A SOCIAL INSECT— THE HONEYBEE 239 



tubes of Virginia bluebell and usually pay no attention to it, when the 

 tubes of the corolla are punctured by carpenter bees, some scout bee 

 will discover this shortcut to the nectar and soon the flowers will be 

 alive with honeybees. When honeybees are used to pollinate alfalfa, 

 they visit the flowers in the proper way to pollinate them for the first 

 few days. However, it is very difficult for a honeybee to force its head 

 into the center of the flower and trip the pollinating mechanism. Even- 

 tually the bees discover a shortcut to the nectar through the sides of the 

 corolla tube which are not fused and soon all the bees are "robbing" 

 the flowers without pollinating them. After this it is necessary to re- 

 move the hives and bring in new ones, if the crop is to be pollinated 

 effectually. Bees also have a time sense as shown by their visits to 

 buckwheat, which yields nectar only in the morning and early afternoon. 

 About 2 P.M. the flowers have become nectarless and the bees remain 

 in the hive the rest of the day, only to return to the field the next morn- 

 ing, bright and early, when nectar is again abundant. 



Most of the activities of the honeybee are instinctive and not the 

 result of either logical reasoning or learning. Whenever a certain stimu- 

 lus is given, a certain response results. The age of the hive bee seems to 

 determine what instincts shall predominate. It has been claimed that 

 only the honeybee of all animals beside man has mathematical ability. 

 Even this is probably largely a matter of instinct, as there seems to be 

 no way that a bee could have learned to follow the angles made by 

 dancing bees on the combs. 



REVIEW QUESTIONS 



1. What two factors determine the sort of work a house bee does? 



2. Describe wax formation in the house bee. 



3. How do beekeepers control the position of the combs in the hive? 



4. What two functions are performed by the fanners? 



5. How do the guards recognize members of their own hive in contrast to 

 enemy bees seeking to gain entrance to the hive? 



6. How does the sting of the queen differ from that of the worker ? 



7. What are the three duties of the field bees? 



8. How does the honeybee cross-pollinate flowers ? 



9. Describe the dance of the honeybee and explain how both the distance and 

 direction of the nectar source are indicated. 



10. What factors determine the time of swarming? 



11. Describe the nuptial flight of the queen. 



12. How does the queen bee determine sex? Why is this activity especially im- 

 portant in this species ? 



13. How do the bees obtain a new queen in case their queen dies? 



14. What determines the color and flavor of honey? 



