FEBRUARY 1, 1913 



the snow over the entrances; for if the 

 cellar is of the right temperature it will 

 melt in a short time, or about the time the 

 bees quiet down. 



We find that a light snow is the most 

 effective enti-ance-closer that we have ever 

 used, and the only thing fit to use during 

 cold weather in ivinter. The heat from the 

 fire-cup of the smoker warms up the bees, 

 stirring them up a good deal more than if 

 smoke were not used. When the bees boil 

 out at the entrance a few handfuls of light 

 3now dropped genth- over them drives tliera 

 back. It is interesting to see them skedad- 

 dle back into the hive; for the snow has a 

 tendency to cool them off. Whenever bees 

 become cold they immediately seek the 

 warmth of the cluster. 



Last winter we moved an apiary during 

 zero weather from what we then called our 

 Nettleton yard, and placed them in the cel- 

 lar. We never had bees winter nicer than 

 they did, and in the spring they were the 

 best and strongest lot of bees we had, not- 

 withstanding that in the fall they were the 

 weakest lot of bees — so weak that we felt 

 that they must be put indoors. 



THE humble-bee: its life history^ and 



HOW TO DOMESTICATE IT ; BY F. W. L. SLA- 

 DEN; ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS 

 AND DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR^ AND FIVE 

 COLORED PLATES PHOTOGRAPHED DIRECT 

 FROM NATURE. 



This is one of the most interesting and 

 beautiful books that have been put out for 

 a decade. The author has obtained his in- 

 formation direct from nature. He explains 

 how he has been able to decoy queen bum- 

 ble-bees to start nesting under his care, and 

 also how he has been able to get the colonies 

 to work under glass in a specially con- 

 structed house Avhere all the details of their 

 behavior can be watched. In many ways 

 the habits of bumble-bees seem to be inter- 

 mediate between those of the solitary bees 

 and of the honey-bee; but there are differ- 

 ences, and for their own particular purpose 

 they have reached a high stage of perfec- 

 tion. The queen bumble-bee is lughly " in- 

 telligent," and cares for her young as de- 

 votedly as a bird or a mammal. As the re- 

 sult of twenty years' intimate acquaintance 

 with the bumble-bees, and with the aid of 

 the decoying devices and special hives, the 

 writer has been able in this work to pi'esent 

 for the first time a great many new fads 

 concerning the bumble-bee's habits. It was 

 tiirough tlie study of the bumble-bee that 

 he was led to discover the true function of 

 the auricle as an instrument for packing the 



pollen into the eorbicula box in the honey- 

 bee and the bumble-bee. He shows, too, 

 that the bumble-bee collects its wax from 

 I lie abdomen or the bristles of the brush on 

 (he inner side of the metatarsus, or planta, 

 of the hind legs. Casteel has since shown 

 that the honey-bee also uses these bristles 

 for the removal of wax, but only the row 

 at the distal end of the metatarsus. (See 

 The Manipulation of the Wax Scales of the 

 Honey-bee, Circular No. 161, U. S. Dept. 

 of AgTicultnre, Bux'eau of Entomology.) 



The book discloses a new interest for 

 country rambles, and is being warmly wel- 

 comed by the advocates of nature study. 

 There is exiilained in full and clear detail 

 how the nests of bumble-bees may be found 

 and taken and set up again in the garden, 

 and also how to make a collection of speci- 

 mens and how to distinguish the British 

 specimens. A different set of species oc- 

 curs in America; but the methods by which 

 the American species are separated may be 

 applied to the American species; and to do 

 this would help to stimulate the interest of 

 the student. Some of the species resemble 

 one another very closely; but there are 

 slight differences in the tint and quality 

 (length, density, and shagginess) of their 

 furry coats. These differences are brought 

 out very well in the colored plates which 

 are among the very best reproductions of 

 insects by photography in their natural col- 

 ors that we have ever seen. Each species 

 appears to have distinctive habits. Some 

 live under ground in comparatively large 

 colonies, with 200 or 300 workers, and will 

 defend their nest, if disturbed, with great 

 spirit. Others live on the surface of the 

 ground, in communities not containing more 

 than about 100 workers, which are very 

 faint-hearted ; and when the nest is molested 

 they will feign death, and lie on their backs 

 half hidden in the nest material, ready to 

 seize and sting the fingers if they are touch- 

 ed. But the sting of the bumble-bee is not 

 veiy severe, and it is used only under great 

 provocation. 



Bumble-bees are invaluable for fertilizing 

 long-tubed flowers, such as red clover, for 

 they alone of all the bees have tongues long 

 enough to I'eaeh the nectar easily. 



The book contains nearly 300 pages; is 

 beautifully printed in large bold-faced type. 

 We were told by some of the entomologists 

 that recently met in Cleveland that this was 

 undoubtedly the most complete work of any 

 that has ever been written, and Mr. Sladen 

 is regarded as an authority on the subject. 

 We. do know this: He has been gathering 

 data for the last twenty years. Price $3.25, 

 postpaid, at tliis oflBce. 



