BEE 



653 



BEE 



the larvae, and do millions of dollars worth 

 of damage each year. The only safe method 

 of dealing with these diseases consists in re- 



moving the bees from the infected hive to a 

 new one, and destroying the infected comb 

 and larvae. V.L.K. 



The Bumblebee or Humblebee 



This is the wild bee with the deep, loud 

 br-r-ruming hum. It possesses the most pain- 

 ful sting of all the bees. It is well known in 

 most parts of the world, particularly in tem- 

 perate regions, and in the northern hemisphere 

 it often reaches the Arctic Circle. 



What It Looks Like. The bumblebee looks 

 much like the little honeybee, but is much 

 larger and its body is thick and very hairy, 

 often colored in bands. Unlike the honeybee, 

 it has two spines on the hind legs. The fe- 

 male bees are larger than the male. The 

 workers sting severely; being wild, and not 

 cared for as is the honeybee, bumblebees need 

 this weapon of self-defense, for mice and many 



Tin: BUMBLEBEE 

 imt.lebeo. about natural nize; (6) 

 "it to alight on a flower; (c) 

 <rf> larvae. 



larger animals destroy their nests, stealing tin- 

 horny :m<l the brood. Boys, too, de-light m 

 honey-plunder, and are often stung for such 

 to*. 



Where and How It Lives. Under the ground 

 in <l-s< Tt.-.l mite of mice, in hollow trees or 

 !>onings in rocks, bumblebees live in small 

 colonies of fifty to 200, where half of the bees 

 are workers, or neuters, the rest females and 

 males. They are not MO orderly or perfect ID 

 their family life as the honeybees, as may 

 be seen in the romuli.-h. oval, scattered cells 

 of dim-rent size found in a single nest. Some 

 of these cells are used more than one year. 

 Bumblebees collect honey and store it in the 



old cells, and when flowers are plentiful and 

 the stores of honey large, new cells of wax 

 are built. But at the end of the season the 

 males and workers die, and only a few females, 



V 



NEST OF THE BUMBLEBEE 



He has none of the aristocratic instincts of his 

 relative, the honeybee. 



each destined to be a queen, survive. During 

 the winter the queen bee sleeps beneath 

 leaves or moss. In the early spring she awak- 

 ens and immediately gathers a store of old 

 honey and pollen, in which she lays eight or 

 ten eggs. Continuing to collect food, she lays 

 eggs for one brood after another. As the eggs 

 hatch the larvae (young) eat the surrounding 

 food, and grow rapidly. When fully grown 

 they spin a silken wall about them which the 

 old bees strengthen by a layer of wax, and in 

 these cells the early broods develop into 

 workers. They immediately assist in building 

 cells and gathering honey. Later broods pro- 

 duce females and males, and eggs laid after 

 the last of July produce the large females, or 

 queens. 



What Is Its Use? The honey of the bum- 

 blebee is strong-flavored and not desirahl* tor 

 eomim mal use, and the sting of this bee is 

 I. mi: i. in. ml., red; so many think it just as 

 well to kill it But the bumblebee is useful. 

 It aid* in tin- eros-tVrtilization of plants, and 

 i- tin Lilly m.-.rt \\lnrh sju tin- clover. 



Bumblebees were taken to Australia and New 

 Zealand especially for that purpose, for with- 

 out them clover could not be successfully 

 grown in those countries. 



The Guest Bumblebee. In the nest of th< 

 lumMilnT will always be found a cell with 



