Family of the Honey-Bee. 29 
FAMILY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 
‘The honey-bee belongs to the family Apide, of Leach, 
which includes not only the hive bee but all insects which 
feed their helpless larve on pollen, pollen or honey, or 
food digested or secreted by the adult bees. 
Many authors separate the lower bees, principally 
because of their shorter tongues, from the others, under 
the family name, Andrenidz. In this case all the bees are 
grouped as Mellifera or Anthophila Latr. I shall group 
all bees in the one family Apidew, and regard the Andrenz 
and their near relatives as a sub-family. The insects of this 
family all have branched or plumose hairs on some portion 
of the body, broad heads, elbowed antenne (Fig. 2, d,) 
which are thirteen jointed in the males and only twelve 
jointed in the females, The jaws or mandibles (Fig. 42), 
are strong and usually toothed. The tongue or ligula, 
called labium by some authors, is very long and slim in the 
higher genera, but short and flattened in the lower ones. 
The second jaws or maxille (Fig. 35, # x), are long and 
prominent, and ensheath the tongue, with which they are 
folded back when not in use, once or more under the head. 
All the insects of this family have, on the four anterior 
legs, a stiff spine on the end of the tibia (Fig. 46) the 
fourth joint of the leg from the body—called the tibial spur, 
and all except the genus apis, which includes the honey-bee, 
in which the posterior legs are without tibial spurs, have 
two tibial spurs on the posterior legs. Nearly all bees— 
the parasitic genera are exceptions—have the first joint of 
the tarsus of the posterior legs much broadened (Fig. 47), 
and this, together with the broad tibia, is hollowed out 
(Fig. 47), forming quite a basin or basket—the corbicula 
—on the outer side, in the species of Apis, Nomada, Tri- 
gona and Bombus, which basket is deepened by long stiff 
hairs. These receptacles, or pollen baskets, are found only 
in such bees as gather much pollen. A few of the Apide 
—thieves by nature—cuckoo-like, steal unbidden into the 
nests of others, and here lay their eggs. As their young 
are fed and fostered by another, such bees gather no pol- 
len, and so like drone bees need no organs for collecting 
