I SOCIALES STINGLESS BEES 6t^ 



According to Gosse, one of these bees is well known in Jamaica, 

 where they are called " Angelitos," in consquence of their not sting- 

 ing people. He observed a nest of this bee in a tree, and found 

 it to be much infested by black ants anxious to obtain entrance 

 to it ; three bees, however, stood sentinel in the entrance, so as to 

 completely block it and keep out intruders, but the middle bee 

 moved on one side out of the way directly one of its fellows 

 wished to come in or out of the nest. The honey accumulated 

 by this species is kept in clusters of cups about the size of a 

 pigeon's egg, at the bottom of the hive and away from the brood- 

 cells. The queen or mother-bee is lighter in colour than the 

 others, and has the hind body twice the length of theirs. 



Hockings ^ has given us some details as to the natural history 

 of two of these bees that inhabit Australia, where they are called 

 " Karbi " and " Kootchar," the first being, it is supposed, Trigona 

 carhonaria, Smith : it is usually about three -sixteenths of an 

 inch in length, the queen, when fully developed, being nearly 

 twice that length. The comb is built in a most peculiar form, 

 being, it is said, in the shape of a spiral staircase, and tapering 

 towards the ends : honey-pots and pollen are constructed for 

 the storage of food. The comb is encased in wax, and outside it 

 a labyrinth of waxen passages is formed. The entrance to the 

 colony is guarded by a line of bees who inspect every one that 

 arrives, and it is surprising to see how soon a stranger is dis- 

 covered and pounced upon before it has time even to alight ; the 

 intruder, when caught, is held by several bees, who put it on the 

 rack by holding and stretching out its limbs to their full extent, 

 retaining it in this position for as long as an hour, by which time 

 the unfortunate prisoner is usually dead. These bees, as well as 

 many other allied species, fight desperately with their mandibles, 

 and are apparently of a very fierce disposition. The other 

 species, called " Kootchar,'' is said to produce a very large number 

 of drones, and the habits and dispositions of the bees differ con- 

 siderably from those of the " Karbi " : the entrance to their hive is 

 guarded by a pipe of propolis (a sort of resinous wax) about an inch 

 in length, having an exceedingly sticky outer edge, and it is by this 

 pipe alone that access to the interior can be gained. At night 

 the entrance is closed by numerous minute globules of semi-Huid 

 gum placed against it, thus forming a thin wall full of air-holes. 

 1 Tr. ent. Soc. London, 1884, p. 149. 



