PROBLEM I. The Kinds of Anbuah of the Earth 



into special food which is fed to a few- 

 larvae which develop into queen bees. 

 In the meantime, they do much cleaning 

 of the hive. The workers also meet the 

 attacks of "robber" bees and other ani- 

 mals. For this, the bee uses the sting on 

 the end of its abdomen. 



Most of the thousands of individuals 

 in a honeybee colony are workers. The 

 life of a worker may be only several 

 weeks or at most several months, but the 

 colony increases in number rapidly be- 

 cause of the rapid rate of reproduction. 

 From egg through larva and pupa stages 

 requires only three weeks. Whether be- 

 cause of the crowding or for some 

 other reason, in the early spring and 

 summer large numbers of bees together 

 with the old queen bee leave the hive 

 in a mass and start another colony. This 

 is called swarming. One of the young 

 queens that remains takes over the egg- 

 laying duties in the old colony. 



For centuries man has domesticated 

 bees for the sale of their honey and their 

 wax, but bees have never been tamed. 

 However, they will sting only when 

 disturbed and frightened, injecting poi- 

 son with the sting which is left in the 

 wound. 



Insects that eat wood. The community 

 life of the so-called "white ant," prop- 

 erly named termite., is just as interesting 

 as that of bees or ants. Termites live 

 mostly in the tropics but are spreading 

 through the temperate zone where some 

 of you may have become better ac- 

 quainted with them. They burrow and 

 build in wood, sometimes wrecking 

 houses or other largre wooden structures. 

 Working in the dark, well concealed in 

 the timbers, their presence in a building 



49 



Fig. 67 A beam of wood almost completely de- 

 stroyed by termites. What can be done to pre- 

 vent damage to wood by termites? (science 

 service) 



is sometimes not suspected until some 

 day, when the framework has been 

 weakened, the whole structure collapses. 

 Sometimes, however, they are detected 

 when they swarm in the spring. In warm 

 climates or even in cooler climates where 

 buildings are constantly kept warm, 

 termites are a real danger. We can pro- 

 tect ourselves against them by soaking 

 the timbers in creosote or, better still, 

 by using concrete for foundations and 

 lower floors of buildings. This is effec- 

 tive because termites must have at least 

 a portion of their nest in moist soil or 

 wood. 



How insects make a noise. In the sum- 

 mer there is a steady chorus of crickets 

 chirping. As it gets hot the male cicadas 

 or "seventeen-year-locusts" add their 

 loud, shrill song. When night comes on 

 the katydids call from every tree, arguing 

 endlessly, "Katy-did, Katy-didn't." It is 

 so noisy that many a city dweller has 



