 the
shortest period hitherto assigned them, they
would remain in crowded state tillthe fol-
lowing spring. But repeated experience
has clearly shown tha. the population oil
families which have been accommodated
with room, if examined the following win
ter, does not consist of more than two or
three thousand. After receiving great in
crease in the ensuing spring, they again
suffer similar reduction before the sue
ceeding winter; and this regular aterna-
ton of increase and decrease will 60 on for
years, keeping family that has been duly
supplied with hive room at about the same
average amount at each respective period
of the year. This reduction to the smaller
number above stated. every successive win
ter, can only be produced by the old bees
dying and leaving the business of the fam
lily to be conducted by the young ones, and
it affords, think, conclusive evidence that
the working bees life is regularly cut ofin
less than year.
This probability was converted by exper-
iments into certainty, and the following re-
sumo, though not minutely precise, is close
approximation to the truth
Bees constituting family in February, 5000
Spring bred bees, 7,OOO
Summer and autumn ditto, 5000