THE GUIDF. TO NATURE 



THE INTEREST IN INSECTS 



•83 



IN SEAKCH OF A NEW COMKT 



did held lier eye close to the instrument. 

 One of the two was bound to topple over, 

 and it seemed impossible to get both to 

 stand up at the same time. For the bene- 

 fit of those who are losing courage I 

 hasten to add that the astronomer was 

 my first comic insect-picture. Meanwhile 

 I have learned to overcome many diffi- 

 culties whicli at first seemed insuperable, 



so that now I am able to set up a picture 

 and photograph it successfully in much 

 less time. 



.And now a word about composition. 

 Perhaps it should not be included in an 

 article of this kind ; but it plays such an 

 important part that a somewhat detailed 

 description of the subject may not be 

 amiss. In lanrlscape-photography nature 



has arranged or composed the picture for cle were all staged and photographed in- 

 us, and all we have to do is to choose the doors. It would be out of the question to 

 proper viewpomt, the proper time of day, take such pictures out in the open, where 



the slightest movement of the air would 

 be sufficient to upset the whole scheme of 

 arrangement. The insects themselves 

 were first captured, then anesthetized and 

 posed. The great variety of poses needed 

 for pictures of this kind, of course, would 

 preclude the use of dry museum-speci- 

 mens. The reader, perhaps, will wonder 



etc., etc., and then make our e.xposure 

 In comic insect-photography the camerist 

 himself must compose the picture, and in 

 order to do this successfully he must 

 understand the laws of perspective, bal- 

 ance, harmony, values, etc. In fact, he 

 must be sufificiently conversant with the 

 fundamentals of art so that he can tell a 

 good picture from a bad one, and know 



why one is good and the other is bad. 



Without this knowledge he will stumble 



into errors which will often make his Female Jealousy. 



pictures seem ridiculous. . 



A („ . . , ^ I his summer, for once in his ex- 



As for equipment, any plate-camera perience, Mr. Pritchard happened to 

 that has a ong bellows-extension and an ^^ke a mistake of one dav in his fig- 

 anastigmat lens will serve the purpose. A ures. Two bars of cells we're left a day 

 so-called miniature camera is preferable too long ; and the first virgin out, true 

 to a large one, because, by reason of the to her instinct, immediately slaughtered 

 short focus of the lens, it has a greater all her unborn sisters. With the one 

 depth of field, and all parts of the picture passionate idea of reigning supreme or 

 can be brought into sharp focus at the not reigning at all she tore great holes 



same time, giving a wealth of microscopic 

 detail throughout the picture. Needless 

 to say, pictures of this nature are interest- 

 ing in proportion to the amount of detail 

 show. Another reason why I advocate 

 a small camera is that it is far easier -to 

 handle than a large instrument, and ■that 

 goes a long way towards keeping one's 

 temper unruffled. .Again, the small camera 

 can be operated cheaply, and plate after 

 plate can 'be exposed without bringing up 

 immediate visions of the poor-farm. 

 The pictures that accotjapany this arti- 



in the sides of the other cells and muti- 

 lated the helpless inmates, the bees 

 meanwhile organizing a "wrecking- 

 crew" and clearing up after her as best 

 they could. 



The engraving shows one of the bars 

 of cells, every cell a complete wreck. 

 Whether the young queen tore all of 

 the side of the cell away herself in her 

 frantic efforts to kill her rival, or 

 whether the bees removed a part of the 

 wax in cleaning out the remains, I do 

 not know. — "Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture," Medina, Ohio. 



i 



AFTER THE BATTLE. 



