The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1902-08-07
THE BEES ECONOMY.
u 10 One Of the Most Wonderful Things
In Animated Nature.

1T Is AZ certain as anything can be
that at one time the bee was simply
male and female. The irresponsible
male buxzed about getting his own liv-
Ing. marrying and dying. The responsl-
BILE female not only got her own living.
but that OF her children. Somehow,
they came to see the advantage Of com.
munal effort. and, Just rs women say
now: III you'll wash the dishes, I'll
wipe EN- one female bee said to tho
othere' T1l he the mother II you'll
get the living II was a bargain, and
they took the drones to board. Some
body had TO look out for them. The
queen Of a beehive does not rule; she
lays eggs. She does not mind the
babies. She does not even do her own
digesting. let alone getting the food.
The attendants that surrond her are
not continually bowling and scraping
and saying: Your majesty they are
feeding her with bee milk. secreted by
glands In their heads. II Ia like the
chyle poured into our blood. food 30
perfect that the queen does not need
to leave the hive from time to time to
keep II clean and sweet. She has to be
fed continually. for at certain periods
she has the power OF producing from
1000 to 5000 eggs day. twice her own
Neighbour times, indeed, for more
than half her weight In eggs. In her
lifetime a very prolific queen will lay
100000 eggs. Put each OF these little
grains. one-fourteenth Of an inch long.
end TO end, and they will make . line
Of mile and three-Quarters.
"She possesses the power OF choos-
Ing which Of her offspring shall be
drones and which workers. Some have
thought that this was automatic. and
that the narrower worker cell touched
the button, SO to speak, that brought
forth a fertilixed egg. But the queen
will lay worker eggs In dr0ne cells II
she thinks Ht, SO that settles that.
'If the drOne Ia male and the queen
female, what Ia the workerf The New
Woman of Beedom. She has given up
her motherhood for Q business career.
Sometimes. though, she lays eggs. Dut
they always hatch out drones, OF which
Il ia strictly true 10 say. They have
a mother, but no father. II the queen q
wings are crippled 80 that she cannot
make her marriage flight. her children
are all drunes. An Italian queen Ia a
hive of black bees will beget workers
of mixed blood, but her sons are pure
Italians. Drones are useful "a faith.
ers Of workers. but they cannot collect
the honey they eat. Their tongues are
too short.
"The worm when II matches out Of
the egg lies In It's cell surrounded by
bee milk or royal Jelly rs II is called.
As Il grows In size and strength II ID
weaned. 30 to speak, by having the
milk diluted more and more with pap
made OF pollen, honey and water. TILL
II finally lives on grown beo Diet II
the worker Ia not weaned. II II lives on
the fat of the land till It spins it, CO.
coon. II will be queen.
"What marvellous, what miraculous
transformations occur In the progress
from that tiny pearly egg. covered with
q hne net like the stun the women
felix's call 'blonde;' through the blind
and legiess grub that soaks its food
in a. well az eats Il; through the chry-
sails that lies tranced while the swell
ings on It's shoulders change into Q
double pair Of gauxy wings and that
ridge upon It's breast is metamorphosed
into an ingenious tongue. while the
interior organs undergo profound mu'
tations, each step OF which traces back
through millions upon millions OF con-
tributins ancestors. ."-Ainslee's Aaga'
zine