4 THE GENEALOGY OF THE BEE 



force of these movements may be readily under- 

 stood if one places a hand close to a bee engaged 

 in ventilating the hive. It will be found that 

 quite a strong current of air is set up by them. 

 Although it is well enough known to the bee- 

 keeper, probably the layman hardly realises the 

 kind of weather that bees will often be abroad in. 

 When honey is to be had for the gathering, hardly 

 anything is too bad for them. I have seen them 

 pouring out of the hive in a rain-storm, regardless 

 of the drops which must beat against their wings, 

 and it fills one with wonder to see them coming 

 home in the teeth of a south-westerly gale, laden 

 to the decks with honey and pollen, yet gliding 

 swiftly and easily down to the hive entrance as 

 though the breeze were a mere zephyr. 



These hooked or " married " wings are, there- 

 fore, the common characteristic of hymenopter- 

 ous insects, but the order is divided into three 

 sub-orders, and the section to which the bees 

 belong is known as the Aculeata, from the 

 possession by its members of a specialised weapon 

 of defence in the shape of a sting. This sub- 

 order comprises four tribes — the ants, the sand- 

 wasps, the true wasps, and the bees. 



Although each of these tribes contains species 

 which live solitary lives, their outstanding 

 characteristic is the presence among them of 

 many which live together in more or less 

 permanent communities, a curious outcome of 



