The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-29
5000 KINDS OF BEES.
And Only Thirteen Real Students of
 Them in the TTnited States.

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 Them in the United States. Colorado College Museum Bulletin.
 Some people think that there are only two or three kinds of bees-the honey bee, the humble bee and possibly one kind of smaller wild bee. So far is this from be- ing true, that no jess than 1,SS different species of wild bees have been described rom North America-that is. including all of the country north of Panama-up to the present day. When we come to study the habits and structure of all these bees, 1t is possible to understand why they are so numerous in kinds.
 The pollen of flowers has to be carried principally by insects; that of one flower 10 other flowers of the same sort in or der to bring about the fertilization and production of seed. Of all the insect car Tiers the bees are the most important. They visit the flowers for nectar and pol and when so doing they carry the dust liKo pollen from flower to flower, leaving q. little of that previously gathered each time they alight on a blossom.
 NOW suppose that all bees visited indiS- criminately every sort of flower, 1t would continually happen that the pollen of one specie sof plant would be left on the flow CT of a quite different species, where it would be altogether useless. It is desir- able, therefore, that each kind of bee should visit one particular kind of plant, or at any rate should prefer certain kinds. This we find to be more or less the case,
 
 more than one sort of flower. Ihe num- Der of different kinds of flowers is very great, and consequently 1t is not surpris- ing to find that there are many sorts of bees.
 In numerous instances we find the mouth part of the bees exactly suited to The kinds of flowers they visit. Thus cer- tain kinds with very long tongues can suck the nectar from long tubular flow CTS, such as the yellow lowered currant while others with short tongues can make use of shallow flowers. It is the case of the fox and the stork over again.
 Although the described North American bees are so numerous it is practically certain that we do not know half of those existlng. Indeed. it is not impossible that the North American continent, with the west Indies, possesses as many as 5000 species. Thus the opportunity for the student of these insects Is very great. He IS absolutely certain ta. find in almost new to science during his first seasons collecting. In Colorado, 1 am sure that almost any spring or summer day devot- ed to the search would yield new kinds In New Mexico, up to today, 5OS species have been found. and of those I have been able to describe 315 as new.
 The discovery and description of new of the work After this comes the most interesting part, the study of the nesting habits and the relation between the bees and the flowers. So the field becomes a very wide one, and seems practically linn itless. While the opportunities for study are so great, and of course open to ail who have the time, comparatively few can be expected tO do much in apidology.
 There is no reason why many shoIlid not interest themselves so far as to make collections or obtain specimens for the use Of students, but only a few will have the zeal. industry and patience to obtain real grasp of the subject. There are at present only about thirteen active stu dents or bees in the United States, and some of these have done very little.