Observations on the natural history of bees

Front matter

OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

NATURAL HISTORY

Preface

Curiosity and avidity being equally awakened, by the industry of these diminutive beings, innumerable theories, observations, and experiments have followed regarding them, and uncommon patience has attended the inquiry; Yet the real discoveries, compared with the multitude of investigators, have been surprisingly few* Vague speculations have been substituted for rational researches into the nature of bees, and superficial inspection deemed satisfactory analysis of their works. ■ Hence the properties actually ascertained are so interwoven with errors, that no subject has been the parent of greater absurdities., Unfortunately, also, some of those treatises, the most accessible,, and, at the present day, the most popular3 only contribute to their wider dispersion, and enhance the difficulties of the philosophic naturalist attempting their eradication. A considerable portion of the subsequent work is devoted to this purpose. It belongs to the reader to judge of the deductions whereby the author concludes that he has established facts from experiment.

Perhaps no treatise of equal compass, perhaps no treatise whatever contains as- many novelties in the history of bees. Their nature, organization, senses, instinct, and mode of perpetuation, . are ail illustrated. The origin of wax, the faculty of obtaining it from honey or sugar, its applica*

PREFACE, tion to use in the structure of cells, and the formation of combs, are perspicuously discussed, while several points are established which had been previously the alternate theme of conjecture and controversy. But the general approbation given here, as well as on the Continent, to a modest and unobtrusive work, wherein both instruction and amusement are combined, constitutes the best testimony of its merits. Thus, to use the words of Sue, a foreign author, "the observations are so consistent, and the deductions so conclusive, that, when occupied with this treatise, we feel as if we had assisted the author in each experiment, and pursued it with corresponding zeal and interest. Let us invite the admirers of Nature to its perusal; few are of such quality, or so faithfully describe the properties and habits of bees."

It is a circumstance too remarkable to be overlooked, that the author's defective sight induced him to employ an. assistant in conducting his experiments. Some of these have been since confirmed by various observers, and among others by his son Peter Huber, whose elegant taste for natural history is testified in his Researches concerning the Habits of Ants. The experiments themselves seem to have been so judiciously adapted to the object in view, and the conclusions so strictly logical, as evidently to preclude important errors. It is not

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PREFACE, uncommon, indeed, to hear authority challenged. Even persons the least qualified venture to oppose their opinions to the truly learned, with a specious air of confidence, very apt to delude the unthinking part of mankind. But those whose minds are the most copiously stored, are not invariably the most urgent to disclose the full scope of their information. Therefore, although certain facts be not specified, it is far from a necessary consequence that they have been unseen ; nor although we fail to procure the same result under what we deem the same circumstances, are we hastily to denounce the accuracy of our precursors „

After the talents of the author's philosophic assistant, Francis Burnens, had been assiduously devoted to his service for a number of successive years, he was called on to reside in a different quarter, where he now discharges some respectable public functions ; and it appears that of late he had not forsaken their common pursuits.

A long interval elapsed between the .publication of the different memoirs, forming the first and second part of this volume. Here the whole are presented somewhat in an abbreviated form, particularly the portion relative to anatomical details, the theory of respiration, and the architecture of bees. All the substances however, is preserved ; and, amidst the per-

PREFACE.

Vll plexity and intricacy in which it is partly involved, the narrative is rendered as explicit and concise as the subject admits. Nevertheless, a few passages have proved of doubtful interpretation, and a few unintelligible, Naturalists are frequently betrayed into an unprofitable prolixity, lessening the interest of their works, and even clouding them with obscurity.,

The cultivation of bees forms a branch of rural economy, which may be carried to very great extent. Its utility is obvious ; and where so much benefit might accrue, especially to the more dependent classes of the community, it is to be regretted that it does not receive greater attention. In general the cultivator will find his cares sufficiently rewarded.

Pag<v

Memoir or Huber, abridged from De Candolle's " Life and Writings of Francis Huber," published originally in Bib. Univer. Fev., 1833, . » ariii

PART L

Letter, I On the impregnation of the queen bee, 1

II Sequel of observations on the impregnation of the queen bee, . . . 25

III.— The same subject continued; observations on retarding the fecundation of queens,

IV On Schirach's discovery, . . 47

V Experiments proving that there are sometimes common bees which lay fertile eggs, ...a..

VI -On the combats of queens ; the massacre

of the males ; and what succeeds in a hive where a stranger queen is substituted for the natural one, . . 67

VII.— -Sequel of experiments on the reception of a stranger queen ; M. de Reaumur's observations on the subject, . 84

VIII Is the queen oviparous ? What influence has the size of the cells, where the eggs are deposited, on the bees produced? Researches on the mode of spinning the cocoons, 81>

IX.—On the formation of swarms, . . 104

X CONTENTS.

Page.

Letter X.—The same subject continued, . . 121 XI.— The same subject continued, . . 134 XII— Additional observations on queens laying only the eggs of drones, and on those deprived of the antennae, . , 142 XIIL— Economical considerations on bees, 152

PART II. Chapter L— Schirach's discovery confirmed, . 165

II. — On the senses of bees, and particularly

that of smelling, ... 182

III. — Researches on the use of the antennae

in some complicated operations of

bees, 196

IV. — On the respiration of bees, . . 206

V. — On a new enemy of bees, . . 219

VI. -— New opinions on wax, . . . 230 VII — -On the origin of was, . . 237 VIII. — On the architecture of bees, . 251 IX — Modifications of the architecture of

X.— Completion of the cells, . . . 288

Explanation of the Plates, .... 301

Appendix

Remarks on — I. — Generation of bees, . . . 308

II. — Secretion of wax, , . 310

III. — Origin of wax, . . . 312

IV. — Farina or pollen, . . 314

V — Nature and production of honey, 316

VI — -Varieties and species of honey-bees, 319

VII — Most common enemies of bees, , 320 VIII.— Maladies of bees, . . 322 IX — Effects of cold on bees, . 324

CONTENTS. Xi

Page.

Remarks on—XI.— Situation of the apiary, . 326

XII. — On the management of bees in

XIII. — -Modes of taking the honey, 334

XIV. — The union of swarms with each

Analytical Index, 343

Page 163. The distance specified for the excursions of bees seems to be corroborated by a communication to M, Lombard from the author, in April 1810,

MEMOIR OF HUBER.

Francis Hubek, was born at Geneva, on the 2d of July 1750, of an honourable family, in which vivacity of mind and imagination seemed hereditary. His father, John Huber, had the reputation of being one of the most witty men of his day ; a trait which was frequently noticed by Voltaire, who valued him for the originality of his conversation. He was an agreeable musician, and made verses which were boasted of even in the saloon at Ferney. He was distinguished for lively and piquant repartee ; he painted with mnch facility and talent ; he excelled so much in the cutting out of landscapes, that he seems to have been a creator of this art. His sculpture was better than that which those who are simply amateurs are able to execute ; and to this diversity of talent, he joined the taste and the art of observing the manners of the animal creation.

John Huber transmitted almost all his tastes to his son. The latter attended from his childhood the public lectures at the college, and, under the guidance of good masters, he acquired a predilection for literature, which the conversation of his father served to develope. He owed to the same paternal inspiration his taste for natural history, and he derived his fondness for science from the lessons of De Saussure, and from manipulations in the laboratory of one of his

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MEMOIR OF HUBEKo relatives, who ruined himself in searching for the philosopher's stone. His precocity of talent was manifest In his attention to nature, at an age when others are scarcely aware of its existence, and in the evidence of deep feeling, at an age when others hardly betray emotions. It seemed that, destined to a submission to the most cruel of privations, he made, as it were instinctively, a provision of recollections and feelings for the remainder of his days. At the age of fifteen, his general health and his sight began to be impaired. The" ardour with which he pursued his labours and his pleasures, the earnestness with which he devoted his days to study, and his nights to reading of romances by the feeble light of a lamp, and for which, when deprived of its use, he sometimes substituted the light of the moon, were, it is said, the causes which threatened at once the loss of health and of sight His father took him to Paris, to consult Tronchin, on account of his health, and Venzel on the condition of his eyeso

With a view to his general health, Tronchin sent Mm to a village (Stain) in the neighbourhood of Paris, in order that he might be free from all disturbing occupations. There he practised the life of a simple peasant, followed the plough, and diverted himself with all the rural concerns, This regimen was completely successful, and Huber retained, from this country residence, not only confirmed health, but a tender recollection and decided taste for a rural life.

The oculist Venzel considered the state of his eyes as incurable, and he did not think it justifiable to hazard an operation for cataract, then less understood than at present, and announced to young Huber the probability of an approaching and entire blindness. His eyes, however, notwithstanding their weakness, had, before his departure, and after his return, met those of Maria Aimee Lullin, a daughter of one of the syndics of the Swiss Republic. They had been companions at the lessons of the dancing master, and such a mutual love was cherished as the age of seventeen is apt to produce-. The constantly increasing probability, however, of the blindness of Huber, decided M. Lullin to refuse his consent to the union ; but as the misfortune of her friend and chosen companion became more certain, the more did Maria regard herself as pledged never to abandon him. She had become attached to him at first through love, then through generosity and a sort of heroism 5 and she resolved to wait until she had attained the lawful age to decide for herself (the age of twenty-five), and then to unite herself with Huber. The latter perceiving the risk which his infirmity would probably occasion to his hopes, endeavoured to dissimulate. As long as he could discern some light, he acted and spoke as 11 he could see, and often beguiled his own misfortune by such a .conference. The seven years thus spent., made such an impression on him, that during the rest of his life, even when his blindness had been overcome with, such surprising ability as to furnish one of his claims to celebrity, he was still fond of dissembling ..2 he would boast of the beauty of a landscape, which, he knew of only by hearsay or by simple recollection,— the elegance of a dress,— or the fair complexion of a female whose voice pleased him ; and, in his conversations, in his letters, and even in his books, he would, say, / have seent 1 have seen with my own e,i$e$, xvi

MEMOIR OF HUBER.

These expressions, which deceived neither himself nor any one else., were like so many recollections of that fatal period of his life when he was daily sensible of the thickening of the veil which was constantly spread between him and the material world, and increased his fear not only of becoming entirely blind, but of being deserted by the object of his love. But it was not so ; Miss Lullin resisted every persuasion— every persecution even— by which her father endeavoured to divert her from her resolution ; and, as soon as she had attained her majority, she presented herself at the altar, conducted by her maternal uncle, M. Rilliet Fatio, and leading, if we may so term it, herself the spouse who in his happy and brilliant days had been her choice, and to whose saddened fall she was now determined to devote her life.

Madame Huber proved, by her constancy, that she was worthy of the energy which she had manifested. During the forty years of their union, she never ceased to bestow upon her blind husband the kindest attention: she was his reader, his secretary, his observer, and she removed, as far as possible, all those embarrassments which would naturally arise from his infirmity. Her husband, in alluding to her small stature, would say of her, mens magna in corpore parvo. As long as she lived, said he also, I was not sensible of the misfortune of being blind.

We have seen the blind shine as poets, and distinguish themselves as philosophers and calculators ; but it was reserved for Huber to give a lustre to his class in the sciences of observation, and on objects so minute that the most clear-sighted observer can scarcely observe them. The reading of the works

of Reaumur and Bonnet, and the conversation of the latter, directed his curiosity to the history of bees* His habitual residence in the country inspired Mm with the desire, first of verifying some facts, then of filling some blanks in their history ; but this kind of observation required not only the use of such an instrument as the optician must furnish, but an intelligent assistant, who alone could adjust it to its use. He had then a servant named Francis -Burnens, remarkable for his sagacity and for the devotion he bore for his master. Huber practised him in the art of observation, directed him to his researches by questions adroitly combined, and aided by the recollections of his youth, and by the testimonials of his wife •and friends, he rectified the assertions of his assistant*, and became enabled to form in his own mind a true and perfect image of the minutest facts. u I am much more certain/' said he one day to me, smiling,

of what I taste than you are, for you publish what your own eyes only have seen, while I take the mean among many witnesses." This is, doubtless, very plausible reasoning, but it will hardly render any one mistrustful of his own eyes !

The publication of his observations took place in 1792, in the form of letters to Ch. Bonnet, and under the title of " Nouvelles Observations sur les Abeilles*" This work made a strong impression upon manynaturalists, not only from the novelty of the facts, but from their rigorous exactness, and the singular diffi-

* One vol. 8vo, Geneva. Another edition was printed in Paris in 1796, in one volume 12mo; in which a short practical treatise on the management of bees was anonymously subjoined to the works of Huber,

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MEMOIR OF HUBEB culty against which the author had to struggle with so much ability. Most of the academies of Europe (and especially the Academy of Sciences of Paris) admitted Huber, from time to time, among their associates.

The activity of his researches was relaxed neither by this early research, which might have satisfied his self-love, nor by the embarrassments which he suffered in consequence of the Revolution, nor even by a separation from his faithful Burnens. Another -assistant of course became necessary. His first substitute was his wife, — then his son, Pierre Huber, who began from that time to acquire a just celebrity in the history of the economy of ants, and various other insects, commenced his apprenticeship as an observer, in assisting his father. It was principally by his assistance that he made new and laborious researches relative to his favourite insects. They form the second volume of the second edition of his work published in 1814, which was edited in part by his son.

The origin of the wax was at that time a point in the history of bees much disputed by naturalists. By some it was asserted, though without sufficient proof, that it was fabricated by the bee from the honey. Huber, who had already happily cleared up the origin of the propolis? confirmed this opinion, with respect to the wax, by numerous observations ; and showed very particularly, with the aid of Burnens, how it escaped in a laminated form from between the rings of the abdomen.* He instituted laborious researches to

* The work of Huber on this subject appeared in the Bibliotheque Britannique, under the title of £< Premiere Memoire sur 1'Origine de la Cire," t. xxv. p. 59; but they

MEMOIR OF HUBEH.

discover how the bees prepare it for their edifices ; he followed step by step the whole construction of those wonderful hives, which seem, by their perfection, to resolve the most delicate problem of geometry ; he assigned to each class of bees the part it takes in this construction, and traced their labours from the rudiments of the first cell to the completed perfection of the comb. He made known the ravages which the Sphinx atropos produces in the hives into which it insinuates itself * ; he even endeavoured to unravel the history of the senses of the bees, and especially to examine the seat of the sense of smell, the existence of which is proved by the whole history of these insects, while the situation of the organ had never been determined with any certainty. Finally, he prosecuted a curious research into the respiration of bees. He proved by very many curious experiments that bees consume oxygen gas like other animals. But how can the air become renewed, and preserve its purity in a hive plastered with cement, and closed on all its sides, except at the narrow orifice which serves for a door? This problem demanded all the sagacity of our observer, and he at length ascertained that the bees, by a particular movement of their wings, agitated the air in such a' way as to effect its renovation ; and having assured himself by direct observation, he farther proved its correctness by means of artificial ventilation.

have been resumed and extended in the second edition of his Researches.

* This part of his researches had already appeared in the Bibliotheque Britannique, in 1840, t. xxvii. pp. 275 and 358, under the title of " Letter to M. Pictet."

MEMOIU OP HUBEE.

This perseverance of a whole life, in a given object, is one of the characteristic traits of Huber, and probabiy one of the causes of his success* Naturalists are divided from taste, and often from position, into two series. The one love to embrace the tout ensemble of beings, to compare them with others, to seize the relations of their organization, and to deduce from them their classification and the general laws of nature. It is this class who have necessarily at their disposal, vast collections ; and they mostly dwell in large cities.. The others take pleasure in the profound study of a given subject, considering it under all its aspects, scrutinizing into its minute details, and pa-' tiehtly following it in all its peculiarities. The latter are generally sedentary and isolated observers, living remote from collections, and far from great cities.

Huber is evidently to be placed in the school of special observers t his situation and infirmity retained him in it, and he acquired therein an honourable rank, by the sagacity and precision of his researches 5 but it is plainly perceptible, in reading his works, that his brilliant imagination urged him toward the region of general ideas. Unprovided with terms of comparison, he sought them in that theory of final causes, which is gratifying to every expanded and religious mind, because it appears to furnish a reason for a multitude of facts, the employment of which, however, as is well known, is prone to lead the mind into error ; but we must do him the justice to acknowledge, that the use he makes of them is always confined within the limits of philosophical doubt and observation.

His style is, in general, clear and elegant ; always retaining the precision requisite to the didactic, it

MEMOIR OF HUBEE.

xxi possesses the attraction which a poetic imagination can readily confer upon all subjects ; but one thing which particularly distinguishes it, and which we should least expect, is, that he describes facts in a manner so picturesque, that in reading them, we fancy that we can see the very objects, which the author, alas, was never able to see ! I venture also to add, that we find in his descriptions so many masterly touches, as to justify the conclusion, that if he had retained his sight he would have been like his father, his brother, and his son, a skilful painter.

His taste for the fine arts, unable to derive pleasure from forms, extended to sounds ; he loved poetry, but he was more especially endowed with a strong inclination for music. His taste for it might be called innate, and it furnished him with a great source of recreation throughout his life. He had an agreeable voice, and was initiated in his childhood in the charms of Italian music.

The desire of maintaining his connection with absent friends, without having recourse to a secretary, suggested the idea of a sort of printing press for his own use ; he had it executed by his domestic, Claude Lechet, whose mechanical talents he had cultivated, as he had before done those of Francis Burnens for natural history. In cases properly numbered, were placed small prominent types which he arranged in his hand. Over the lines thus composed, he placed a sheet blackened with a peculiar ink, then a sheet of white paper, and with a press, which he moved with his feet, he was enabled to print a letter which he folded and sealed himself, happy in the kind of independence which he hoped by this means to acquire*

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MEMOIR OF HUBER.

But the difficulty of putting this press into action prevented the habitual use of it. These letters, and some algebraic characters formed of baked clay, which his ingenious son, always anxious to serve him, had made for his use, were, during more than fifteen years, a source of relaxation and amusement to him. He enjoyed walking, and even a solitary promenade by means of threads which he had caused to be stretched through all the rural walks about his dwelling.

Naturally endowed with a benevolent heart, how were those happy dispositions too often destroyed by the collisions of the world, preserved in him? He received from all that surrounded him nothing but kindness and respect. The busy world, the scene of so many little vexations, had disappeared from his view. His house and his fortune were taken care of, without any embarrassment to him. A stranger to public duties, he was in a great measure ignorant of the politics, the cunning, and the fraud of men. Having rarely had it in his power (without any fault of his own) of being useful to others, he never experienced the bitterness of ingratitude. Jealousy, even notwithstanding his success, was silenced by his infirmity. To be happy and prosperous in a situation in which so many others are given up to continual regrets, was accounted to him as a virtue. The female sex, provided their voices were agreeable, all appeared to him as if he had seen them at the age of eighteen. His mind preserved the freshness and candour which constitute the charm and happiness of adolescence ; he loved young people, for with their sentiments his own were more in accordance than with those of the aged and experienced. He took pleasure, to the very

MEMOIR OF HUBER.

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XXlil last, in directing the studies of the young, and possessed, in the highest degree, the art of pleasing and interesting them. Though fond of new acquaintance, he never abandoned his old friends. " One thing I have never been able to learn/5 said he in extreme old age, " that is, to forget how to love." Thus had he the good sense justly to appreciate and enjoy the balance of advantages which were furnished him, by thevery condition in which he was placed.

His conversation was generally amiable and gracious ; he was easily led into the humorous ; he was a stranger to no kind of knowledge 5 he loved to elevate his thoughts to the gravest and most important subjects, as well as to descend to the most familiar sportiveness. He was learned, in the ordinary sense of the word % but, like a skilful diver, he went to the bottom of each question by a kind of tact and a sagacity of perception which supplied the place of knowledge. When any one spoke to him on subjects which interested his head or heart, his noble figure became strikingly animated, and the vivacity of his countenance seemed, by a mysterious magic, to animate even his eyes, which had so long been condemned to darkness.

He spent the last years of his life at Lausanne, under the care of his daughter, Madame de Molin. He continued to make additions at intervals to his former labours. The discovery of bees without stings, made in the environs of Tampico by Captain Hall, excited his curiosity ; and it was a high satisfaction to him when his friend, Professor Prevost, procured for him at first a few individuals, and then a hive of these insects. It was the last homage which he rendered to

XXIV his old friends, to whom he had devoted so many laborious researches, to whom he owed his celebrity, and, what is more, his happiness. Nothing of any importance has been added to their history since his time.

Huber retained his faculties to the last. He was loving and beloved to the end of his days. At the age of eighty- one, he wrote to one of his friends, " There is a time when it is impossible to remain neglectful ; it is, when separating gradually from each other, wre may reveal to those we love all that esteem,, tenderness, and gratitude have inspired us with towards them. * * * I say to you alone," acids he, farther on, " that resignation and serenity are blessings which have not been refused." He wrote these lines on the 20th of December 1831, and on the 22d he was no more ; his life became extinct, without pain or agony, while in the arms of his daughter. — Abridged from a The Life and Writings of Francis Huber" by Professor De Candolle.

PART I.

Letter I. On The Impregnation Oe The Queen Bee

Sir.,— As you desired me to transmit a written detail of my principal experiments on bees, when I gave you an account of them at Genthod, I hasten to extract the following observations from my journal. Nothing can be more flattering than the interest you take in my researches : therefore, permit me to remind you of your promise to suggest new subjects for investigation.*

Glass hives, constructed after M. de Reaumur's principles, are^ of a form unfavourable to the observer ; because their width allowing the bees to build two combs parallel, whatever passes between them is concealed from his view. Long experience

* All the letters in the first portion of the work are addressed to the celebrated naturalist M. Bonnet, whose labours in this department of science are well known and justly appreciated. His decease in 1793, during the prosecution of the author's experiments, explains the reason for dividing the volume into two parts. — T.

A of this has induced you to recommend hives much flatter or thinner ; the panes of which should be separated by so small an interval, that only a single row of combs could be erected between them. From having felt the same inconvenience, I have profited by your counsel in providing hives reduced to an inch and a half in width, wherein swarms have been established without any difficulty. Here, however, the charge of constructing a single comb must not be committed to the bees : they are taught by nature to make more than one, and all parallel to each other— a law from which they never derogate, unless when constrained by some particular arrangement. Therefore, if left to themselves in these flat hives, which cannot admit of two combs parallel to the plane of the sides, they will form several small ones perpendicular to it ; and in that case all will be equally lost to the observer. Thus previous dispositions become essential for the direction of the combs. I so contrived that, while they were built perpendicular to the horizon, the lateral surfaces should be three or four lines from the panes constituting the sides of the hive.* This distance, in allowing sufficient latitude for the motions of the bees, prevented them from collecting in too large clusters on the surface of the comb. -By such precautions, they were easily established in very thin hives, where they pursued their labours with the same assiduity and regularity 5 and every cell being exposed to view, none of their proceedings could be concealed.