The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-04-18
moultomof pilot.
THURSDAY, APRIL g, 1889.
LIFE IN A BEEHIVE.
An Interesting Description of the Little
Insects and Their Habits.

John Aspinwall, of Barrytown, n.
Y, delivered a lecture recently at the
Cooper institute on the little busy bee
its anatomy and physiology, and illus
trated his remarks by stereopticon
views showing the insect and its work
ings in all their details, says the New
York Times.
While in its physical makeup the
bee is in many respects the opposite OF
man in his habits and tricks, he very
much resembles the lord of creation,
and were bees to be transformed into
men some would undoubtedly go into
the police force or in the board of al
dermen, while there would not be a
few successors to Jake Sharp and to
the inexperienced young toughs who
get dubbed by the police and are then
sent up to the penitentiary for dis
honesty and general sass The oc-
cupation of walking delegate and dude
Washers are also found in apiarian So
ciety.
The little bee, that is, the worker, is
a horny skinned child of toll. He is
incased in rings and shields of smooth
horn to shield him against attacks of
his own species, and he tolls as long as
there is light. He has not got back
bone like a man or mule, but instead
he has little sting that serves his
purpose just as well, and thus man
ages to maintain his rights. Between
his tongue and sting there is a compli-
Gated mechanism that is of great use
to the farmer and to nature. Aside
from his honey that he distils, and
which IS worth thousands of dollars
annually to the farmer and to COM
merce, his habit of poking his head in
to flowers and covering it with pollen,
which he brushes off in other flowers,
renders him 4 benefactOr to nature in
fertiliZing flowers. Before the advent
of the bee in Australia it was impossi-
bic to get any seeds of red clover there.
OF course, his process of making honey.
might not suit the most fatidious
taste, for honey is partially digested
cane sugar, made SO by the aid of bee
SALIVA, but as the bee is 4 perfectly
clean little animal that revels in nectar
all day long, these little irregularities
must be overlooked. Besides, he uses
a different mouth for the honey.
The bee is Il good fiier, but as his
wings are smaller in proportion to his
body than are those OF the eagle to the
king OF birds, he has to flap them more
frequently, 50 he flaps away at the rate
OF 446 flaps to the minute. He has no
lungs, but system Of tiny air tubes
extend through all parts of the body,
and these he packs with air when he
wants to fly. Neither has he heart,
hint 4. -nl col a.
blood to the head. The head, as mag
nitied on the screen, is not beautiful
object, and as it is not the center of
the nervous system, he would not miss
it very much If cut off if it were not
for the eyes, two of which have 1000
lenses each to see the honey flowers
afar off, and two others to assist in
doing the microScopical work in the
hive.
The entrances to the hive are very
carefully guarded by sentinels, and
every bee on arriving at the door is
challenged by them with their anten-
nae. If he can give the counterSigu he
is admitted to the sanctuary, but if he
can not he is IN danger. for bees are
very nervous insects, and draw stings
on the slightest provocation. The ap-
picant must be a thief, and old thieves
are detected by experienced sentinels,
but the form of challenging must be
gone through first. The old thief bee
is fat and sleek and shining and very
Suave. If caught by sentinelS he will
at once try to make a deal and offer
the policeman some sugar, and while
they are eating it he either slips in and
fills up at the cells or he retreats and
tries another hive. Ii the seutinels are
incorruptible the thief humps himself,
draws his horny shields tight around
him so that the stings of the policemen
may not penetrate, and runs. Ayoung
thief stands up to fight and gets club
bed. He learns by experience.
The queen bee has not got such q
very easy time. She has plenty to eat
and eats it, and flies very little; but as
she has to lay all the eggs of the
colony, and often lays more than her
begrudge her nothing, but let her have
her own way everywhere.
The drone is the dude and walking
delegate of the hive. He is not very
numerous, however. He is fat, and
spends his time eating honey. flirting
with the girls and the queen. and then
takes quiet nap in the sun. When
his charms no longer please he is
driven out, and if he can not get a
berth in another hive he starves. The
little worker, however. according to
the lecturer, does not fare much bet
ter. She lives for about six weeks.
when she becomes feeble. her wings
get torn and fringed and she lies down
to died in the fields. refusing to return
to the hive and become a burden on
the colony.