1884 



GLEANmaS IN BEE CULTURE. 



511 



HERMAPHRODITES. 



FRIEND COOK GIVES I'S A LITTLE LECTURE ON 

 NATURAL HISTORY. 



UR friend E. M. Hayhnrst sends me a curious 

 bee, with this note : " I send you to-day quite 

 a curiosity— a worlcer-boe with the posterior 

 arrangements of a drone. He is a diminutive 

 little fellow, but appears to enjoy life as well 

 as HIS sisters." 



Hermaphroditisnfcis the union of the sexes in the 

 same individual. As it is not common among- higher 

 animals, many no doubt will regard the whole mat- 

 ter as a delusion, as they do the equally well-estab- 

 lished fact of parthenogenesis. Among plants, 

 hermaphrodites are very common. We all know 

 that both male and female organs are not only on 

 the same tree, as in the walnut, but are usually in 

 the same flower. All our common flowers have both 

 stamens (the male orgar.s) and pistils (the female 

 organs). 



There are, however, many trees that are bisexual, 

 or, as the botanist terms them, direcious. The wil- 

 low illustrates this class. Here the stamens are on 

 one tree and the pistils on another. Plants that 

 have only the pistils (female organs) are called by 

 the botanist pistillate; those with only stamens (the 

 male organs), staminate. Many of ovjr strawberries, 

 like the Manchester, are pistillate, and ao depend 

 on the near presence of other varieties, with sta- 

 mens, to fertilize them, and render them productive. 

 In such cases the bees and other insects must serve 

 as " marriage priests," for the pollen must be car- 

 ried, often for quite a distance. Our horticultural stu- 

 dents think that the berries are materially different 

 when fructified by pollen from different varieties. 

 Thus the Manchester, a pistillate variety, is good to 

 produce very excellent or poor berries, depending 

 on the kind of plants near by from which the fecun- 

 dating pollen is received. Here, then, is a great field 

 for investigation and improvement. Here, too, is 

 where our bees are of immense value to the po- 

 mologist and gardener— a service. I regret to say, 

 that is not always appreciated. 



Very many of the lower animals are hermaphro- 

 dites. The sponges, the coral animals, many worms, 

 and animals as high as our snails, are illustrations. 

 Many such animals, like our common snails, are, 

 however, incapable of self-fecundation. Nature 

 seems to hate close fertilization, and is very free to 

 set her seal of disapprobation upon it. Unless bees 

 cross-fertilize our plants, she lessens the produc- 

 tiveness. Many hermaphroditic animals are ren- 

 dered incapable of self-impregnation. In our snails, 

 the date of maturity of the male and female organs 

 is not the same, so cross-fertilization is Impossible. 

 The same is also true of our common earth or angle 

 worm; though each worm is a hermaphrodite, they 

 mutually fecundate each other. 



There are no true hermaphrodites among insects. 

 The nearest related animals which combine the 

 sexes in one individual are the mites, some of 

 which are hermaphroditic. The so-called hermaph- 

 rodites among insects (specimens of which I have 

 often seen) are such only in appearance. The 

 specimen sent by Mr. Hayhurst illustrates this so- 

 called hermaphrodism. This bee, so far as the head 

 and thoi-ax are concerned, is a worker. The ligula 

 is long, the jaws sti-ong, the maxilUe large, the 

 eyes separate above, the simple eyes (ocelli) back 

 on the epicranium, and the posterior legs have the 



pollen-baskets, so in all these respects it looks ex- 

 actly like a worker. The abdomen, on the other 

 hand, in color and in form, is that of a drone. Ex- 

 amination shows that he has the sexual organs of 

 the drone, and so is a male bee. Mr. Hayhurst then 

 stated it correctly in speaking of hix sisters. As I 

 state in ^e Manual, whenever, In these apparent 

 hermaphrodites, the abdomen resembles that ol' a 

 drone, I find the real sex is male, and vice versa. 



This apparent hermaphrodism' is not confined 

 to the lower animal life. Our butchers often ob- 

 serve similar phenomena among cattle and sheep, 

 and such eases ai'e recorded of the highest of all 

 animals. A.J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich., July, 1884. 



Only last week a very pretty tbree-band- 

 ed worker-bee was sent us, baving tbe 

 bead of a drone. Tbe bee was in a cage 

 witb otber bees, and was brigbt and lively 

 wben received. I bave always regarded 

 tbese as deformitie.s, and have passed them 

 by without niiich attention. However, they 

 are interesting in tliis respect, as it proves 

 tliat an animal may live, and be bright and 

 active, even th()ii,<ib it has a worker's body 

 and a drone's head. —This matter of fertiliza- 

 tion of plants and animals is one of wonder- 

 ful interest, and it is highly important that 

 we understand it. 



FLORIDA. 



A little Sketch from one of our Prominent 

 Bee-Priends in the South. 



ALSO A VIEW OF A SE.MI-TROPICAL APIARY. 



J' SEND you by to-day's mail a photograph of one 

 [ of my bee-shades, and also one of myself. The 

 I bee-shades are covered with palmetto-leaves 

 ■ during the summer, and left without cover in 

 the winter. 1 make them high enough to allow 

 of walking upright beneath them, which makes it 

 very pleasant to work with the bees during the hot 

 days of summer, and especially so as we always 

 have a fresh bi-eeze during hot weather. 



In reference to myself, if you should see fit to re- 

 fer to me, I will say that I came here a i)oor boy, 

 having lost everj' thing I i)08se8sed, by the burning 

 of a Mississippi boat while on my way down from 

 the North. The three first years every thing 

 seemed to work to my disadvantage; fires, storms, 

 lightning, and sickness, headed meoff at every turn, 

 and took every thing I made, and more, so that, at 

 the end of the three years, I was PZV't in debt. I had 

 managed to get a couple of swarms of bees by this 

 time. By hard work, hard study, and the help of 

 my bees, I paid the last dollar I owed, and then for 

 the first time set out a few orange-trees on my own 

 land. Since then I have prospered beyond my 

 most sanguine expectations, having 100 colonies of 

 bees in fine shape, with the best outfit of fixtures in 

 the State; four as fine young oi-ange-groves as 

 there are in the State, and considerable first-class 

 real estate besides. I have taken up a prominent 

 part in building up and settling the surrounding 

 country, and my advice is sought for in many di- 

 rections by my neighbors. 



When 1 came here I knew nothing of the bee bus- 

 iness; but seeing that they did well, caused me to 

 take an interest in them; and when, soon after, I 

 ran across Rev. L. L. Langstroth's book, and sent to 

 you for a few copies of Glbanings, I began to 



