The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1857-03-06
LOUIS 0. COWAN, Editor and Proprietor.

and where uau Pieceo VI "ofA 10 "0"N'
! IL to be pulled down and rebuilt, Precisei!!
. as n master mechanic would do in similar
circum. tances. The lecturer would not
however, voueh for the truth Of this state
men.
Amongst bees there was no law prohibit
ing females from mounting the throne; on
the contrary, no male was permitted to as
sumo the sovereignty. The queen bee allow
no rival n.ar the throne. She attacks an
kills, with the greatest fury, the young
queens, her own offspring, and this by u
wise ordination of Providence; thus pre-
venting an increase beyond the power oil 'h'
working 90 to feed.
The queen bee is treated with the greatss'
possible reverence, precision, and PohtenesS'
by the subjects. Should shc be abssraeted
/ from the hive the Who'll. swarm is thrown
into confusion, work is suspended, and a'
motive for erertion seems to bo wanting II"
the absence Of their sovereign. Should SHE
return they exhibit marks of satisfaction
and resume their labOrs.
For twenty.four hours after the departur
of q queen, the swarm will accept no sub
stitute. After that time they will accep'
another queen, and inssate her in all the
honors and dignlties Of the Departed one.
Should strange queen poke her 'aout into
hive which has a queen OF its own' the
bees from circle around the intruder, not
to do her honor, but to prevent her depart
ure. Tho queen in possession Is then sum
moned, and the two queens are made u
hght for the sovereigutG.
Commenting upon analogous habits ofin'
scots and human beings, the lecturer related
on amusing incident that had transpired on
the occasion ola former lecture ut the Smith
.onian Institution, the subject being "The
Ant" Accompanied on his way to tht
lecture room by two members OF Congress.
who were shareholders, no told them he was
going to establish that ants were slavehold-
srs, and that the slaves were black. "Oh, y
-aid they, ''be SURF you make tho most oil
it," [Laughter.i
The wonderful fact has been established
that every working bee is capable OF being
developed to queen bee. In case OF a
queen being wanted, on occasion OF the old
queen having left the hive with swarm, 1t
has been aseertained that the remaing bees
t-ke common larvae and deposit 1t in the
aueenly cells, where by different food from
that dispensed to the working bees, and u
different mode of treatment il rs developed
with qucenly size and attributes.
The wonders Of entomology demonstrated
forcibly the saying
"rruta 10 strange, stranger than hetion'"
The swarning of bees wasdcscribed by the
ecturer. Ii was merely the departure OLA
queen with swarm Of followers from re-
dundant hive. Tho immediate occasion o'
such an emigration was generally thr 'uSh u
huff taken by the queen bee at being inter
rupted in the slaughter of her offspring by
the other bees, when they deemed she had
gone far enough; thus she usually went otl
in a high state of excitement. There werr
various modes employed to induce swarm
of bees to set le. such US beating tin pans
in imitation Of thunder of which they have
a dread or throwing sand upon them. tn
give them the notion that il is mining; and
an instance was related Of an old gentleman
who had way of leaiing a swarm to any
required locality by peculiar mode OF
whistling. The atmosphere OF q crowded.
hive is close and hot. but the bees by motion
OF their wings veu,ilatc it until enough
swarms have been thrown OF to render the
labor unnecessary. Desperate conflict occur
between bees. sometimes lasting for days.
ihcy are duelists, thieves and highway rob.
bers. They compel the pOmpous humble
bee to dissorge his honey. In the sense OF
smell the bee is very acute, its sight is also
very keen. enabling il to wing its flight to
it, own hive with unerring accuracy. In
the whirl of bees, when the mir is filled with
hem. we never see two bees jostle. The
other senses Of the bees are also acute.
The fact was stated that the bee cannot
repeat its sting many times. the poison be-
coming exhausted. Should the sting, which
is barbcd, remain in the wound, the bee dies
Some persons are not affected by the sting oi
the bee, while Others die Of it. The lecturer
however, expressed the opinion, that wher'
death resulted. il must be owing to the con
dition Of the blood Of the victim. tie dis
credited the truth Of the report th It youns
, man out West had died lately from spider
, bite. II required more evidence to establish
the fact OF u spider bite resulting fatally.