The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-08-21
Habits of Bees.

An interesting book on the life and
habits Of bees mas been written by NJ.
Maeterlinck, the poet and sympolist.
ut IL we'll worth WHILE" he Gays.
ito watch bee that has found drop
or two of honey on wiudowsill or on
corner OF table. At first the little
creature imbibes the sweet morsei so
,, greedily that one can very easily and
without disturbing her at her work
place small mark on her body by
which she can be afterward distin-
guished from other bees. Her vo-
raclty, however, is only apparent, for
the honey does not pass into what I
may call her own stomach, but into
the stomach in which honey is kent
and which is evidently a storehouse
for the entire community.
AS soon as this compartment is
hl'ed she flies away, but not quickly
or at random like fly or butterfly.
On the contrary, she buzzes for a few
moments near the window or table. as
though she were making careful note
OF the spot where the treasure is
lying, and not until then does she fy
back to the hive, where she speedily
places herself in one ofthe cells.
In three or four minutes she comes
back Tor fresh load. and she repeats
this operation every FIVE minutes as
long as there is any honey to be
gained. Shr will even remain at work
until late in the evening without TAX
ing the slightest rest, flying continu-
ally from the window to the hive and
from the hive to the window.
Another beautiful trait is the
spirit of good fel el.owship that prevails
among bees. That some of them
which find honey as have described
do not tell others Of their good for
tune l admit, since it is only natural
that there should be among them the
same distinctions Of character that
we find among men, and that some
should be loquacious and good hearted
and others taciturn and secretive.
And one who might have been
with me wAile l was making my OBJ
servations would surely have noti ced
that some of the bees were very vain
and selfish, and such bees, We may
feel sure, would not be inclined to
reveal the source of their wealth,
since by keeping in concealed they
would gain great reputation in the
hive for their skill in discovering such
an abundance of honey. These, how
ever, are bees of g low type, which
have little in common with their col
leagues.
Quite different are those bees
which love to share with others what
ever honey they may fine. My note
book, in which I have carefully tabu.
lated all my observations, shows that
on an average four out Of every ten
bees brought others back with them
from the hive as soon as they took
thither their first load Of honey. On
one occasion / placed Il tiny mark on
the body Of small Italian bee SO that
l could distinguish her i u future, and
l noticed that she had two other bees
with her after she returned from the
hive with the intention of securing a
second load of honey. 1 captured
these, but did not disturb her, and the
next time she came back with three
companions, which l also captured.
and so | kept on, the result being
that at the close of the afternoon 1
had captured eighteen bees. 1 knew
then that the little Italian bee had
told eighteen of her colleagues Of her
good fortune and had invited them to
share it with her.
/