SCOPE AND STATUS OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 19 



concerning its habits and life history better than we have learned 

 those of any other insect. I ventnre to say, further, that no other 

 domestic animal is e({ual to it in interest from a scientific point of 

 view. It is courageous, industrious, cleanly — qualities that we are 

 accustomed to regard as the possession of the best of mankind. In its 

 provision for the future, its laying up stores against days of scarcity, 

 its careful closure of all crannies in its quarters that may admit cold 

 air and allow the escape of heat, and in the care for its young and for 

 the mother of its colony, it affords a lesson in civic virtue furnished 

 by but few, if any, of the so-called higher animals. 



It has always seemed strange to me that the honey bee is not more 

 generally employed by teachers of entomology in the illustration of 

 the ways and structures of insects. With the movable-frame hive it 

 is very easy to present to a class all the stages of the bee and all the 

 remarkable facts concerning its housekeeping. It seems to me that 

 the instructors Avho have a knowledge of this insect and know how to 

 handle it have an invaluable source of illustrative material, fur- 

 nishing all the essential facts of insect structure, transformation, 

 nabit, and relations to nature at any season of the year. Why, then, 

 do our instructors so often ignore this excellent material for practical 

 Avork and fail to draAv upon the wealth of accurate information pub- 

 lished concerning the habits of bees? It is the most valuable body of 

 knowledge relating to one insect that is available for the illustration 

 cf the fundamental truths of their subject. They can not afford to 

 neglect it, although the}^ sometimes do so, much to the detriment of 

 their teaching in entomology, I must believe. What I have just said 

 has no reference to the utility of the honey bee to mankind at large. 

 The honey crop of California and some other States is a valuable one, 

 and it may be doubted whether the demand for good honey at a rea- 

 sonable price was ever fully su^Dplied in the eastern United States. 

 Tlie subject of apiculture ought on this account to be given attention 

 m every agricultural or entomological course. Every farmer should 

 l)e taught hoAv to supply at least his own family with honey. Bee 

 keeping is not practiced as generalh^ as it should be on the farm. But 

 to the teacher of entomology I regard a theoretical and practical 

 knoAvledge of apiculture as of the greatest value. I am disposed to 

 ihink that most teachers wdio refrain from acquiring a practical 

 acquaintance with bees are deterred by a fear of the stings. It has 

 l)een often said before by expert bee keepers, but I think has not so 

 often" been said to teachers, that the danger is not at all serious. An 

 old bee-keeping acquaintance once remarked that bees always sting a 

 fool and a coward, and I have sometimes observed myself that when 

 persons of a certain character come near when I am handling a colony 

 ihey are likely to be sent off at a gallop. Any man or woman of intel- 

 ligence and reasonably steady nerves, with a few appliances, such as a 



