1316 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



Fig. 3. — Honey-bee— queen. 



lifera queen is much more beautiful than its 

 clumsy relative. Figs. 5 and 6 show the side 

 views of these queens. 



The difference between the workers of 

 the races is much less marked. Figs. 7 and 

 8 give the top views of these bees. Aside 

 from the shorter abdomen of the melipona 

 worker it might be easily mistaken for the 

 mellifera worker. The side views, Figs. 9 

 and 10, show more distinctly the difference, 

 the abdomen of the melipona appearing still 

 shorter in comparison. Figs, i and 2 illus- 

 trate the mellifera drone and melipona 

 v/orker. For still further comparison I have 

 taken the measure of the tongue and thorax 

 of the workers. The thorax measure of the 

 melipona is about .156 inch, and the melli- 

 fera .158. The tongues of the melipona run 

 from .16 to .20; and the mellifera, as we 

 all know, average from .18 to .23. These 

 figures are not supposed t^ be exact, but 

 will show the approximate measures of the 

 few specimens I have. 



The wing of an insect is of as much value 

 to an entomologist in the identification of 

 species as the leaves of a tree are to a 

 botanist. Every species has some distinctive 

 marking of veins and cells that vary but a 



Fig. 4. — The stingless bee — queen. 



trifle in the individual. The veins and cells 

 of the melipona and mellifera are quite 

 different, as may be seen by the drawings, 

 Fig. II, the former, and 12 the latter. 



The side view of the melipona, Fig. g 

 shows the immense pollen-baskets of this 

 genus. As pollen-gatherers the melipona are, 

 no doubt, superior to the mellifera. Not 

 only do they carry larger loads, but, as 

 verified by my observation of the little sting- 

 less bee in Cuba, they work when the honey- 

 bee does not. Beginning early in the morn- 

 ing, and working late at evening, it flies 

 in bad weather when the mellifera does not 

 venture out. Of course, this pollen-gather- 

 ing quality does not rank in commercial im- 

 portance as does the honey-gathering of the 

 mellifera, but it is still of value in another 

 way. The cross-pollination of flowers is 

 coming to have more and more attention 

 from the agricultural scientists. There is, 

 undoubtedly, much room for improvement in 

 this respect. More bees means more fruit; 

 and the introduction of another race of 

 bees means better pollination of flowers. The 

 introduction of great pollen-gathering bees, 

 such as the melipona, would doubtless mean 

 an improvement. The superior quality of 



^f^ 



Fig. 5.— Honey-bee, queen— side view. 



Fig. 6.— Stingless bee, queen— side view. 



