BEES AND FLOWERS. 479 



stitutioii iuui often disappear alt()<>vther at llic approach of the had 

 season. Even the Mellifera are more iinhisli-ioiis and farsightetl than 

 this. The reserve receptacles of --their coinplicalcd nesls in the tropical 

 regions somewhat rcsemhle the cells of the I)unihh'-h('es, hut thev are 

 intended simply as magazines to hold enongli ])r()visi()n to allow the 

 colony to maintain itself when the flowers cease to hh)oni. Those of 

 the honey bee are very different in character; they mv inten(hMl ex- 

 clusively for the subsistence of the young and consist of a stratum of 

 cylindrical cells cleverW joined. This architecture brings us to that 

 of the bees, properly speaking, which rises to the perfection of sim- 

 plicity and economy of material. Here the cells are all of the same 

 type and are intended for stroage as well as for the rearing of (lie 

 young. They consist of hexagonal prisms separated l)y connnon 

 walls, and in each comb is formed two opposite layers separated by a 

 common base. No lost space, no materials wasted; these edifices are 

 marvels of construction. 



Among the four species of bees known to us an appreciable dilfer- 

 ence in industry may l)e noticed: the little Apis forc(/ and the great 

 A/m dormta nest in the open air and build only a single comb; the 

 Apis ind'icd constructs parallel combs, fivijuently in cavities, but ne\'- 

 ertheless readily accessibk' to Teigius and other eiienues; finally, 

 our honey l)ee builds in the same way, l)ut better protects his work by 

 carefully driving away ail parasites. 



Thus, from Prosopis to the honeybee, we liiul a series growing more 

 and more perfect by degrees. These forms, developed in the course of 

 time, recall the various evolutionary stages through which the honey 

 bees have passed, and show how these insects un(j[uestional)ly adapt 

 themselves to the flowers. The apiarists know that the honeybees 

 are not all ecpially adapted for nectar gathering, and that certain of 

 them collect more advantageously than others with longer tongues; 

 they have even invented a special apparatus, the glossometer, to meas- 

 ure the length of that organ. By rigorous selection these bee keepers 

 hope to fix a form in which the tongue wall attain its highest develop- 

 ment. They will then be in possession of the race best suited to the 

 pursuit of nectar. With their marvelous instincts, how^ invaluable 

 will be our bees w hen they can get rid of the very long proboscis of 

 the Euglossidae ? 



Here we enter into the domain of hvpothesis, but, without (k'part- 

 ing from probability, for the honeybee is an essentially variable 

 creature. Xati^e to Asia," like all the other species of the genus, 

 they are now found all over the world from the ecpiator to the extreme 

 limits of the temperate zones. Our black bee is already very different 



a This is true of tlie Apift fforca, A. (lorsafa. and .1. iiidica, Imt not so clearly 

 established for the ordinary bee, Api-^ incllificd. 



