St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-12-06
A LIFE OF LABOR.
Now the busy Bee Gathers lts Winter
Store Of PrOvender.

Now the Busy Bee Gathers lite Winter
Store Of Pr0vender.
For the bees life Is all labor. No
miner. no puddler. NO navy, no docker
90 taxes his physical powers as the bees
do theirA Nor did even tho slaves on
tho cotton planta tions In the gathering
season ever work under tho lash so
long and 50 INCREASINGLY rs these in
sects do under tho pressure Of their
communistic public opinion. The ear
licst rambler on . summers morning
will find the bees before him among
tho flowers and after the darkness has
closed tho honeycups and driven the
bees from tho beds Of bloom the listen
or will hear that tho work Of tho in
terror of the hive is still in full prog.
ross
Tho gathering Of the honey is but .
small part Of the duties upon which the
working bees are employed. Tho comb
has TO be made, and this is tremendous
ly hard work. Wax is q secretion Of
the bees They produce it slowly. and
In fakes. from underneath certain
scales that open on the abdomen, and
convey. 1t with their feet to their
mouth to be made moist and ductifc.
Teeth and tongue together twist and
turn it till it is soft and ready for usc.
and then it is plastered on tho founda-
tion and worked out by the teeth and
feet into six-sided cells with absolute
mathematical accuracy. The secretion
Of tho wax evidently makes great
drafts on the vital strength Of tho boes.
for it il found they consume twenty
pounds OF honey for every pound Of
wax that they produce.
The honey is simply the winter store
Of provendcr. Tho baby bees in their
grub state are fed on different kind OF
food. which also the workers havo TO
gather. This is formed out Of tho pol
len, or fertilixin2 dust of flowers. Beca
Is is we'll known. perform an essential
Office in the cross-fertilizatiOn Of plants
(quite unwittingly on their part no
doubt, by carrying the pollen from one
another to the pistil in another bloom.
In this connection the curious fact is
observed that hoes do not visit on one
and the same journey different kinds Of
flowers They collect pollen from all
varieties; but with whatever sort they
begin. to that sort they keep till they
have filed the little baskets that they
carry for tho purpose on their hind legs.
Having flown home and stored their
load in the cells appropriated to it, they
may commence again on Quite another
kind of pollen-bcaring blossom. The
utility OF this arrangement for tho
flowers Is obvious; but it Is not SO clear
how the beo comes to DO thus discrim-
mating.
Another substance collected by the
bees is called propolia This is = kind
Of gcm, which they obtain from certain
resinous buds. or from the bark of such
tree as the willow. They can extract
It also from varnish. 1t is an old super
stition that tho bees in an apiary should
be informed when their master dies. as
they will wish to visit his coffin. Somc
Of those rationalistic people who can
not be satisfied till they have reduced
every relic OF moro poetic times to .
prosaic explanation havo propounded q
theory that the bees arc attracted to the
varnish. In the hive. propolis is used
to cement all creviccs. and to join all
partitions. 1t Is brought into requisi-
tion. too, whom an enemy invades the
hive; he is II possible. stung to death.
and II he be too heavy to remove, he is
impermeably sealed up within propo-
lis tomb Review.