San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-04-05
THE LITTLE BUSY BEE.
John Aspinwall Talks in a Very Familiar
Way About Him.

Way About Him.
John Aspinwall, of Barrytown, N. Y, de-
livered a lecture at the Cooper Institute on
the little busy bee, its anatomy and physi-
ology, and illustrated his remarks by stere-
opticon views, showing the insect and its
workings in all their details.
While in its physical make up the bee is in
many respects the opposite of man in his hab-
its and tricks, he very much resembles the
lord of creation, and were bees to be trans
formed into men some would undoubtedly go
into the police force or in the board of alder
men, while there would be not few successors
to Jake Sharp and to the inexperienced young
toughs who get dubbed by the police and are
then sent up to the penitentiary for dishon-
esty and general sass" The occupations of
walking delegate and dude Washers are also
found in aparian society.
The little bee, that is, the worker, is a
horny skinned child of toll He is incased in
rings and shields of smooth horn to shield
him against attacks of his own species, and
he tolls as long as there is light. He has not
got backbone like man or mule, but in
stead he hasa little sting that serves his pur-
pose just as well, and thus manages to main
tain his rights Between his tongue and
sting there is a complicated mechanism that
is of great use to the farmer and to nature.
Aside from the honey that he distills, and
which is worth thousands of dollars annually
to the farmer and to commerce, his habit of
poking his head into flowers and covering it
with pollen, which he brushes off in other
flowers, renders him bacfactor to nature
in fertilizing flowers. Before the advent of
the bee in Australia it wa impossible to get
alc Of aI oil
process of making honey might not suit the
most fastidious taste, for honey is partially
digested cane sugar, made SO by the aid of
bee saliva, but as the bee is a perfectly clean
little animal that revels in nectar all day
long, these little irregularities must be over
looked. Besides, he uses different mouth
for the honey.
The bee is a good flyer, but as his wings are
smaller in proportion to his body than are
those of the eagle torthe king of birds, he
has to flap them more frequently, so he flaps
away at the rate of 446 flaps to the minute.
He has no luiigs, but a system of tiny air
tubes extend through all parts of the body,
and these he packs with air when he wants
to fly Neither has he a heart, but a dorsaI
vessel that pumps the blood to the head
The head, as magnifed on the screen, is not
beautiful object, and as it is not the center of
the nervous system he would not miss it very
much if cut off if it were not for the eyes,
two of which have 4, 200 lenses each to see the
honey flowers afar off, and two others to
assist in doing the microscopic work in the
hive
The entrances to the hive are very care
fully guarded by sentinels and every bee on
arriving at the door is challenged by them
with their antenna. If he can give the
countersign he is admitted into the sanctuary,
but if he cannot he is in danger, for bees are
very nervous insects, and draw stings on the
slightest provocation. The applicant must
be a thief, and old thieves are detected by ex
perienced sentinels, but the form of challeng
ing must be gone through first.
The old thief bee is fat and sleek and shin
ing and very suave. If caught by sentinels,
he will at once try to make a deal and offer
the policemen some sugar, and while they are
eating it he either slips in and fills up at the
cells or he retreats and tries another hive. If
the sentinels are incorruptible, the thief humps
himself, draws his horny shields tight around
him SO that the stings of the policemen may
not penetrate and runs. A young thief
stands up to fight and gets dubbed He
learns by experience.
The queen bee has not got such very easy
time. She has plenty to eat and eats it, and
flies very little; but as she has to lay all the
eggs of the colony, and often lays more than
her weight of eggs in one day, the bees be-
grudge her nothing, but let her have her own
way everywhere.
The drone is the dude and walking delegate
of the hive. He is not very numerous how
ever. He is fat and spends his time eating
honey, flirting with the girls and the queen,
then takes quiet nap in thesun When his
charms no longer please he is driven out, and
if he cannot get berth in another hive he
starves The little worker, however, accord
ing to the lecturer, does not fare much better
She lives for about six weeks when she be-
comes feeble, her wings get torn and fringed,
and she lies down to die in the field, refusing
to return to the hive and become a burden
on the colony.-New York Times