The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-05-30
HOUSE AND FARM
AolMethlnx Ab0ut Rees.

because you are afraid of them, and
probably have been stung. But you
must remember that, after all, the sting |
ing was your own fault, for no doubt
YOU troubled the bees in some way, and
their sting is the only thing they have
with which to protect their precious store
of honey and wax. You remember what
we said about that sting the other day
that it was SO small that you couldn't see
it even with magnitying glass that
made the point Of needle appear to be
quarter Of An inch broad and yet how
that sting can hurt!
Every swarm of bees contained in
these little bee houses that many of you
who live in the country, have seen so
often, is composed OF three different
kinds-the queen, the workers, and the
drones. The queen is not the only e.
male in the swarm, but she is the only
perfect female. All the worker bees are
females, but rot perfect ones, and the
drones, who never do any wsrk at all,
arc the males. r =
How bnsy the workers are! They
gather all the honey ana bee-glue, feed
the young and keep the hives clean, and
after the close Of the honey season they
xii, off all the drones.
With the exception of the queen, all
the bees in nivc die in about nine
months, so every winter finds new bees
i'll the swarm. The queen lays from
1000 to 5000 eggs day, and hive
sometimes contains 10000 bees,
There is very funny thing about
these eggs, and that IS that, while all OF
them are alike when they are laid, the
workers feed the maggots with different
s2kilds, d beetle droues, workers and
queens. The, queen deposits eggs first
for the workers, and then for the droncs
and queens. The queen has sting
which she never uses, except in fighting
4. with other queen bees. After the bees
hayc been hard at work all day they 60 to
bod by clinging to each others blythe feet,
thus making long chains hung from the
top Of the hive. One bee fastens him
sell to the ceiling, and the next one
rlings with its forc-fcet to the hinslfeet
Of the one above, and so on, until hun
dreds are fastened together. We shouldn't
think that the top bee who has TO hold
all this string would call it much of a
rest.
The bees, beside knowing great
many other things, know enough to go
into the house when it rains. If cloud
comes up in the west, they fly away
home as fast as their wings will carry
them.
Let lis sec how the workers make this
bee-bread with which the young bees
are ted. The worker starts out on her
travels and comes to a big flower and
flies into it, When she comes out she is
covered from head to tail with pollen,
which sticks to her legs and the hairs
over her body. She takes her first pair
OF legs and dusts herself off, and pass
es this dust to the middle pair and from
them to her hind legs. With the last
pair Of legs she works the pollen into
going home, anil sometimes she gets so
heavily laden that when she reaches the
hive she has to call other bees to help
her unload into @ pollen cell. Then the
bee works over the pellets until they
become soft paste, and then it is in q
condition to give to the little bees larvae.
When the larvn gets so big with eating
as to fill its cell, the workers don't feed
it any more, but cover the mouth of the
cell with wax. Then the larvae who is Il
prisoner, begins to cover the inside of
its cell with silk, which it spins just as
the silk worm does.
Then wonderful changes take place in
the chrysalis, and by and by out comes
the perfect bee.
Let us see how they build their cells
Thomas says:
"They generally begin at the top OF
roof of their chamber and build down.
wald, at first working irragularly, and
rs it Were, FASTING over the surface, and
building horizontal cells OF a more per,
feet form. These at length become SC
numerous that they extend downward in
the form Of a vertical wall. other con-
CERES "a collection OF several bodies in
one mass) Of cells are formed III success.
sion, until the whole comb assumes the
form OF q series of perpendicular plates
or partitions. Each plate consists Of q
double set Of cells, the bottoms of which
are applied to each other, and form the
partition between each set. The cells
are not always Of the same size, but {
sufficient number of given depth
are reserved for receiving eggs, and
which are necessarily adapted to the siz.
of the future maggot; the smaller o.
shallower cells are those in which tn.
honey is stored.
The breeding and store cells ar
placed horizontally, but the mouth o
the cell is sometimes a little raised, tn
better to retain the honey. The inter
.: space between the vertical combs is gen
orally about half an inch; these streets
AS they may be termed in this city o
industry, being just wide enough to a!
low two bees busted upon the opposit
cells to pass without incommoding cacl
other. In addition to these interspace
the combs are perforated in variou
= places, so as to allow passage for tn
=. bees frtm one street to another, thu
r saving them much time"
= Don't you call that wonderful? Blu
We find so many other things of interes
that it will be impossible to tell all abou
them this time. There are the swarm
~ fngs, the wild bees, the gathering OF tn
loncy-bags, which some Of the wild bee
build from the branches of trees in gres
masses four feet long. At some othe
! meeting Of the club we will talk over a
these mattcrs.-N. Y. 7ribune.
"YOu. Have, You Hayc!'
A young man, q post-oftice clerk, d.
faofpl in Oh o1tpO 1offoro x,,no tod