The Coolidge examiner., 1937-03-18

| OO dS q pee mas Tedl
- orally work themselves
+ to death. Young bees
perform manifold duties in main
tanning a colony, which, being a
se1-sustaining community, imposes
upon each individual certain health,
sanitation and protective duties. A
temperature of about SO degrees
Fahrenheit must be maintained in
that part of the hive where the
queen lays her eggs and where all
the young bees are reared. This is a
concentrated area near the center
of the hive, spherical in shape, it's
size depending upon the population
OF the hive and the season of the
year.
After cell has served as cradle
for the birth of a young bee, it is
thoroughly cleaned. Abnormal lar
vac are not permitted to mature
as deformed adults, but are re-
moved from the hive Sick and all
ing bees are also encouraged to
leave and to die outside. Any bees
that die while at work are imme-
diately carried out and consigned
to the winds.
When they are from week to
ten days old, the bees venture into
the outside world for the first time,
usually on short flights of only a
few feet in front of the hive. Dur
ing these so-called play flights, they
learn to use their wings and no
doubt also note the location of their
homes. Toward the close of their
duties within the hive young bees
appear more often at the entrances
until they eventually take over the
duty of defending the colony. Sew
eral dozen may assume this re-
sponsibility.
On their first trip to the field,
young bees gather water or propo-
lis. The latter is a resinous, gum
like material called bee glue, gar
nered largely from the buds of va
rious plants and trees. 1t is used
to close the cracks in the hives,
to smooth over rough places, to
cement the combs securely in place,
to regulate the size of the entrances
the better to guard the hive, and
to control the temperature.
Work Themselves to Death.
The next duty is that of gather
ing pollen and, finally, nectar. In
an emergency the field bees can re-
sumo nursery duties again, but
when a bee becomes old enough to
work in the field it usually dies in
its boots, literally working itself
to death.
A newly emerged bee IS covered
with fluffy golden hair. After four
weeks in the field it is darker, much
of the hair has been worn from its
body, and its wings are tattered and
torn. Eventually it will no longer
be able to sustain itself in flight.
Thus its life span is measured large
ly by the amount of work done.
Whenever plants are in blossom
and it is warm enough for the bees
to fly, they go forth at daybreak
and continue until nightfall, or un-
til it becomes too cold or rainy
to work. Drop by drop the nectar
comes into the hive. The storage
of more food than the colony can
consume for its own needs seems
an incredible task, yet in a favor
able locality strong colonies have
brought in as many as 25 pounds
of nectar in a day.
In gathering nectar and pollen,
the bees do not fly aimlessly, as
butterflies do, from one species
of flower to another. If a bee
starts working on dandelions, for ex-
ample, it will continue throughout
the trip to visit only dandelion Bios
SONS, and in all likelihood it will
continue working ON dandelions as
long as it can obtain a modicum
of nectar or pollen.
Effective in Pollinizing.
Such constancy makes the bee
dependable pollinizing agent If
it collected indiscriminately from
the flowers, its work would be less
effective. The pollen of the apple
would not benefit the blossom Of
the pear, and vice versa. Changes
in atmospheric conditions, or in the
plants themselves, may cause
wholesale change in the work sched-
ule.
Some plants secrete nectar only
a few hours day, while other
plants may continue throughout the
day; and, since bees wisely seek
the richest source of nectar, they
may suddenly desert one plant for
another that proves more tempting.
The richness of this sparkling drop
Of nectar, which the blossom offers
to the bee in exchange for the pol
len from another blossom, causes
the bee to accept the highest bidder.
Although bees invariably effect