ENTOMOLOGY 405 



queens. Usually it will not pay beginners to buy "selected" breed- 

 ing queens, for they are not yet prepared to make the best use of 

 such stock. Untested or tested queens are usually as good a qual- 

 ity as are profitable for a year or so, and there is also less danger 

 in mailing untested (young) queens. Various races of bees have 

 been imported into the United States and among experienced bee 

 keepers there are ardent advocates of almost all of them. 



The Italian bees are the most popular race among the best bee 

 keepers in this country. They are vigorous workers and good honey 

 gatherers, defend their hives well, and above all have been more care- 

 fully selected by American breeders than any other race. Especially 

 for the last reason it is usually desirable to keep this race. That 

 almost any other race of bees known could be bred to as high a point 

 as the Italians, and perhaps higher, can not be doubted, but the bee 

 keeper now gets the benefit of what has been done for this race. Jt 

 should not be understood from this that the efforts at breeding have 

 been highly successful. On the contrary, bee breeding will compare 

 very unfavorably with the improvement of other animals or plants 

 which have been the subject of breeding investigations. 



Some breeders have claimed to select Italians for greater length 

 of tongue, with the object of getting a bee which could obtain the 

 abundance of nectar from red clover. If any gain is ever made in 

 this respect it is soon lost. The terms "red-clover bees" or "long- 

 tongued bees" are somewhat misleading, but are ordinarily used aa 

 indicating good honey producers. 



Bee Behavior. A colony of bees consists normally of one queen 

 beo, the mother of the colony, and thousands of sexually undevel- 

 oped females called workers, which normally lay no eggs, out gather 

 the stores, keep the hive clean, feed the young, and do the other 

 work of the hive. During part of the year there are also present 

 some hundreds of males or drones (often removed or restricted in 

 numbers by the bee keeper) whose only service is to mate with 

 young queens. These three types are easily recognized, even by a 

 novice. In nature the colony lives in a hollow tree or other cavity, 

 but under manipulation thrives in the artificial hives provided. The 

 combs which form their abode are composed of wax secreted by the 

 workers. The hexagonal cells of the two vertical layers constituting 

 each comb have interplaced ends on a common septum. In the 

 cells of these combs are reared the developing bees, and here are 

 stored honey and pollen for food. 



The cells built naturally are not all of the same size, those used 

 in rearing worker bees being about one-fifth of an inch across, and 

 those used in rearing drones and in storing honey about one-fourth 

 of an inch across. The storage cells are more irregular, and gener- 

 ally curve upward at the outer end. Under manipulation, the size 

 of the cells is controlled by the bee keeper by the use of comb foun- 

 dation sheets of pure beeswax on which are impressed the bases of 

 cells and on which the bees build the side walls. 



In the North, when the activity of the spring begins, the normal 

 colony consists of the queen and some thousands of workers. As 



