MARCH 1, 1916 



177 



Nelson. We are pleased to present a por- 

 tion of what the Entomological News has 

 to say. 



The Embryology of the Honey Bee. By 

 James Allen Nelson, Ph.D., Expert Bee Cul- 

 ture Investigations, Bureau of Entomology, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. Princeton 

 University Press, Princeton, October, 1915, 

 12mo. Pp. vi, 282; 95 text figs., 6 plates; 

 $2.00 net. The broad and comprehensive 

 way in which the bee-culture investigations 

 of the Bureau of Entomology have been con- 

 sidered and treated since Dr. Everett Frank- 

 lin Phillips was placed in charge of them in 

 1907 is strikingly illustrated by the publica- 

 tions which have emanated from the inves- 

 tigators concerned. Snodgrass has given us 

 the results of a careful and original re-ex- 

 amination of the anatomy of the honeybee; 

 Casteel has corrected our notions of the 

 manipulation of the wax scales and the be- 

 havior of the bee in pollen collecting; Mc- 

 Indoo has informed us on the olfactory sense 

 and on the scent-producing organ; Phillips, 

 C. A. Browne, B. N. Gates, G. F. White, and 

 G. S. Demuth, singly or in conjunction, have 

 dealt with various practical phases of api- 

 culture and especially with bee diseases, 

 while Phillips has summed up these and oth- 

 er researches and experiences in a recent 

 volume in The Eural Science Series. Now 

 comes the still more esoteric volume on the 

 embryology of the honeybee. The keynote 

 to all this work is in the first sentence of 

 the preface contributed by Phillips to Nel- 

 son 's book before us: "The good beekeeper 

 is he who is interested not only in those 

 things which have to do directly with the 

 production of honey, but to whom every- 

 thing pertaining to honeybees has a deep 

 interest. ' ' The conception that ' ' every- 

 thing pertaining to honeybees" should in- 

 clude an extensive and intimate knowledge 

 of structure, physiology, behavior, and em- 

 bryology exhibits a breadth of view which 

 it is a pleasure to emphasize in a journal 

 devoted rather to pure than to applied ento- 

 mology. 



Butschli (1870), Kowalevski (1871), Gras- 

 si (1884), Blochmanu (1889), Petrunke- 

 witsch (1901, 1903), Dickel (1903), and 

 Nachtsheim (1913) have described various 

 phases of the development of the egg of the 

 honeybee; but Nelson's work is more exten- 

 sive and thorough-going than any of these, 

 altho it is devoted to the embryonic history 

 of the workers and queens only, not of the 

 drones. 



The Massachusetts Convention and the 

 Spraying Situation 



We wish to call especial attention to the 

 program of the annual beekeepers' conven- 

 tion at the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 

 lege, March 14, 15, 16. A complete pro- 

 gram of this convention is given under 

 Convention Notices on another page of this 



issue. One of the chief subjects for discus- 

 sion, and one which should interest every 

 beekeeper and fruit-growei', is the subject 

 which will be discussed in the Beekeepers' 

 Round Table on "Spraying Practices versus 

 Beekeeijing." The Round Table discussion 

 on this subject is an effort to bring out 

 various aspects of a problem confronting 

 the beekeepers of the country as a whole. 

 First, Dr. Burton N. Gates will present 

 " The Beekeepers' Standpoint." Second, 

 such evidence as has been obtained by the 

 chemist, which bears upon the possibility of 

 bees being killed by arsenical sprays, will 

 be presented by Dr. E. B. Holland, chemist. 

 Third, the horticulturist who is obliged to 

 si3ray in order to control insect pests will 

 present his side of the question, stating, 

 doubtless, how his practices may be adapt- 

 ed so as not to conflict with the beekeepers' 

 interests. He will also, possibly, explain 

 the relationship of his spraying methods to 

 the insects which are being combated. W. 

 W. Chenoweth will present this phase of 

 the situation. Fourth, the forest entomol- 

 ogist will explain his policy in erjAiikirly 

 combating insects, and suggest any method 

 which may be carried, out in an effort to 

 obviate a conflict with beekeeping interests. 

 A. F. Burgess will consider this phase. 

 Fifth, Fred Southard will present the side 

 of the municipal forester, and will endeavor 

 to determine how the different varieties of 

 shade-trees in towns and cities may be 

 sprayed for insect control without working 

 harm to the beekeeping interests. Sixth, a 

 tinal discussion will take place in which it 

 is hoped that prominent beekeeping author- 

 ities will take a leading part. 



It is hoped that the material which is 

 prepared for this occasion will be reported 

 and presented in form for publication, in 

 order to be available for beekeepers and 

 spray men the country over. 



The Opening-vip of More Bee Country 

 by the Purchase of Territory by the 

 United States in Northwestern Mexico 



Our readers have already been informed 

 of the wonderful bee country known as the 

 Imperial Valley in southern California. 

 This country, formerly a desert, has, by 

 iri'igation, been opened up so that now it is 

 one of the most productive of any region 

 in the United States. It is said to have 

 land equal to that in the Nile Valley in 

 Egypt. But it appears that there are thou- 

 sands of acres beyond the boundary line 

 that are just as good, and which Uncle Sam 

 is desirous of purchasing, and which Mex- 



