84S 



CLEA^l^UlS IJN BEE CULTUKE. 



Nov. 



rub its anterior legs over its head; and by close at- 

 tention, especially with a small lens, we can easily 

 see one antenna and then the other passed through 

 the antenna-cleaners, and soon we shall notice that 

 the dust has all been removed. 



After the bee has passed its antenna through the 

 cleaner, it takes the leg used and draws it through 

 between the basal tarsi of the middle legs. These 

 tarsi have pollen-combs of stiff hairs on the inside, 

 and thus the antenna-cleaners are in turn cleaned. 

 I have found that many wasps vary this last opera- 

 tion. They pass the forward, or anterior legs, be- 

 tween the mandibles, or jaws, just after they are 

 used to clean the anteiintr, and so; the antenna- 

 cleaners are cleaned by aid of the jaws rather than 

 by use of the middle legs. By closely watching 

 a bee as it backs out of tubular flowers, we have a 

 fine oppoituulty tosee it use these antenna-cleaners 

 in freeing its antennje of the pollen. 



I have become very much interested in studying 

 these peculiar organs. I believe in many cases we 

 could, simply by studying these organs, place the 

 bees, wasiis, etc.. In their respective families, and, 

 in many cases, in their genera. Nor should we 

 wonder at this. The antennie have been shown by 

 entomologists to act as organs of smell, and we all 

 know that they are most delicate tactile organs. 

 How necessary, then, that they should be kept free 

 from any thing that would dull their sensibility! 

 We should expect, then, that, as these organs have 

 been developed, they would be modified to corres- 

 pond with the habits of the insect. Some of the 

 bees and their allies work only in the pollen dust; 

 others dig in the earth, or gather mud, while others 

 bore in wood, etc. Thus each would require a dif- 

 ferent style of brush to free the anteuntc of taint. 

 Those that use the jaws to clean the cleaners would 

 doubtless have a different style of cleaner than 

 would those that use their legs for this purpose. 

 Again, the higher the instincts, or, better, the high- 

 er the intelligence of the insects, the better or high- 

 er would be the development of such important or- 

 gans as the antenna:'. Likewise, any other organ 

 like this antenna-cleaner which is related to the an- 

 tenna, would be more or less highly developed, to 

 correspond with the complexity of the antennte 

 themselves. Hence we do not wonder that these 

 beautiful organs are of great use in our systematic 

 study of this most Interesting order of insects. 



THE MIDDLE LEGS. 



The middle legs are peculiar only in the posses- 

 sion of the sharp tibial spur and the beautiful pol- 

 len-combs on the inside of the basul tarsus. These 

 latter are formed of stiff hairs, like those on the 

 posterior legs, except that the arrangement in rows 

 is absent. 



It has been suggested that this spur has been 

 used to pry off the pollen masses from the worker's 

 legs as they push this pollen into the cells of the 

 comb. The fact that queen, drone, and all others 

 of the hymenoptera, have this spur even better de- 

 veloped than do the worker-bees, as also the fact 

 that the stiff hairs on all the four posterior legs are 

 better adapted to perform this office, makes this 



view doubtful. The combs not only aid in removing 

 and transferring the pollen to the pollen-baskets, 

 but, as we have seen, they serve to clean the anten- 

 na-cleaners, and also to push the pollen masses 

 from the posterior legs into the comb-cells. 

 Agricultural College, Mich. A. J. Cook. 



Friend C, may I offer a suggestion in re- 

 lation to the above V A bee is a rather deli- 

 cate piece of machinery — atle-ast it begins to 

 look so as you describe and illustrate it to 

 us. Well, dust is one of the foes to any 

 piece of delicate apparatus. When I worked 

 at repairing watches I used to have to scold 

 the apprentices over and over again for 

 leaving watches on the bench uncovered by 

 their appropriate glasses ; and much talent 

 and skill have been expended in making 

 dust-proof cases; for when a watch gets 

 full of dust it is a watch no longer, and the 

 dust spoils the delicate machinery if not re- 

 moved. Well, as it would not be practicable 

 to keep a bee shut up in a glass case all the 

 wliile, the Creator has, in his infinite wis- 

 dom, provided the insect with beautiful 

 complicated machinery for freeing itself 

 from dust. Did you ever notice that, when 

 a bee gets on the floor — at least an un- 

 carpeted llooi— he is pretty soon disabled by 

 the dust he finds? We" might think the 

 floor was tolerably clean ; but there is almost 

 always dust enough to kill him in a short 

 time, if he can't fly away and escape the 

 danger. I have often picked them from the 

 floor and carried them outside to some green 

 leaf, and watched the curious apparatus 

 you have described, while the little fellow 

 goes to work to clean himself up. He will 

 work patiently a long while before even at- 

 tempting to try his wings. He seems to be 

 provided with an apparatus also, to brush 

 off these delicate membraneous wings, as 

 well as his feet, antennae, head, and eyes. 

 I have often made the children laugh by 

 showing them a bee combing his head. He 

 throws his arm across his neck, as it were, 

 and them slips it over his head in such a 

 way as to brush the dust off forward ; and 

 from your engravings, we notice that these 

 beautiful fringe-like hairs help him to dust 

 himself off. Perhaps you propose telling us 

 something about this before you get through. 

 Well, after he has brushed off his head, 

 combed his hair, brushed down his whiskers, 

 pulled down his vest, and scratched himself 

 all over, as it were, he spreads his wings 

 and goes off, a clean, bright, happy bee. 

 Now, friends, when you see your little pets 

 hopelessly floundering on the floor, do take 

 them out to God's green fields, and give 

 them a chance for life. Bees were not made 

 to be indoors— that is, doors made by hand. 

 In their own little houses, no particle of 

 dust is ever permitted to remain. Was 

 there ever a housewife so successful (Mrs. 

 Root is a great foe to dust and litter, but 

 she can not come up to the bees) that she 

 could keep every crack and cranny of Jier 

 home so exquisitely neat as is the interior of 

 a bee-hive during the roar and hum of the 

 busy season ? No matter if thousands are 

 tramping out and in incessantly, no par- 

 ticle of dust ever finds a lodging-place. 

 Every thing is scraped and polished— yes, 

 and varnished too ; and come to write down 



