Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-27

NfN Fs$XS there was no contro-
80 M verting 1t apparently.
Only within the last
few years has nat
ural science been able to dispose of another
notion equally absurd-namely that bees
are produced by spontaneous generation
from the decaying carcasses of cattle,
lions and other beasts.
After all, it was not very long ago that
the theory of spontaneous generation was
overthrown. So long as belief In such a
phenomenon was held, 1t is easy to see how
people might have made such a mistake In
regard to bees. For there is certain In
sect known as the ''drone~fiy." which lays
its eggs in putrefying flesh. The larvae
Matched from these eggs are eventually
transformed into flies, which look much
like honey bees that even naturalist would
be apt to mistake one for the other on
hand.
So 1t came about that the anclents ac-
cepted this notion of the spontaneous gen
Grafton of bees from the dead bodies or
animals. Naturalists of old. even the great
Aristotle. made record of the phenomenon
1t is referred to in classical Greek Htera-
ture. The myth runs back for at least
$500 years, and probably much farther.
1t prevailed not only in Europe, but In
northern Africa, and in parts OF Asia.
Through the middle ages II continued TO
the learned and pious Melanchthon, refer
red to II as a divine provision for the re-
production of bees.
Remarkable Resemblance.
In ancient times there were no boards OF
health, and carcasses of cattle and other
animals were often permitted to lie around
and decompose. The drone flies PROPAGATE
under favorable circumstances with aston
ishng rapidity, and the phenomenon or
boir dayeIopment cOmmCnlY open TO
the observation of everybody. 1t is not
surprising that the ignorant shovld nave
mistaken the insects for bees, though, as a
matter OF fact bees are cleaniy animals
and never alight on carcasses. The bee has
four wings and the fly only two; the female
bee has a sting, and the fly has no sting.
Nevertheless, the likeness between the two
is very striking from the point OF view OF
the superficial observer
The drone fly belongs to a family Which
includes many handsomely colored Hles,
very fond of flowers. Their co!oring con-
sists, in many cases, of yellow crossbands
and spots on the abdomen, with similar
marks on the thorax; or else they are
clothed with a hairy covering OF different
colors. The drone fly is of d duller coloring
than most of the species of the f9mily. 1t
queuts flowers and behaves among them as
a bee does. Even in flying 1t carries its
hind legs so as to initiate the pollen-freight-
ed limbs of the bee. In fact, 1t exhibits one
of the most wonderful cases of mimicry In
nature.
The fly appears in great abundance at
this season of the year, when the days be
come chilly. 1t Is seen in q semi-torpid
state, either sucking flowers or crawling
slowly upon walls and fences. The larva
lives usually in dung heaps and cesspools
1t has long tall with telescope ar
rangement for prolonging or shortening It,
enabling the immature insect to remain
several inches below the surface and to
pump air from above 1t frequents sewers
and putrid waters, crawling out finally to
go into the chrysalis stage
Insects imported into this country from
abroad-among them the honey behave
usually appeared first on the Atlantic coast,
spreading thence westward. Strange to
say, the drone fly seems to have followed
eastern Siberia, and from thence II Is be-
lieved to have migrated to the Pacific coast
Of North America, nobody knows how long
ago. 1t did not spread eastward at once,
because the necessary conditions for Its ex-
istence were wanting on the immense
plains 1t had to cross-just as the potato
bug lived In the Rocky mountains on a
plant native to that region. and did not
spread eastward until civilization brought
the potato with 1t, thus bridging over for
the beetle the distance between its native
region and the Atlantic coast The condi-
ton brought by civilization, which favored
the rapid eastward progress of the drone
fly consisted In drains. sewers and cess
pools.
An Ancient Lineage.
Dr. c. r. o. Sacken, to whom the writer
Is Indebted, says that, except the silkworm
and the honey bee, no other insect can
show an historical record equal to that of
the drone fly The record begins in the
dusk Of prehistoric times and continues up
to the present date. In its earliest days it
appears like q myth, misunderstood crea-
ture praised for qualities it never pos
sessed theme in prose and poetry; later
on, the bubble of its glory having burst. it
spreads with the human race and vies with
1t in prodisics of fecundity.
The myth of Aristaeus, demigod, who
taught men to keep bees Is the subject of
an episode In the Georges of Virgil. The
substance of the story is that Aristaeus,
son of Apollo ant of Thessalian girl, once
upon a time lost his bees by famine and
disease In distress he applied to his
mother, and through her intervention he
was initiated into a mystic rite by which
a swarm of bees was produced from q
slaughtered OK.
1t was sometimes alleged that the queen
bee was produced from the brain of the
OK and the ordinary bees from its flesh.
Other writer's improved upon the myth
by asserting that while bees came from
oxen exclusively wasps originated from
asses, drones from horses and hornets from
mules. Certain theorists declared that a
horse must have been bitten by a wolf in
order that its flesh should produce hor-
nets.
Commentators. have pretended to discover
an early appearance of the myth in liter
AZURE in the story Of Samson, in the Book
of Judges, xiv:S. In the vineyards Of Tim
nah Samson had killed a lion, and after q
while, on his way to fetch his bride, he
turned aside to see the carcass of the ami
NAL. Behold, there was a swarm of bees
in the body Of the lion and honey Samson
took the honey In his hand and went on,
eating as he went 1t must have been,
however, that the carcass had been reduced
to the state Of a clean skeleton, in which
honey bees could take shelter.
a Surprised Picknninny.