214 ORGANISMS ILLUSTRATING BIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES 



One other activity is that of swarming. In early summer, the hive 

 frequently becomes overcrowded, and when such conditions arise 

 several queen cells are built and young queens are raised. When a 

 young queen hatches, the old queen gathers together several thousand 

 of the workers, who fill their honey stomachs with honey and then set 

 out to form a new colony. Sometimes scouts are sent out in advance 

 to seek a place for the new hive, which may be in a hollow tree. 

 Often the swarm, forming a large ball about the queen, will come to 

 rest on the branch of a tree and the beekeeper may then hive it in an 

 artificial hive. It is interesting to note that our honey bee {Apis 

 meUifica) is an emigrant from Europe and that there are no native 

 honey bees in this country. 



This social life with its accompanying division of labor is seen in 

 varying degrees all through the order Hymenoptera. Beginning with 

 the solitary bees, we find increasing social complexity of life until, in 

 the ants, a highly organized group is developed having several different 

 kinds of workers, soldiers, and males. If you want fascinating reading 

 along this line, look into William Beebe's Jungle Life, or better, into 

 Wheeler's masterly volume on Ants. 



SUGGESTED READINGS 



Carpenter, G. H., The Biology of Insects, The Macmillan Co., 1928. 



Chapters II, III, IV, V, VII, and IX make interesting reading. 

 Fernald, H. T., Applied Entomologij, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1935. Chs. IV, 



V, and XXXIII. 



A useful book of reference. 

 Kellogg, V. L., American Insects, Henry Holt & Co., 1908. 



Still an authentic book of reference. 

 Metcalf, C. L., and Flint, W. P., Fundamentals of Insect Life, McGraw-Hill 



Book Co., 1932. Chs. II, IV, and V. 

 Plath, 0. E., Bumblebees and Their Ways, The Macmillan Co., 1934. 



A fascinating study of one type of social insect. 

 Snodgrass, R. E., Anatomy and Physiology of the Honeybee, McGraw-Hill 



Book Co., 1925. 



Parts of Chapters II, III, and IV are particularly useful, but a student 



can cull much from the entire book. 

 WeUs, H. G., Huxley, J. S., Wells, G. P., The Science of Life, Doubleday, 



Doran & Co., 1931. 



Pp. 1147-1182 give one phase of insect life worth reading about. 



