Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-09-10
AgaSSiz on Honey Bees.
FACTS UPON BoNEY BEES.

la a recent lecture Professor Agassiz said
in reference to honey hees. the bee hive con.
sists, when in full activity. of one queen
several hundred drones and MANY Thousand
working be 6. These cons itute a communit,
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 t.
that of the vertebrates In all vertebrates
the solid front mass of the nervous system
which We call the brain is prolonged back
ward into a long cord, known as the spinsI
marrow, rom which many rerv0us threads
arise and branch, spreading through the
whole organization The brain and the sni-
nal cord. in fact the whole central nervous
system, are incloHed in a cavity. the skull
and rachltic canal, separate from those in
which the organs of digestion, respiration.
circulation aid rep odaction are contained
the chest and abdominal cavity. For the
articulates, on the contrary, to which all in
sects or crustacea and worms belong. the
nervous system is scattered along the length
of the body in a succession of swellings. COP
nected together by threads. The first of
these swellif gs is situa' ed in the head. above
the alimentary canal: the rest are at regular
distances along the lower side of the BODY
Thus 1t appears that the battery from which
all volltion starts. by which all the acts o.
life are performed or regulated, through
which all external impressions are communi-
Gated and acted upon, are very different in
these TWO types of the animal kingdom. l.
Is, therefore, hardly probable that the life
work done by these organs should be the
same.
INSTINCTS OF HONEY BEES.
Let US look at s pme of these acts BY which
the quality we call instinct is manifested in
a community of bees. When such a commu-
nifty becomes too populous for a given hive
the bees swarm" as it is ctlled; that is, a
part of the ov~ercrowded population separates
from the rest, and goes off to establish a new
colony. In such a case the emigrants are
chosen or form their own bands with direct
reference, seemingly, to the future welfare oil
the rev colony, preserving the numerical
proportions characteristic of all prosperous
hives. The swarm consists of one queen
and some thousands of working bees or un.
developed females, some hundreds of male.
or drOnes. This is the normal combination
in the community, and hives SO organize
may survive and keep together for man,
years. There are reports of hives d centur,
old. This is probably an ex4ggeration, TO
bee hives twenty years old are rare, and the
do not often survive more than seven, eight
or perhaps ten years. When | speak of tb,
life of a bee hive do not mean to saw tina
the individuals composing it live togethe
nat length OF time; indeed, a queen rarel
lIvnl hpVnnd fhraa or Gnn-
seven years is seldom seen, while the male
never survive the summer in which they ar
born, and the working bees die gradually an
are replaced by new ones. But the hive as
community holds together for a longer perioC
being constantly renewed by the process O
reproduction; and comes a. last like a huma
settlement, to consist of a variety of indlyic
uals born at C~itferent times,
QUEEN BEES.
When q swarm breaks off from An nj
community to form a new colony the div
sion is generally due to the appearance of
new queen. The queen bee, usually oui
contented with her lot, watching over h,
progeny, active and latent in t e care of h,
eggs, Is furi Gus ii a rival arises in the hiv,
Sire pou1cts upon her and they sometim,
light to the death. SO well is this upderstoc
IN the hive that the workers take care
prevent such conflicts by holding back Il
new queen just ready to be Matched from h,
royal cell till the bees have swarmed.
such a time the workers will stand nv II
cell out OF which a queen is to be born. q
certain Row lar her Transformation is con
pleted, and should there be a disposition of
young queen shortly to C eep out, they i
crease the deposit of wax upon the lid wbit
shuts the cell, thus preventing the egress
the royal prisoner. Ii she tries to bres
through or attempts to gnaw her way on
the workers crowd around the orepino
accumulate such an amount of wax upon
as to Illustrate all her forts. When the o
queen has peacefully DIT parted the new one
set free. What makes this fact more txtr
ordinary is, that usually the workers ha
never seen the birth OF a queen or a perie
female before; their hive has known bur OF
queen, and yet they anticipate and qua
against all the dangers likely to arise from
second. Can it be that these creatures
the right thing at the right time conscious
oy means of any faculty similar to our reaso