556 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



held the name of a prominent Canadian in 

 grateful remembrance. His scholarly ways, 

 his pleasant manners at conventions, his fair- 

 ness in discussion, have won the respect and 

 admiration of bee-keepers wherever he has 

 been. That man is S. Cornell. Some time ago 

 he showed the advantages of the double direct- 

 blast arrangement when attached to smokers; 

 and while I did not think, and do not now, 

 that it has the strength of the Crane, it goes a 

 long way toward being as strong, and its 

 method of application is very much cheaper. 

 The only thing about the new smoker — that is, 

 Corneil's — is the blast arrangement; but we 

 always like to name a new implement after 

 some good man who has contributed no small 

 part to the vital function of the implement it- 

 self. In like manner it has been a pleasure to 

 us to name our swarm-hiver after A. E. Man- 

 um. who first devised the tripod arrangement. 

 In a similar way it has given us exceeding 

 pleasure to name one of our recent extractors 

 after Mr. Cowan; and rightly, too, should it be 

 named the Cowan, because it employs the 

 principle that Mr. Cowan first made public. It 

 was a pleasure also to designate what we call 

 our very best smoker a Crane, after that most 

 excellent bee-keeper, lecturer, and scholar, J. 

 E. Crane, who indeed devised its most vital 

 features. In a like manner, also, it is now a 

 pleasure to christen the new smoker after Mr. 

 Cornell. All the men I have mentioned, after 

 whose names we have christened apiarian im- 

 plements, are and have been bee-keepers of 

 high standing; and it is indeed a pleasure, dear 

 readers, to give deserving honor to whom such 

 honor is surely due. 



VARIATIONS IN BEES. 



The following is an extract from " Insect 

 Life," published by the U. S. government, and 

 edited by C. V. Riley. By the way, every bee- 

 keeper and fruit-grower should get this peri- 

 odical, and read it. As it is furnished free by 

 Uncle Sam, there is no excuse for any man 

 remaining in ignorance as to the nature of our 

 insect-enemies, and how to destroy them. 



tain a very good idea of how the special organs 

 in Apis may have been evolved and perfected 

 from simpler organs in other genera. This 

 may be illustrated by a few sketches of some 

 of the more important structures, as, for in- 

 stance, the polleniferous organs and the wax- 

 producing apparatus. (See Fig. 36.) The figures 

 very well illustrate the fact that the modification 

 of structure and hairy vestiture, wliich facilitates 

 the collection and transportation of pollen, while 

 exhibited perhaps in tlie greatest perfection in the 

 liive bee. is nevertlieless an evolution from similar 

 structures possessed by other species of social bees, 

 such as the MeliponoB and Bombi, and still more 

 remotely from such as are possessed by the solitary 

 bees. 



In the production of wax, the hive-bee exhibits a 

 lavishness not found in any of the wild bees, not 

 excepting the species of Trigona and Melipona, 

 which approach it most nearly in social economy. 

 As a result we find tliat the wax-secreting organs of 

 Apis are much larger than in any other wax-pro- 

 ducing bees. In Bombus they are greatly reduced 

 and otherwise different in structure, resembling, 

 however, very closely those obtaining in Melipona 

 and Trigona. In the solitary bees, which produce 

 no wax, these specialized structures are entirely 

 wanting. These solitary bees, no matter in what 

 situations or of what material they make their 

 cells, generally store them with honey or pollen, 

 and, after depositing an egg, cap the cell and leave 

 the young larva to care for itself. The habits of 

 the social bumble-bee (Bomlms) are but a step in 

 advance, as the larvae are developed in a mass of 

 pollen and honey, in which they form rather imper- 

 fect cells. When full grown each spins a silk co- 

 coon which is thickened by a certain amount of wax, 

 which is added by the adult bees. The females 

 labor, and several co-operate in the same nest. In 

 the bottle-bees {Melipona) a still further step is 

 seen, as the cells, of a rather dark, unctuous wax, 

 are formed into regular combs, and are somewhat 

 imperfectly hexagonal. They are, howe%-er, in sin- 

 gle horizontal tiers, separated and supported by 



While the different species of the genus Apis dif- 

 fer in size, coloration, temperament, :ind habit, 

 there are comparativelj^ slight variations in sti'uc- 

 ture — a necessary inference for every zoologist. 

 But if we study the other species of the family 

 Apidce we shall find every variation, and ob- 



intervening pillars, more like the nests of the social 

 wasps, and the cell is sealed after the egg is laid 

 upon the stored food, just as in the case of solitary 

 bees. The honey is stored in separate flask-like 

 cells, and but one queen is allowed to provida 

 eggs. 



