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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



December 



A Bumblebees' Nest 



By H. B. Parks 



IN the study of any problem one 

 must go far afield to gather the 

 facts that make its solution pos- 

 sible. In the study of the honeybee, 

 thousands have made observations 

 on their behavior, and hundreds have 

 made conjectures as to the manner 

 in which the present high specializa- 

 tion of the species occurred, but only 

 the few have studied the nearly re- 

 lated semi-social and solitary be<js 

 with a view to find in these the steps 

 by which the honeybee reached its 

 present state. Most closely related 

 to the genus Aphis is Bombus. The 

 bumblebees resemble the hive bees in 

 the possession of three casts, in stor- 

 ing pollen and honey, in secreting 

 wax, and in possessing the same so- 

 cial government. 



The nest from which the following 

 study was made was located on the 

 Experimental Station grounds at Col- 

 lege Station, Texas. Local history 

 claims an age of three years for this 

 colony and the contents of the nest 

 seem to support the claim. It was 

 located on a narrow strip of land be- 

 tween a fence and the cultivated 

 field. The last furrow gave a low 

 bank in which the nest was built. 

 When investigated the nest had a 

 covering of matted grass, dome- 

 shaped and about 24 inches in diame- 

 ter and a height of 8 inches above 

 the surface of the soil. As originally 

 built the dome had been on the un- 

 plowed land only, but with the in- 

 crease of the years the roof had been 

 extended until it covered the furrow 

 and some part of plowed land. The 

 original door was in the furrow, but 

 at last, owing to the extension of 



the brood-chamber, the door had 

 been changed to one side. 



Let it be said here that when one 

 yates Texas bumblebees' nests 

 one does not use the methods of the 

 ordinary beekeeper, as smoke only 

 provokes the anger of the bumblers, 

 and a cloth veil is no protection. 

 Equipped with a wire veil and cov- 

 ered with all the clothes one could- 

 walk in, the attack was made. Sev- 

 eral ounces of ether were poured 

 on the nest and a bell jar placed over 

 it. This was done very early in the 

 morning in the hope to get all the 

 bees at home. However, it was for- 

 gotten that the bumblebees have the 

 bad habit of sleeping on the under 

 side of a leaf of some favorite honey 

 or pollen plant. Scarcely had the 

 bell jar been placed when in came a 

 bee laden with pollen, and seemingly 

 before one could plan just what to 

 do, fifteen or twenty heavily ladened 

 angry bees were trying to sting even 

 the fence posts. Seven of these war- 

 riors made center shots and the in- 

 vestigator retreated with consider- 

 able speed. With trusty net and 

 cyanide bottle the second attempt 

 was made. Thirty-five field bees 

 were put into that bottle before the 

 nesl could be approached. 



On removing the bell jar it was 

 found that the grass dome was jo 

 matted that the ether fumes had not 

 penetrated the nest. A hole was 

 made through the roof and another 

 dose of ether turned in, and in a few 

 minutes all was quiet. The roof was 

 composed of the blades of Bermuda 

 grass so woven and matted together 

 that it was torn apart with difficulty. 

 This mass was 8 inches thick in the 

 center and enclosed in it was found 

 a genuine surprise. In a small cav^y 



Newly 



that looked as if it might have been 

 used for a long time, was coiled uo 

 a blue and green lizard, commonly 

 called a whip-tail. Just what rela- 

 tionship exists between the lizard 

 and the bees is unknown, but from 

 the standpoint of protection from 

 birds, animals, from summer sun and 

 winter cold a better place could not 

 exist for the lizard. Mixed with the 

 grass was a large amount of dirt, 

 which had been taken from the cav- 

 ity below. 



This cavity had been excavated in 

 what had at one time been a cinder 

 walk. The hole was circular in cross 

 section, flatly oval in the transverse. 

 The opening covered by the grass 

 dome was about 8 inches across, the 

 greatest inside diameter was 12 

 inches, at a depth of 6 inches, and a 

 total depth of 9 inches. 



The removal of the grass dome re- 

 vealed a sheet of capped cells form- 

 ing a roof to the cavity, and so fitting 

 it that only a bee-space was left 

 around the edge. No adult bees 

 were found on the surface of this 

 comb, but in the depression made by 

 the contact of each group of three 

 cocoons was either an egg mass or 

 larvae. The larva; varied from the 

 size of a wheat grain to that of the 

 ordinary "grub worm" of the garden. 

 Under this sheet of comb was a cav- 

 ity one cell's length deep. The 

 sheets of comb were held apart by a 

 number of single cocoons and 

 strangely from these came only 

 drones. In this opening were many 

 workers, three queens and, seeming- 

 ly unaffected by the ether, a number 

 of full-grown larva squirmed amid 

 the stupefied bees. This second layer 

 contained some empty cocoons and a 

 number of honey and pollen cells. 

 The same conditions were found in 

 the third and fourth layers. The 

 fifth layer was an old one, green with 

 mould and contained nothing to show 

 that it had been used this year. Be- 

 low this was a mass of older comb, 

 all out of shape, and mixed in it hun- 

 dreds of bee wings. No explanation 

 can be given for this accumulation of 

 wings. 



Not a drone, guest bee or moth was 

 found in the nest. Thousands of 

 little mites were in the nest and on 

 the bees. In two days following the 

 taking of the nest, fifty field bees re- 

 turned. These were captured by the 

 well-known "jug method." At the end 

 of this time no more bees visited 

 this place. 



The comb presented a peculiar ap- 

 pearance in that it was constructed 

 of groups containing about a dozen 

 cells each. Of these cells the follow- 

 ing divisions can be made: Queen 

 and worker cells, which are about 

 the same size, and drone cells, which 

 are longer and less in diameter than 

 the others. In addition to these there 

 were cells in which the eggs are laid. 



The eggs are pearly white and are- 

 laid in a wax cell. This cell is gen- 

 erally placed at the juncture of three 

 cocoons. 



The larvx were present in every 

 stage, but not one was found in a cell 

 nor was there a single partly sealed 

 cell found. Several of the full grown 



