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No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 683 



large compound eves, as well as the ocelli of the young bees, are 

 covered with fine hairs, each one of which is much longer than a 

 single unit of the eye. These hairs are not sensory, as Cheshire 

 claims, since they are in no way connected with the nervous svstein. 

 I can also see no reason why they should be considered as protective 

 since the chitinous lens of the eye is very dense and seemingly needs 

 no protection of this kind. These hairs come off gradually and by 

 the time the bee is ready to fly they are nearly all gone. I do not 

 wish to make the mistake of failing to distinguish between accom- 

 panying and casual factors, but I am inclined to the belief that these 

 hairs on the young bees so obscure their vision that they do not fly 

 from the hive to forage because they cannot see clearly enough to 

 do so. As we know, young bees do fly for exercise, but as before 

 mentioned, only so far that they might be guided back by scent. 



Whether my view is correct or most erroneous, all must admit 

 that it is no worse than the position of the man who says that it is 

 all due to instinct, for he doesn't know anything about it and I pro- 

 fess to know but little. 



That bees as well as other animals do certain things instjnctiveh 

 is too evident to be discussed, but what we now need, above all else, 

 in the study of habits is to recognize the fact that the word "in- 

 stinct" is too often a confession of ignorance and we must look for 

 other and more fundamental causes where possible. 



I have enumerated at some length the difficulties and liabilities 

 of error in a study of the habits of the bee, and if I could but impress 

 on every bee-keeper the fact that these really exist I would be 

 thankful. On the other hand, I know of no more favorable animal 

 for study than the honey bee, and if I spend more time on the diffi- 

 culties than on the advantages it is because the favorable side is 

 better known. 



The work of others in the past makes it possible for us to begin 

 where they left off, and this advantage applies particularly to work 

 on bees, where so much has already been done. The interest whicli 

 we have in the bee from a commercial standpoint makes the w T ork 

 easier, for a person working on bees is doing something of interest to 

 many people, and but few of us have reached that height of scientific 

 perfection where we do not care for at least some popular interest 

 in our work. Lastly, the numerous modern appliances of apicul- 

 ture make it possible for us to study bees under many varied condi- 

 tions, and these changed conditions bring out peculiarities in the 

 habits which would not be seen, except with difficulty, under ordinary 

 conditions. 'Movable frames, observation hives, mating nuclei, and 

 swarm boxes are of inestimable value in the study of habits. 



In discussing the habits of the bee it is hard to know where to 

 begin. Perhaps there is no better way to arrange what is to be said 

 than to follow a colony through a season, taking up the various 

 phases of their activities in the order in which they occur in nature. 

 We can thus avoid unnecessary repetition and still get in all the 

 desired points. 



In the spring of (he year the colony consists of a queen, whose 

 duties consist in laying the eggs in the cells of the comb, and many 

 workers or undeveloped females. At this time there are no males 

 or drones. During the winter the bees remain quiet, and the queen 

 lays no eggs, so that in the spring there are no developing bees in 



