HYMENOPTERA — THE HONEYBEE 



39 



wings is released, and she, in turn, joins the procession 



and enters with the others. Having found the queen and 



plenty of room, the colony is usually content to remain. 



Sometimes swarming becomes a mania with certain colonics, 



and it is difficult to get them to settle down contentedly in 



a hive and make honey. 



Runaway swarms have 



to be watched with great 



patience. Bees that have 



been raised for many bee 



generations in man-made 



hives sometimes leave 



suddenly and seek out a 



hollow tree in the forests. 



The length of the bee's 

 life varies. The drones 

 are usually killed at the 

 end of their first season. 

 Queens live for five or 

 six or even ten years. 

 Workers live three or 



four weeks in the working season and several months in 

 the fall or winter. 



The honey and wax produced annually in the United 

 States are valued at 122,000,000. 



21. Ichneumons. — Another interesting division of the 

 Hymenoptera are the ichneumons. We have already seen 

 (page 30) how they help to keep the Lepidoptera from be- 

 coming a scourge. They also furnish other interesting ex- 

 amples of parasitism. As an illustration Ave may use one 

 of the larger ones known as Tfialessa. With long, thread- 

 like drills this parasitic insect bores holes in trees, and lavs 

 an egg at the bottom of the hole. The egg is usually laid 

 near the burrow of one of the larger tree borers, the Tremex* 



Figure 39. — Cutting Combs from 

 Box Hive. 



