CHAPTER IX 



RACES OF BEES 



The honeybee, so well known to beekeepers, has certain 

 near relatives which are of interest, and it is quite probable 

 that a careful study of the various phases in the behavior of 

 these bees would throw considerable light on similar phe- 

 nomena in the honeybee. The honeybee is usually considered 

 as representing the apex of the evolution of the bees (Apidae), 

 in that the social organization is the most complex found 

 in this family of insects. The ants (Formicidse) and wasps 

 (Vespidee) represent lines of parallel evolution in social life 

 which has resulted in insect communities, comparable, but 

 by no means identical, with that of the honeybee. 



TYPES OF SOCIAL BEES 



Among the Apidae are three great types of social bees, the 

 bumblebee (Bombus),' the stingless bees (Melipona and 

 Trigona) and the honeybees (Apis). The simplest forms, the 

 bumblebees, have smaller colonies which die out during the 

 winter, leaving the species to be continued from fertiUzed 

 queens which hibernate. The stingless bees are tropical 

 insects which store their honey and pollen in spherical vessels 

 and rear their brood in "combs," one cell in thickness. In 

 the honeybee colony, the architecture is the most perfect 

 and the honey and pollen are stored and the brood is reared 

 in hexagonal cells, which combine to form a comb two cells 



' For an excellent discussion of the biology of English bumblebees, 

 consult Sladen, F. W. L., 1912. The humble-bee, the life history and how 

 to domesticate it. London : Macmillan and Co. 



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