Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1904-04-20
H0NEYBEE QUEENS.
THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE
FED BY The WORKERS.


oriental rulers are rudimentary com
pared with those which stand between
queens OF the honeybee AMI such
risk. Curiously enough. this * phase
of the internal economy Of the bee
hive which appears to have escaped
observation
In the British isles no poisonous
honey is collected. II IT exists the bees
have learned 10 avoid II. Probably
there is none, as the honey from ut
least one dangerous plant. the deadly
nightshade. is harmless. Ivy honey
would be the most suspicious OF any
gathered on a large scale. and II only
exerts, 80 far as observation goes. a
slightly laxative effect on the Digestive
organs. Although i'm this country no
poisonous honey is known. IL is met
with IN other places. notably in Asiatic
turkey. IL was ina this region that
NenophOn's soldiers were poisoned
2'3uo years ago 10y honey from the
Azeiia pontica. a plant which still
hourishcs in Armenia. Some centuries
later a Roman army suffered similarly.
but less severely. there being no
deaths.
The precaution OF compelling the
cook 20 eat a portion OF every dish.
which is the usual safeguard Of des-
potic rulers. or the still more primitive
PLAN Of giving the first helping 10
little dog. can be cludcd hv a clever
Borgia by having only onc-half of
bird or pastry poisoned. I'm a wasps'
nest each forager on returning pro-
ceeds directly 10 the queen and offers
reireShmcnt- Consequently the queen
is sometimes destroyed by slowly net
inS poison Further as regards ,vasps.
IL is observed that when any iarvm
not recently fed perceive the queen re-
ceivins food they become restless. If
nearly grown they wag their heads i'm
q suggestive way. which plainly con
vcys demand for share. Each
iorager after feeding the queen gives
the balance of his load direct To the
nurses.
In the case OF the honcybce one pos
Sible reason why no virulcuuy poison
Gus honey reaches the hive may be
that tho insect foolish enough to col
lect amy would probably die. as the so
~ II
i'm which preliminary digestive proc
ess proceeds. This Is proved by the
polariScopc which shows that. while
the nectar OF the flowers is pure cane
sugar, or lcvulo>c. the substance i'm tho
hive cells is ~1cromctrically half dex-
trosc and half cauc sugar Dextrosc is
lnvert sugar. coarse variety OF which
Is the glucose OF commerce Forager
bees returning To the beehive place the
half digcStcd product known ass honey
I'm their Storcroom with other honey.
This mixing would have The eject Of
alternating poisoned load should
such bc brought in.
Foraging bees never feed the queen
or young larva', but they give mouth
ful or two To- drones I'm passing. Just
before scaling FOR the mctamorphosis
workers and droncs are fed with honey
mixed with pollen. Not 80 the young
queens. who only get further supply
OF the rcdigcsted milky substance
known as chylc. which is the susie
nance of all larvr indiscrimlnately dur
Ing the first three days OF their exist
'encc. During the chrysals stage there
is no feeding. Ii is the business of
gang. distinct FOR the time being. 10 ca
ter for the queen and young. They
bring the food from the stores and sub
NIT il TO the digestive process referred
20. after which IL is rcgurgitated To
supply the needs OF the queen and
young LARVAE. The attendants are nu-
mcrous. ana each supplies only mi-
mute quantity. The queen bee is 80
constituted that her digestive system Is
capable of aSsimilatins only the pre-
pared food OF chylc. She viii die in
few hours ON comb containing honey.
although kept AT the temperature OF
the hive.
Thus it would appear that the safe
guards are:
First-A bee collecting poisonous
honey would probably die before
reaching the hive.
Sccond.-If one succeeded In deposit
ing poisoned honey. the circumstance
that IL did 50 would prove the poison
20 Ice not virulcnt. and its mixture
with other honey i'm the Storcroom
would stiu further attenuate the poi
son and render il harmless. This is
AAAN NtsA@ at N lAlNlf Alt- ilANNllNA nc
comes human food. Ii has. as stated
above. occurred that poisoned honey
has passed both these lines of defense.
Third.-Should the honey he still del
eteriouS the alimentary attendants Of
the queen would FIRST suffer. and only
those bringing wholesome food would
reach her. as struggle Tor the privi-
legc OF feeding her majesty is contiuu-
ally i'm progress
Fourth should the stores pass the
three safeguards before mentioned
there is still another viz. that each
one of the queens attendants feeds
her only FOR second ut time and
thus she would never get a sufficient
quantity To affect her seriously. The
queen is always ON the move and the
competition To feed her 50 great that
she is continually bringing fresh bees
in front OF her from which position
alone food cam be administered. No
worker bee would think of joStling:
every one gives way To the queen.
Uneasy monarchS and others may
find some suggestions i'm these ar
engagements for Securing thcir safety.
Probably they viii decide To take their
chances rather than avoid risk by Uy-
ing on food which has previously been
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