Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-06-02
BEES AS MESSENGERS,
ihey carry Dispatches as Unerringly
as Trained Pigeons,

II is more than likely that the next
great European war will be signallzed
by some altogether remarkable inuo-
rations in the way OF Carrying militia
ry dispatches. The carrier pigeons OF
quarter OF a century back are GER
tain to be superseded. perhaps by
storRs, perhaps by sparrows, Exper-
iments have already been tried with
both these birds, and with a fair de-
gree OF success,
The stork, however, despite hls
swtftneSs of flight and his strength,
is too easy a mark for the Lehel bull
let, and it is questioned whether the
sparrow is sufficiently strong. In
this uncertainty an English apicul,ur.
list offers bees as messengers OF war.
He has tested their packet-ca
abilities. and can voueh for ther
speedy return, upon liberation, TO the
place whence they came.
While at first sight the turning Of
bees into couriers may seem some
thing OF joke, II Is nevertheless re-
garded seriously throughout England.
The man who suggested IL took a few
bees from his own house to that OF a
friend four miles away. He waited
several days, SO that the bees might
become familiar with their surround
ings. He then let few OF them
loose in room, In which was q plate
of honey, The bees settled upon this,
and while they were busy eating mock
dispatches were fastened on them by
the apioulturist's trained hand.
The thinnest Of all thread bound
the little packets, which were OF the
tilmiest of paper, to the bees backs.
Great care was taken to leave the
head and wings absolutely free The
windows were then opened and tha
bees thrown out into tho air, With
the certainty of carrier pigeons, they
| started off Mt once for home, arriving
there IN an incredibly short time,
with the packets secure upon their
backs.
Naturally this project would only be
possible in summer and In warm cli-
mates, for the reason that the bees
| would be unable to endure severe
weather. Bees would have the advnn-
tage over pigeons or birds because OF
their inyisibility Nor would there
be any difficulty in going through the
enemy's lines. The apiculturist says
that they could travel 80 miles quite
as easily as they could four
Though this Is the first time that
bees have been suggested IA army
messengers, there have been many
cases when they have proved inval-
liable as defending forces. At one
| time, several centenurtes ago, the city
Of Tamly, In the Spanish territory Of
Niatine, was besieged by the Portu-
guese, The invaders were winning
bastion after bastion, when the be-
leagured citizens wore struck with u
brilliant project, They brought all
the hives that they could find In the
place and set them upon the city wall,
building great fires underneath them.
The smoke and the flames 30 tncensed
the bees that they rushed out In
ewarms and flew down upon tho enc
my, making panic instanter and
causing them to fee.
Very much the same plan was tried,
and with equal success. by a states
man of Thurngla, whose house was
surrounded one day by furious mob.
He marched his servants out with
all his beehives and threw them one
by one In the midst OF the crowd, A
cannon ball would not have been half
as effective rs were these strange and
unexpected weapons. 1t took but q
few moments to clear the space
around the statesman's DWELLING
NJ Y. World.