14 i* HI •*; li'i^ W i; II ^■^ H' i: Vki i" i W % 



rci>nrtcd. I iiavi- an c.\i)crir;it.:c, that tlu- lUf-llific iiitni«icr.s in autiiinii u'crc shut 

 in a (I ildii)' of the Jai)aiicsc l)ct:s accidcntall)' In' snowfall and cold (:!i;'.iati' and were 

 found liviiiL; in hain;on\- with each other in tlu- colon)' in the foilowin!^ sijrinj,^. 



LaNtiy, our bee is contrasted to imilifica concerain;^ the ] jo; ! Lion o!" the 

 ci;'i;s depositeil in tlic cells. The ci^^fs lie, in the Jajianese l)ee, so inclined 

 on the liottoii! o'" the 'cIl 'diat they are a!;r.)st in |iara]lel with the comb surface 

 M'ith their tip pointed downwards, while in mcHiJlin the tiji of the c.yj^s is 

 dii'ected towartis icll niontlis, so as to i)e ])laccd \-ertical to the surface 

 referred to. 



In ci>nneetion with the i)eiia\'ior of the workers a!.^ainst the tjuecii. on that 

 aLjainst the dront- ,i lirief aecount.s will be ijivcn, as seen during; a dearth of 

 lu-otar. Usually ihe drones are not mire reared in the season of a dearth 

 and nieantinie they disappcai' in the hive. Anioncj others, I mention a case 

 in \\iiieh a '"ew ili-one !ar\ae were reared : the\- were found crushed at the 

 luad betöre theii' maturity is attained; the wa\\" coxcrs were scraped off. and 

 the characteristic cocoons were L;'nawed roun<il\' at the cell moutli-., fallint( iii 

 the shape ^.^^ a small disc, sin.iilc-i- than those cut down by the emcrLjin'^' 

 drones tlu'mseh'cs ; this is in the case in the liees fro:n Kuma'iioto and Kochi. 

 ()n the contrai'y, I obser\'ed a sinijle ca.sc in the bees from .'\<>m<iri, in wliich 

 a few drones were almost always beiu',;' raised uj) bes'ond the flowering .sea.son 

 until late autumn or carlv winter. 



Still further contrast of oiu" bee to uicllifica is see-i in a ijuee:! in wliich 

 the anterior half of the fori- Aving is clipjjcd in order to keep her in the colony 

 at swarming time : meanw hile she disaj^pears, probabi)' ix-ing killed and cast 

 away fnnn the nest by the workers. It is, therefore, obvious, that in tlie 

 Japanese bee the artificial enforcing in the treatment of the queen is not easily 

 accepted by the workers of a colony. 



As already referred to, Fkiksk (1920. 1922) and others maintain that iitdica 

 crosses with mellifica. We can not, however, confirm this statement from our 

 experience \\'ith the Japaneses bee in more than twenty years, during Avhich 

 we ditl not recognise the successful results of the crossing. 



The Japanese bees are mild in nature and shy and timid in character. 

 They rarely sting \\eakl\' autl bite their tormentor in some measure, often 



