388 INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY chap, xxiv 



observation hive, or, better still, keep one,i and study in detail the 

 habits of the bees. Notice the different kinds of cell. Find the 

 queen-bee, and mark the treatment of her by the worker-bees. 

 Ascertain whether there are any drones in the hive. Notice the 

 difference in structure and habits of the different castes of bees. 



Entice some bees out of the hive with a saucer of honey, and 

 as they feed, mark a few of them with little dabs of different, bright- 

 coloured enamel paints on the top of the abdomen. Remove the 

 saucer, and then note how many visits, to obtain honey or pollen 

 from flowers, each marked bee makes in a day. Notice the colour 

 of the pollen brought back, and see if you can determine what 

 kind of plant it has been obtained from, and whether there are 

 such plants in the gardens near by. Try and verify all the other 

 points of structure and life-history mentioned in the text. 



Mounted slides of the proboscis, of the different legs, and 

 of the sting should be made from a dead bee, or obtained from 

 a dealer, and their structure should be studied with the aid 

 of a microscope, careful sketches being made of each. Before 

 the winter the bees must be removed to an ordinary hive, where 

 they can cluster together in much denser masses, and so maintain the 

 temperature necessary for their life. Food nmst be given them in 

 the winter,^ if their own honey has been removed from the nest. 



2. Study and identify any Humble Bees you see. Hunt for 

 hibernating queens in the early autumn. Bombus lapidarius often 

 burrows in a bank, and her presence may be detected by the little 

 heap of fine earth she has thrown out. 



In the spring, try and track a queen Bombus home to her nest ; 

 if possible prepare some artificial nests and attempt to domesticate 

 some Humble Bees, so that you can follow all the details of their 

 life-history (see chap. vii. in The Humble Bee, by Sladen, which 

 book should also be referred to for the identification of species). 



3. Look for Andrena in early May when she excavates her 

 burrow on any sunny sandy bank ; when a bee has been seen to 

 enter her burrow, invert a glass over it to catch her as she comes 

 out ; examine her carefully. Look for the smaller male bee some- 

 times to be found near by. Dig down one burrow and determine 

 how it is constructed, and what provision is made for the nourish- 

 ment of the larvae. Leave a muslin -covered frame over the 

 burrow and note when the new young bees emerge. 



' An excellent indoor observation hive may he obtained from Messrs. J. 

 Lee and Son, 10 Silver Street, Bloomsbury, London, W.C, with an exit 

 fitted through the wall, so that the bees can go freely in and out. 



'■* If it is not possible for the student to keep an ordinary hive, the bees 

 may be sent to Messrs. Lee, or some other bee-keeper, for the winter. 



