Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-06-14
Bees.

The beehive consists, Wnen IN luil ac-
tivity, OF one queen, several hundred
drones, and many thousand working
bees. These constitute community by
which a combined system of labor is car
ried on transcending in many respects the
most complicated actions of man himself.
| Their structure shows no organ similar TO
those BY which the mental functions are
manifested in the higher animals and in
man. They have no brain proper. nor
does their nervous system correspond in
any way TO that of the vertebrates. lnall
vertebrates the solid front mass OF the
nervous system which we call the brain Is
prolonged backward into long cord.
/ known as the spinal marrow. from when
many nervous threads arise and branch,
spreading through the whole OrganlZa-
ton. The brain and the spinal cord, In
fact the whole nervous system, are IN
closed in a cavity, the skull and rachltc
canal. separate from those III which the
organs of digestion. respiration. clrcuia-
ton and reproduction are communicative
chest aAl abdominal cavity. For the ar
ticulates, on the contrary. 10 when all IN
sects. cruStacea, and worms belong, the
nervous system is scattered along the
length of the body in succession OF
swellings connected together by threads.
The first of these swellings is situated in
/ the head. above the alimentary canal; the
rest are at regular distances along the low
er side of the body. Thus it appears that
! the battery from which all volition starts,
| by which all the acts of life are performed
| or regulated, through which all external
! impressions are communicated and acted
upon. are very different in these two
types of the animal kingdom. It's there
fore hardly probable that the life work
done by these organs should be the same.
Let us look at some of the acts by
which the quality we call instinct is mani
tested in a community of bees. When
such community becomes too populous
for a given hive the bees ''swarm, as IL
is called; that is, part of the over
crowded population separates from the
rest. and goes of to establish new colo
ny. In such case the emigrantS are
chosen or form their own band with dl-
rect reference, seemingly, to the future
welfare of the new colony. preserving
the numerical proportions characteristic
of all prosperous hives. The swarm con-
sists of one queen, some thousands OF
working bees or undcveloped females.
some hundreds of males or drones. This
is the normal combination in the bee COM
munity. and hives SO organized may sur
vive and keep together for many years.
There are reports Of bee-hiveS, a century
old. This is. however. probably an ex-
aggeration for beehives twenty years old
are rare, and they do not often survive
more than seven, eight, or perhaps ten
years. When speak of the life of a bee
hive. | do not mean to say that the indi-
viduals composing il live together for that
length of time; indeed, a queen rarely
lives beyond three or four years; one OF
seven years is seldom seen. while the
males never survive the summer in which
they are born, and the working bees die
gradually and are replaced by new ones.
But the hive as a community holds to-
gether for much longer period, being
constantly renewed by the process Of re-
production. and comes at last, like hu
man settlement, to consist of a variety o.
individuals born at different times.
When a swarm breaks off from an ole
community to form new colony, tn,
division is generally due 10 the appear
ance of new queen. The queen bee
usually quite cOntented with her lot
watching over her progeny, active anC
patient i'm the care of her eggs. become:
furious if rival arises in the hive. Sht
pounces upon her, and they sometimes
fight TO the death. So well is this under
stood in the hive that the workers TAX,
care to prevent such conflicts by holding
back the new queen just ready to b,
Matched from her royal cell till the bee:
have swarmed. AT such time the work
ers will stand by the cell, out Of which ,
queen is to be born, ascertain how far hel
Transformation is completed, and should
there be disposition of the young queer
shortly to creep out, they increase the de
post of wax upon the lid which shuts thu
cell, thus preventing the egress of tn
royal prisoner. If she tries to breal
through or attempts to gnaw her way out
the workers crowd around the opening t.
accumulate such an amount of wax upol
it as to Illustrate all her efforts. Whei
the old queen has peacefully departed, thu
new one is set free. What makes thi
fact more extraordinary is that usual!
the workers have never seen the birth o
queen or perfect female before; thei
hive has known but one queen, and We
they anticipate and guard against all tn,
dangers likely to arise from second
Can it be that these creatures do the RICH
thing at the right time consciously by
means of any faculty similar to our rea
son?-Prcf. Agassiz, in N. Y. Tribune.