1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1113 



The plain separatoi* is simply a very thin 

 piece of wood, 3^ inches wide, and. without 

 any restraining influence when drying, will 

 curl much as a piece of paper would; and the 

 wider the separator the more chance to cui'l. 

 The parts of the fence are narrow, giving 

 less chance to curl, and they are held in 

 place by the cross-pieces. 



It would be an easy thing to pile evenly 

 in a pile a lot of fences after cleaning them, 

 laying a weight upon them; and, if allowed 

 to remain thus until perfectly dry, it would 

 seem they should be just as straight as 

 when new. 



Of course, glued separators could not be 

 cleaned in this way; but I understand that 

 the fences are now nailed so that the fence 

 of 1905 can be dipped in hot water or lye 

 without injury. One great objection to the 

 fence separator has been the difficulty of 

 cleaning it properly; and if this can be done 

 away with it will be a big item. 



Having had no little experience in clean- 

 ing T tins, it may be worth while for me to 

 suggest how I think fences should be cleaned. 



You can do the work in a wash-boiler on 

 the cook-stove; but it will be much better if 

 you can have a large iron kettle, such as are 

 used at hog-killing time, and formerly at 

 soap-making, having it over a fire built out- 

 doors. This gives you all outdoors to muss 

 in, and no cleaning up afterward. 



Fill your kettle a little more than half full 

 of water; and when it comes to a boil add 

 three cans of concentrated lye, pouring it in 

 very carefully and slowly, because the lye is 

 very likely to boil over. 



Now put in as many fences as will go in 

 the kettle without being too much crowded, 

 for there must be room for the fences to be 

 moved about a little in the kettle. This can 

 be done with a four-tined pitchfork, slowly 

 stirring the fences up and down, so that the 

 lye can get at all parts, and so that the 

 movement shall wash off the loosened pro- 

 pohs. 



If the lye is strong enough, a very few 

 minutes will suffice to clean them thorough- 

 ly, and they can be lifted out with the fork 

 into a tub of clear rinsing water, then out 

 of the rinsing water in the same way, and 

 piled up to dry as before suggested. 



Whenever the solution acts too slowly, 

 more of the concentrated lye must be added, 

 and water must also be added as fast as 

 needed. See that the water is kept hot all 

 the time. 



Marengo, 111. 



NEW GENERIC NAMES FOR HONEY-BEES. 



BY FRANK BENTON 



(Apicultural Investigator. United States Department oj 



Agriculture). 



One of the entomologists connected with 

 the United States National Museum, Dr. 

 William H. Ashmead, has been making a 

 comparison of the various exotic honey-bees 

 that have been received at the Museum, and, 

 as a result of his study of their structure, 



has written an article entitled "Remarks 

 on Honey-bees," which was published May 

 20, 1904, in the Proceedings of the Entomo- 

 logical Society of Washington, Vol. VI. No. 

 2. Mr. Ashmead says: "The old genus 

 Apis should, I think, be divided into two 

 genera, representing the two sections first 

 defined by Smith, as follows: 



" Eyes somewhat convergent above, so that the ver- 

 tex is narrowed, the lateral ocelli being farther from 

 each other than to the eye margin; second recurrent 

 nervure received by the third cubital cell very near its 

 apex . , . . Megapis, n. gen. 



{Type: Apis dorsata Fabr.) 



" Eyes not convergent above, the vertex not narrow- 

 ed, the lateral ocelli not farther from each other than 

 to the eye margin; second recurrent nervure received 

 by the third cubital cell some distance from its apex 



Apis Linne. 



(Type: Apis mellifera L.)" 



It is thus seen that our ordinary Apis 

 dorsata, known under the common name of 

 the giant bee of India, has, on account of 

 structural differences which Mr. Ashmead 

 considers important enough to give it ge- 

 neric rank, been placed in a new genus which 

 he has named Megapis, the meaning of 

 which is, large bee. Mr. Ashmead recog- 

 nizes, in this new genus which he has erect- 

 ed, two species, Megapis zonati Smith, and 

 Megapis dorsata Fabricius. The first of 

 these is found in the Philippines, and in the 

 Island of Celebes, and is a dark bee with 

 the first two segments of the abdomen 

 edged with a narrow band of light color. 

 The body is somewhat more black than that 

 of dorsata. The latter shows broad, bright, 

 orange-colored bands across the abdomen, 

 varying somewhat in different regions, al- 

 most the entire abdomen, in some cases, be- 

 ing orange-yellow, while in others the yel- 

 low shows on only three segments. It is 

 recorded from India, Java, Ceylon, Borneo, 

 Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines. 



In the old genus Apis Mr. Ashmead rec- 

 ognizes seven species, namely: Apis mellif- 

 era Linnaeus; in all parts of the world (in- 

 troduced). A. cerana Fabricius; Japan and 

 China. A. Indica Fabricius; India. A. ni- 

 grocincta Smith; India, China, Malay Penin- 

 sula, and the Philippines. A. nigritarum 

 Lepeletier; Africa. A. unicolor Latreille; 

 Madagascar. A. florea Fabricius; India. 



While placing this last, which is the tiny 

 East-Indian honey-bee, under the genus 

 Apis for the present, Mr. Ashmead is really 

 of the opinion that it should be put in a 

 genus by itself, since it has structural char- 

 acters which differentiate it greatly from 

 the genus Apis as now restricted. He pro- 

 poses, therefore, to erect for it the genus 

 Micrapis (small apis). 



While many who have examined these va- 

 rious types of bees may not be entirely 

 agreed with Mr. Ashmead in his conclusions, 

 especially as regards the species which he 

 has seen fit to recognize under the genus 

 Apis, still the subdivision of the hive or 

 honey-bees into three distinct genera is a 

 very natural one, and the pronounced char- 

 acteristics which differentiate them would 

 make it appear that the three general di- 

 visions will hold, so that hereafter we shall 



