196 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



The next mode of reproduction is the 

 hennaplirodite. In this, the sexes both 

 exist in the same individual. This is the 

 common mode in tlie higher plants, the 

 male and female elements being in the 

 same flower. The con)mou earth-worm 

 is ii true hermaphrodite, as is the tape 

 worm. In the earth-worm we have cross- 

 fertilization, that is, two individuals recip- 

 rocally fertilize each other, while in the 

 tape worm, which fertilizes its own ova, 

 it is called close. Nature generally ab- 

 hors close fertilization, or, at least, usu- 

 ally contrives that it shall not continue 

 the permanent order of things with any 

 group of beings. Thus, in plants the fer- 

 tilizing pollen Is carried to distant plants 

 of the same species by the winds, or by 

 honey-seeking insects. 



The highest mode is the true sexual in 

 which the sexes exist perfect in distinct 

 individuals. To this group belong fish, rep- 

 tiles, birds, mammals and many insects. 

 The lowest class here is the oviparous, in 

 which the eggs are laid by the female and 

 then hatched by heat applied externally, 

 as in insects, fish, reptiles and birds. 

 Ovavlviparous animals produce eggs, but 

 these are retained within the body of the 

 female until hatched. This is trne of some 

 reptiles. In the viviparous mode the eggs 

 exist, but are very minute, and develop- 

 ment proceeds within the body of the fe- 

 male. The aplacental animals, opossums 

 and kangaroos, bring forth their young 

 in a very imperfectly developed state, 

 while in the placental animals the young 

 are much farther developed at the time of 

 birth, as is true of all the domestic ani- 

 mals. Bees are oviparous insects, in which 

 an egg is laid, which in time hatches into 

 a worm (grub, larva or caterpillar). This 

 after a time, spins a cocoon and becomes 

 the quiescent pupa, and after a variable 

 time the pupa changes into the imago or 

 perfect insect. The honey-bee has always 

 passed through all the stages of the egg, 

 the worm, the pupa and the perfect insect. 



In a perfect colony of honey-bees in the 

 summer time we find one queen, a few 

 huiidi'ed diones, and several thousand 

 workers, of the last from 10,000 to 40,000. 

 Now, that eggs and worms and young 

 bees are found in bee hives was long 

 known, but b}' what means the eggs were 

 laid for a long time baffled the most care- 

 ful observers. The queen bee was gener- 

 ally considered the ruler of the colony, 

 and a mala ; hence, in Shakespeare, we 

 read : 



'■ They have a king and oflicers of state." 



Anil in Virgil, the Latin poet: 



" First ol' tlie thi-ons? and foremost of tlie whole 

 One stands contest, thesovereign and the soul." 



The uatura-list Aristotle has left a remark 



showing that some observers of his time, 

 or possibly earlier, had a clew as to the 

 origin of bees, for he says, " Some say 

 that the rulers produce the young of the 

 bees." About the time of Christ, Virgil, 

 the poet already quoted, gave the follow- 

 ing method for replenishing depleted bee- 

 hives. A young bullock is to be killed by 

 being suflocated. His body is covered 

 with flowers and allowed to lie in a seclud- 

 ed place until it decomposes. Worms will 

 appear in the putrid mass, which, in time, 

 will hatch into l)ees,and then if the empty 

 hives are near, the new bees will enter the 

 same. Virgil states, however, that this 

 is the method said to he practised iu Egypt 

 but some early English writers gravely 

 recommended the plan as the correct 

 thing to do. 



To he continued. 



The Life-work of Bees. 



How much honey one bee can gather dur- 

 ing its iifetirae. 



An experienced beekeeper writes: Al- 

 though the subject of how much honey 

 one bee may gather during its lifetiuie 

 may have no very definite bearing xipon 

 the dollar-and-cent side of apiculture, still 

 such an item may be made of interest to 

 us if we look at it from the right stand- 

 point. That one bee cannot gather 100 

 pounds of honey is one of the reasons that 

 more than one bee is required iu a hive, 

 and because one bee cannot gather that 

 amount nor one-ten-thousandth part of it, 

 is the reason that the apiarist desires a 

 large number of bees in his hives at cer- 

 tain seasons of the year. Some tell us 

 "keep your colonies always strong," just 

 as though a large nnnd)er of bees in a hive 

 at all limes of the year was a thing of great 

 value. Mut right here comes iu another 

 side to this "gathering" question. I have 

 just said that one bee could not gather one- 

 ten-thousandth part of 100 pounds of 

 honey. My reason for saying so is that 

 in this locality we do not have a yield of 

 lioney lasting through the length of life 

 allotted to an individual bee; while many 

 bees, yea, more than one-half which are 

 reared under the most skiltul management, 

 never add an ounce to the surplus. If every 

 bee reared con likhave a field of honey placed 

 before it in which to labor, then the motto, 

 "keep colonies always strong," would be 

 the right one; but inasmuch as this cannot 

 be, !unl as bees at all times must be con- 

 sumers, no matter whether producing or 

 not, I cannot see the philosophy of having a 

 colony strong in bees at such seasons when 



