The record-union., 1894-12-15
ALL KINDS OF bees.
One Who Has Studied Them Has
Something to Say.
Worthy of Emulation-Their Habits
Are Good and They Are Very In
telligent - The Queen and Her
Stinger-The Bumblebee More Use-
full Than OrnamentRl-Drones and
Workers.
Workers.

People of New York who live off the
routine OF Observation-Disclosures balls
and dinners-can easily find both profit
and interest at the meetings OF the many
/ scientific societies in this city, says the
/ New York Sun. They are always well
coined by the scientists, both amateur
and professional, because even these men,
| who live largely in other worlds, like to
read their papers to large and sympa-
thetic audiences. IL must not be sup
! posed that these papers are filled with
polysyallabic Latin words and refer
ences mysterious and beyond the or
binary understanding. The layman will
always find enough 10 arouse his inter-
est.
There was an interesting discussion
/ the other evening at au interesting place,
! the American Museum of Natural His
tory. IL was aI a meeting of the New
| ork EntOmoIOgIcai Society. Not more
! than dozen persons were present, and
/ these were enthusiasts who employed
their spare time III making entomolOgi-
cal collections and studying on that line.
| There were one or two gray-haired men
! who had spent years in acquiring ilnowl-
! edge in this vast field, and there were
| several young men who are just starting
out. They brought glaSs-coVered trays
! filled with bees-Dees of all kinds, from
! the useless wasp 10 that dainty helper of
| man, the honey bee. There were large
! glass cases showing honey bees at work,
| chasing one another through the nests
! with the queen iii command, and there
were other cases filled with the slow
| moving and cumbersome bum bleSees
! building a nest that resembles the honey
| bees nest as a rough miners cabin re-
SenblGs the fine architecture of q New
| port villa.
| After looking at this interesting ex-
hlOIt, the mem UerS of the society listened
to paper on bees read by Louis Joulet.
! MIR. JOuIot knows a great deal about bees
of all kinds. For years he has kept hives
at his house, and has searched the fields
! and meadows for new finds. He thinks
! bees know more than many people, and
! Is quite sure that their habits may be
| emuIated by all.
| The first honey bees in this country
were called the white mans flies'' by
the Indians. because they were brought
| from Europe by the early settlers. The
! Indians knew that there was an approach
to civilization when they found a swarm
! OF honey bees, though often the home
was eight miles away.
| Mr.. Joulet described the life of the So
cial bees, and showed by illustrations and
exhibits that they live under well-or-
dered system. In each colony there is a
| queen who leads the swarm and rules it
| by unquesuoned authority; there are
| drones, VINO DO nothing except look after
the increase OF the colony, and there are
workers, who build the combs, make
wax, feed the young, ventilate the hive,
and furnish protection against all eue-
! mics. The workers are usually barren,
! but lay a few eggs which produce drones,
Inc drones when hatched remain but a
| few Gays in the nest. They hover amid
| flowers waiting Tor the queens TO come
! out and pair. When the swarming sea-
| son is over, the drones are killed or are
| driven out by the workers Tor the very
! excellent reason that they are OF no fur
! ther use, and would only become pen
| siOners on the industry of the others
| The queen lives three or four years. She
| Is furnished with a stinger, but, like
| many tomales, she never uses it except
| against one OF her own sex. She leaves
! the hive when from i've to twelve days
| old TO meet the drone in the air, and be-
gins to lay tbirty-siX hours later. A fter
meeting the drone she never leaves the
! nive except to lead another swarm.
| Mr.. Joulet has been Interested in watch
ing swarm of bees leave the hive for the
honey fields. They fly from side to side
| with their heads pointing to the hive
| They move further and further away
! until they reach their destination and
! there they go 10 work. When the days
| labor Is finished they return in a bee
| line" They take observations as care
! fully as mariner in an open sea, and
| having once determined Il route thew do
| not forget it. Mr.. Joulet's swarms often
| travel five or six miles to their feeding
ground. If a hive is moved the swarm
return directly to the place where it
stood. and then they begin a search for
1t. They will fly straight from their
| hive and find the little bunch OF black
| berries which they left the day before in
| an acre OF brambIes.
| Human ingenuity is shown in the yen-
! tilation of the hives, despite the fact that
| the bees have no machines but their
| wings. w hen this work is to be done
| the bees stand in a line at one of the en-
! frances. one behind the other, and there
| they move their wings i'll imitation of
! flight until there is a current of air in
| side.
! The carpenter and mason bees interest
| Mr.. Joulet. They bore in the pith of
| plants and IN decaying wood, making
| cells of earth and sand. In one season a
! carpenter bee Will bore a tunnel two feet
| long and One-thlrd of an inch wide IN a
| piece OF elm wood. La brambes they
leave long opening from one end of the
| nest to the other and build side nests.
| The opening is so arranged that a bee
may leave tho place without disturbing
! the others.
| That terror of small boys, the humble
| bee, does not have the standing of tho
| honey producer among bees, but is new
| ertheIeSs most useful insect. Ii he
ceases his service the crop OF red clover
| would be largely leSSened. Red clover
| of itself will not reproduce. The bumble-
| bee drops down on the Hover, picks the
| pollen from one part and leaves 1t on an
| other. and thus starts the gernination.
! 1t was not until swarms of bumblebees
were introduced IN Australia that red
| clover could be raised in that country.