94 Beekeeping 



readily accessible to beekeepers, and writers of books on 

 beekeeping have not given to this subject as careful consider- 

 ation as to the anatomy of the adult bee. The changes 

 taking place during metamorphosis (pupa stage) are so 

 wonderfully complex that an account of the transformation 

 of the larva into an adult bee is almost unbelievable. 1 Be- 

 cause of the lack of attention given to the development of 

 the bee in the literature on beekeeping, relatively more at- 

 tention is here given it than to the anatomy of the adult bee. 



Cellular structure of tissues. 



To form a correct understanding of the development of 

 the bee or of the structure of the adult, one must know some- 

 thing of the units of which the tissues are formed, called 

 cells. This word, as used by the biologist, has a special 

 significance, being applied to a type of structure which makes 

 up the tissues of all plants and animals. This unit of struc- 

 ture is usually microscopic and a single organ of the bee 

 may contain many thousands of them. The cell consists 

 of a minute mass of protoplasm (living substance) contain- 

 ing a nucleus 2 (Fig. 50). Protoplasm is a complex organic 

 substance characterized by life ; the nucleus is a differenti- 



dell Api nell' uovo. Atti dell' Acad. Gioenia di scienze nat. in Catania, 

 Ser. 3, XVIII, pp. 145-222. 



Dickel, O., 1904. Entwicklungsgeschichtliche Studien am Bienenei. 

 Leipzig : Engelmann. 



The work of Carriere u. Burger (1898, Entwicklungsgeschichte der 

 Mauerbiene. Abhdl. der kaiserl. Leop. Carol. Deutsch. Akad. der Naturf., 

 LXIX, 2) on the mason bee, Calicodoma, is of value in a study of this sub- 

 ject. The recent work of Dr. Jas. A. Nelson of the Bureau of Entomology 

 (1915, The embryology of the honeybee. Princeton University Press) 

 is the most complete on this subject and is the most thorough work on the 

 development of any insect. It is the only discussion of the embryology of 

 the bee in English and should be consulted by any one interested in this 

 phase of the life of the bee. The author is indebted to Doctor Nelson for 

 help in the preparation of this section. 



1 The metamorphosis of the bee is described in detail by Anglas, J., 

 1900. Observations sur les metamorphoses internes de la guepe et de 

 1'abeille. Ill pp. Lille: Danel. 



2 This word, like "cell," is one of various meanings. It is used by the 

 beekeeper to designate a small colony. 



