Races of Bees 193 



in thickness. The bumblebees and stingless bees fill a cell 

 with pollen and honey, the queen then deposits an egg on 

 this mass and the larva is not further fed or cared for. On 

 the other hand, the queen honeybee lays her eggs in empty 

 cells and the larvse are fed a specially prepared larval food 

 as they require it. For a further discussion of the more 

 primitive bees as well as of the probable evolution of the' 

 Apidae, the reader is referred to the interesting paper of v. 

 Buttel-Reepen.' 



SPECIES OP THE GENUS APIS 



In the genus Apis there are other interesting honeybees but 

 which have no special practical value. It is of interest to 

 note first that specimens of Apis have been found in fossil 

 form, preserved in amber, v. Buttel-Reepen mentions A. 

 adamitica and A. meliponoides, the latter transitional be- 

 tween Melipona and Apis. Among recent species of this 

 genus are A. dorsata, the giant bee of India, with its varieties 

 zonata and testacea of the Philippines 'and the Malay penin- 

 sula, A. florea, a dwarf bee of India with several varieties 

 and finally A. meUifica,^ the honeybee with the numerous 

 varieties to be discussed later. Unsuccessful efforts have 

 been made to introduce the giant bees into Europe and 

 America, among which may be mentioned the trips of Benton, 

 1880 and 1905, and Dathe, 1883. Dathe succeeded in getting 

 living dorsata bees to Germany but the effort was fruitless. 

 The last mentioned trip of Benton was at the expense of the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. Dorsata builds a single 

 comb in the open air, usually suspended on the limb of a 



' von Buttel-Reepen, H., 1903. Die stammesgesohiohtliche Entstehuug 

 des Bienenstaates sowie Beitrage zur Lebensweise der solitaren und sozialen 

 Bienen (Hummeln, Meliponinen, etc.). Leipzig: Thieme. 



2 For a discussion of the propriety of melHfica as the specific name of 

 the honeybee, see v. Buttel-Reepen, H., 1906. Apistica. Beitrage zur 

 systematik Biologie u. s. w. Mitth. aus dem Zool. Mus. Berlin, and also the 

 English translation of his paper "Are Bees Reflex Machines?" (Medina, 

 O. : Root, 1907). See also p. 37 of this book. 



