The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-06-11
HON EYBE,E o

HON EYBEE EMS.
i4E MANNER 4 IN VIII THY ARE ARE
FED aY WORKERS.
sher,- Arc Numerous safcEusa1r4tIs n
the s,tve to I..-ey9ae% Asainst the
INSTRUMENTATION asf Poison IKone5--lt
lis Isisyerens With yynspS. >S
The safeguards provided against the
administra ton of poison to the despohc
oriental rulers are rudimentary COM
pared with those which stand between
queens of the honeybee and such q
risk. Curiously enough, this is n phase
of the internal economy of the pee
hive which appears to have escapes;
observation.
In the British Isles no poisonous
honey is collected. If it exists the bees
have learned to avoid it,: Probably
there is none, as the honey from at
least one dangerous plant. the dcaolE
nirbtshaue, is harmless. Ivy honey
would be the most suspicious OIL any
gathered on a large scale. and II Only
eNertS so far as observation goes, Il
slightly laxative effect on the digestive
organs. Although in this country nc
poisonous money is hhoM - II -
with in other places, notably in ASIatlc
Turkey 1t was in this region that
Een0p,lcn's soldiers We're poisoned
$50 years ago by honey from the
.,zella pontica. n plant which sun
1iourishes IN -ArheIld- sooiiie -,,Ll.,~.
latera Roman army suieieu si!iii-' '~ = =. :.
but less severely ,het Z oet'tt7 i'N
deaths.
The Drecauton OF cotipe'iihS -
cook to. eat Il portion u cNSi! N
which is tie usual Salesuaro " u s.5s-
potic rulers, or the stun more prii'it ~
plan OF giving inc iIfst neipie ~ :
little dog. can be eiudeo pS +" cies q
Borgia by having only onc-half OF
bird or pastry poiSoiied- III NSslS
nest each forager on returning pro
ccetis directly to the queen ana offers
feifeshfuehS- Sohsei oEiiti' - -
is sometimes destroyed ~ sio"is
ing poison. Further as regards WaSpS.
it is observed that when any iafF;e
not recently fed perceive the queen re.
cciving food they become feStiess. ~
nearly grown they waS thelf heaHS III
4 suggestive way, Whlch Piiihl9 con-
veys demand iof Shi'ie. 1">h
forager after feeding the queen gives
the balance OF his load dlrcct 10 lhc
nurses.
In the case of the honeybee one pos
sibIe reason why no virulently poison
Gus honey reaches the hive may pc
that the insect foolish enough 10 COL
lect any would probably die, as the SO
called honey sack is really q stomach
in which Il preliminary digestive proc
ess proceeds. This is proved by the
poiariscopc, which shows that, While
1Iie, nectar of the flowers is pure cane
sugar, or IevuIose, the substance In the
hive cells is systematically half deX-
trosc and half cane sugar. DeXtrosc Is
.invcrt sugar, q coarse variety of which
is the glucose of commerce. foragef
bees rntl,rning to the beehive place the
half dsested product known as honey
in their storeroom VIII othet. honeS
This mixing would have the effect of
Alternating poisoned loau si'ouio
such be- brought in.
For,Sing bees never feed the queen
or young larvae. but they give u mouth
rl1I or two 20 drones in passing. Just
before sealing for the metamorphosis
n-orkersard droncs are Fed with honey
MIXED with pollen Not so the young
Queens. who only get Il further supply
of thc redicested milky substance
known as chylc, which is the susie
NOE Of all larv:c indiscriminately dur
ir,, ,te first three days of their exist
-s-.n nY.f3