Imatges de pàgina
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EXTRACTS FROM MY OWN NOTE-BOOK.

needle, and subjected it to a microscope. I also took some off the legs of a Bee who was flying in. Both had precisely the same appearance, which shows that Bee-bread is the farina of flowers simply pressed into the cells, without any admixture, any digestive, or chemical process. H. Woolcombe told me that it was the pollen of some composite cruciform flower.

SUBJECTS OF INVESTIGATION.

(?) Bees pierce the corollas of flowers which are so shaped that, in their natural state, they are unable to reach the nectary.

"I can only observe, that I have repeatedly stood a considerable time, and called others to witness the fact, in my own garden, more especially when the Humble Bee has been actively employed in piercing the bases of the common honeysuckle (Lonicera capresol), and although the Lonicera sempervirens grows along with them, its blossom generally remained untouched."-Bp. Brown. April 5th. 1833. Loudon's Mag. vol. vi. 469.

(?) This account only mentions the Humble Bee; does it equally hold of the common Bee?

Vol. v. p. 753.-Columbine and heart's-ease are said to have been similarly treated.

Vol. v. p. 74.-Aquilegia vulgaris.

Vol. iv. p. 479.—Antirrhinum majus, and Jasminum officinale.

EXTRACTS FROM MY OWN NOTE-BOOK.

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I have seen the conical hood (galiæ) of Aconitum lycoc, and the species nearest to it, perforated and under perforation by Bees: Aconitum apellus also.-Vol. iv. p. 479. Loudon.

June, 1837, I saw the Bees working at the bean blossom; the ants were sharing the honey with them through the holes which were pierced at the bottom of the upper side of the corolla; there were generally two holes, and they became black by age. I at first thought the work was the ants, and the profit the Bees; at last I saw one which came to a fresh flower, pierce it with the horny case of his proboscis, and then suck away.

WEIGHT OF BEES, THEIR BURDENS, &c.

Some very interesting experiments might be tried, I think, on the weight of Bees, their external loads, and the weight of honey which they can carry in their honey bags.

On the 23d of August, 1841, I took a glass full of honey, and, instead of turning the glass up, and letting the Bees depart at their leisure, I smoked them by inserting a bit of fungus, about the size of a small marble, under the glass. When in a state of intoxication I weighed them in a pair of accurate medicine scales, and found

100 Bees, taken at random, weighed

dwt. gr.

........ 3 11 = 191.

10 Bees of the largest size, having probably their honey
bags nearly full, as one which was accidentally killed

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EXTRACTS FROM MY OWN NOTE-BOOK.

giving an average weight of about 19 grains for ten Bees, which will correspond very nearly with the gross weight of the hundred, or nearly 2 grains as the weight of each Bee. Supposing each Bee had some honey in his bag, the average quantity contained by each would be half a grain.

I purpose trying the quantity of honey which a Bee can carry when fully gorged, in the following manner :-In the morning, when the Bees are going out to work, to catch two parcels of ten each. One parcel I shall stupify immediately, and then weigh; the other parcel I shall put into a box with some honey, and when they are gorged-for even in confinement I do not think a Bee will ever be "off his feed," then stupify and weigh them. The difference will give the weight of honey which a Bee's honey bag can contain.

The weight of pollen which a Bee can carry is also very great,

COTTAGE HIVE.

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PROPOSALS FOR FORMING A SOCIETY, TO BE CALLED "THE OXFORD APIARIAN SOCIETY,"

THE object of this Society to be twofold.

I. To promote an improved and more extensive system of Bee management among the cottagers, by the diffusion of information on the subject; the loan, not the gift, of Hives, their cost to be repaid from the produce; and the annual distribution of prizes, of which due notice will be given in the Oxford Papers, with conditions to be observed by the competitors.

II. To promote a more extensive and scientific knowledge concerning the natural history and cultivation of Bees among the higher classes.

To further this latter object, a small plot of ground to be rented within a very short walking distance of Oxford, and Hives of all sorts to be established there. The ground to be open to the members of the Society, and visitors admitted by tickets from subscribers, on payment of one shilling. Cottagers to be admitted by tickets, gratis.

The subscriptions to be 17. 1s. for the first year; for sub

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OXFORD APIARIAN SOCIETY.

sequent years 10s. 6d., to be devoted to lending new Hives, distributing prizes, and establishing an experimental garden or gardens, and other purposes connected with the objects of the Society.

Donations thankfully received from casual visitors towards the support of the Bee-garden. Subscriptions to be received by Mr. Kirtland, at the Museum, and at the Bank of Messrs. Parsons and Co.

Oxford, Feb. 28, 1833.

RULES OF THE OXFORD APIARIAN SOCIETY,

Agreed on at a General Meeting, held at the Ashmolean Museum, by permission of the Curator, on Tuesday, May 15, 1838, P. B. Duncan, Esq. in the chair :

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I. That the Society be called the "Oxford Apiarian Society."

II. That each member pay 17. 1s. the first year, and 10s. 6d. on subsequent years. Subscriptions, after the present, to be payable at the beginning of the year. Ladies to pay half the above sums. Donations thankfully received to aid in forming a permanent fund to promote the loan of Hives.

III. That the affairs of the Society be under the management of a president and committee, who shall make their report at an annual meeting in June.

IV. That Mr. Duncan, of New College, be president of the Society.

V.-That Mr. Hill, of Christ Church; Mr. Bigge, of Merton College; Mr. Cotton, of Christ Church; Mr. Acland, of Christ Church; Mr. Hobhouse, of Balliol College; and Mr. Hawkins, of Jesus College, be members of the committee, with power to add to their numbers.

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