The Coolidge examiner., 1937-08-19

washington. D. C.-wNU Service.
r TITLE does the average
l. layman know of the ac-
tive life of the honey bee
which in summer is conspic-
uous flying from flower to
flower, bearing pollen that
plants may blossom and bear
fruit in season.
The young queen bee, a few
days after leaving the hive
in which she has been born,
selects a day for her wedding
flight. She usually chooses a
clear, warm, quiet day be-
cause her honeymoon is
short, and she must make the
most of it. Only when she
leaves the hive with a swarm,
probably a year hence, will
she have another occasion to
fly.
Mating always takes place on the
wing, and if conditions are such
that the queen cannot fly she will
die virgin. The strongest drone
is her mate. for the queen is a
good flyer. and the weak are thus
eliminated in this wise provision to
maintain the strength and vigor of
the race.
Before the queen has had time to
return to the hive after the mating
flight. the drone will have fallen to
the earth dead.
Because of her specialized duties
and the fact that she does not en-
gage in outside work and is not SUBJ
ject to the hazards of weather and
enemies that might prey pom her,
the queen may live to the ripe old
age of three or four years. When
she becomes too old. or when she
can no longer produce queen and
worker bees, or if she becomes ac-
cidentally crippled, the bees will
raise another queen to replace her
and for while both mother and
daughter may work side by side in
the hive. But this arrangement does
not last long. The old queen will
shortly disappear.
The marked differences between
the queen and worker bee. both of
whom come from the same kind of
fertilized egg, have already been
mentioned. Their difference in be-
havior is even more pronounced.
The worker bee is armed with a
straight sting. the end of which is
barbed like a harpoon. When a
worker bee stings, it cannot olsen
gage its sting. The violent effort
of tearing itself loose from the we'll
anchored sting so severely damages
the tissue of its body that it dies
within a few minutes. Normally it
can sting only once.
When Rival Queens Battle.
The sting of the queen, instead of
being straight and barbed, is
smooth and curved. 1t is construct
ed so that it can easily be with
drawn when she uses it. The queen
seemingly does not realize that she
possesses this very effective weap-
on. She may be picked up and
handled as harmlessly as a kitten.
If the queen gets into the wrong
hive in returning from her mating
flight, a royal battle is sure to en-
sue, and the two queens fight it out
until death comes to the weaker.
If the queen used her sting indis-
criminately, she might easily lose
her life in meeting an enemy with
which she could not cope. If she
were being handled by her keeper
and attempted to free herself by
singing him. he might instinctively
retaliate by crushing her frail body.
Should he do so, it would jeopar-
die the future life of the colony,
especially if there were no larvae
in the hive from which successor
could be raised. For her protection
therefore, she depends. upon her
own daughters or sister workers,
who far outnumber her and whose
sacrifice is not so fatal to the we'll
being of the colony.
The drone usually is regarded as
a lazy individual, but, after all, he
is the father and is entitled to cer-
tain respect. He gathers no food,
nor does he help defend the family;
he has no tools to collect sweets nor
has he sting to defend even him.
self. During his brief existence,
however. he has certain privileges
not accorded his sisters. He can
safely visit neighboring colonies.
Neither workers nor queens are ac-