INDEX TO Aberration of Instinct, 165 Age of the Queen, 161 Age of the Worker, 9, 149, 275 American Bee Journal, 83, 90, 119, Bee Mart, 70 Bee Moth, 30, 93, 263 Bee Pasturage, 211, 256 Development of Queens, 143, 200; 214, 226, 265 Diminutive Bees, 4, 224 Diseases of Bees, 58, 125, 236, 262 Bees, Wasps, and Humble Bees, 254 Drones, 5, 39, 172, 223, 241, 242, Berlepsch Hive, 15 Black Bees, 25 263, 264 Drone Brood, 172 Drone-producing Colonies, 126, 145 Drone Eggs, 206 Drone Retention, 164, 252 Driven Swarms, 208 Driving, 174 Drumming, 174 Dwarf Bees, 4 Dysentery, 77, 125-31-40-51-78 Dzierzon Hive, 14 Dzierzon Theory, 5, 25, 48, 73, 97, 121, 145, 169, 199, 223 Egg-laying, 143 Emerging of Queens, 200 Ether, 46 Eye of the Bee, 267 Excreta of Bees, 253 Excursions of Queens, 129, 161, 212 Experience, 203 Expulsion of Drones, 41, 156, 260 Fecundation of Queens, 5, 51, 74, 75, Fertile Workers, 5, 138, 146, 147, Fertility of the Queen, 52, 55, 109, 166, 169, 203, 211 Copulation of Queen and Drone, 65, Food of the Larvæ, 229 98, 119, 150 Costs of Producing Wax, 88 Bee Feed, 43, 69, 114, 159, 175, 178 Cuban Honey, 46 Bees' Flight, 20 Bee Government, 91 Bees' Hearing, 214 Bee Houses, 70 Bee Items from Maine, 126, 239 Pookeeping, 190 Bee Law in France, 79 Culture of Mustard, 190 Curious Cases, 115, 188, 228 Delayed Fecundation, 104 Forced Swarms, 207 Foreign Publications, 215 Frames, 108, 114, 129 Destruction of Brood, 111, 133, 209, Geological, 203 German Adages, 15, 202 Development of Bees, 11, 141, 199 Grape Sugar, 78 756369 Introducing Queens, 100, 110, 159, Population of a Hive, 132, 276 Kritz's Method, 90, 105 Langstroth's Hive, 14, 87, 117, 142 Larvæ, 100, 231 Larvæ Food, 229 Linden Trees, 134 Longevity of the Queen, 20 Mead, 256 Meal Feeding, 69, 78 Mexican Bees, 21, 235 Mites, 76 Mortality among Bees, 91, 151, 262 Spermatozoa, 105, 212 Stingless Bees, 234 Structure of the Bee's Cell, 12, 186, 254 Stupefying Bees, 46, 159, 264 Sugar Candy, 213 Sugar Water, 132, 256 Swarms Absconding, 125, 235 Swarm Sac, 235 Swarming Season, 189 Teeting, 201, 258 Tobacco Smoke, 159 Transferring Eggs, 199 Queen Bee, 5, 49, 59, 109, 157, 178, Uniting Colonies, 86, 182 241, 247 Queen Combats, 134 Queen's Excursions, 129, 130, 212 Queen Raising, 143 Range of Bees' Flight, 20 Red Clover, 38, 86, 228, 263 Retention of Drones, 164, 252, 271 Robbing, 24, 46 Warm Arrangement, 232 Wasps, 254 Water for Bees, 80 Wax, 88, 253 Weight of Swarms, 86 Wintering Bees, 67, 89, 118, 184, Winter Passages, 136 Worker Bee, 5, 7, 241, 249, 250 Workers not Monsters, 28 Virgil and the Constellations, 192 Royal Cells, 41, 42, 46, 63, 86, 137, Yield of Honey, 109, 126 Young Queens, 130, 137, 206 ERRATA. AMERICAN BEE JOURNALINIA PUBLISHED BY A. M. SPANGLER & CO., 25 NORTH SIXTH ST., PHILADELPHIA. VOL. I. Bee Culture. JANUARY, 1861. BEE CULTURE need no longer be a precarious and empirical pursuit. Discoveries and improvements comparatively recent, have so elucidated its principles, that its processes can be more definitely regulated than those of almost any other branch of rural economy. Without being divested in the least of that attractiveness which, from the earliest periods of history, drew to it the attention alike of the humble cottager and the inquiring student-making it a subject of unflagging interest and unfailing enjoyment, it now claims additional regard from the fact that it can be so conducted as to become a source of certain and amply remunerating profit. It may be viewed, first, as a science having for its object the attainment of a correct knowledge of all that pertains to the life, habits and instincts of the honey bee; and, secondly, as a practical art, which regards all the attainments thus made and to be made, as the only reliable foundation of successful manage ment. The chief cause of the depressed condition of bee culture in general, is not to be traced to any want of attention to the subject. It is to be found rather in an inadequate knowledge of and erroneous opinions concerning the physiology and habits of the insect; in the defective or ill-adapted construction of the hives, however differing in form and material, in which it has been doomed to live and labor; and in an injudicious mode of treatment. This, more than aught else, has prevented bee culture from making progress commensurate with the time and attention devoted to it. Despite the most assiduous observation and study, the interior of the hive and the domestic economy of the colony, remained till recently, and still remain for the masses, a mystery. The No. 1. common beekeeper knew that he was the owner of a stock of bees; he knew also, if he knew much, that among them was a queen, and workers, and drones. But the pecular functions of each kind or class, and their respective relations to each other were, and still are with most persons, matters of conjecture and dispute. Of the means, also, of properly directing the labors of a colony, of regulating its operations systematically, so as to secure desired ends, almost utter ignorance prevailed, and still prevails very generally. After the swarm was secured-whether with or without superstitious observances—the hive was placed on its stand, and the bees were allowed to prosecute their labors as best they might. If in peculiarly favorable seasons or locations, the stock happened to thrive satisfactorily, its owner was thought to have luck; but rarely had any one the vanity to claim success as the result of his management. And yet, duly allowing for the vicissitudes of seasons, certain and regular success does most essentially depend on management. An adequate knowledge of the nature, habits, and instincts of the insect having once been attained, and a thorough control of the operations of the colony secured by the use of properly-constructed hives, the business fairly and truly becomes a subject of mere management. The means of acquiring such knowledge have now been made accessible, and hence we were warranted in stating, as we did, that bee culture need no longer be a precarious pursuit, but should be one regulated by system. The accumulated discoveries made within the last fifteen years, combined with deductions from facts previously recorded, have totally revolutionized the business, placed it on a firm foundation, and given it an impetus which must cause it to advance and flourish. Having reached this stage of development, it claims a higher appreciation, and deserves |