The True Bees 



females and have few of the structural peculiarities which are so 

 evident with the workers of the honey bee. The bumblebee 

 worker stings severely and this fact makes the close study of their 

 community life rather difficult. It is comparatively easy, however, 

 to study a bumblebee's nest. Marlatt, in the Proceedings of the 

 Entomological Society of Washington, tells how the boys in 

 Kansas avoid the stings and gather the honey. He said that they 

 (and he was one of them) were led to rob these nests more from 

 the excitement caused by the danger of being stung than to secure 

 the honey, which, in fact, was not only rank and unpalatable but 

 in the early fall, during the haying season, was small in quantity. 

 The method followed was to take a one-or-two-gallon jug, such 

 as is commonly used to carry water to haymakers, fill it partly 

 with water and place it, with the cork removed, within two or 

 three feet of the nest. The bees were then thoroughly aroused 

 by beating the nest, immediately after which the brave boys re- 

 moved themselves hurriedly to a safe distance. The enraged 

 bees would swarm out and begin flying about in widening circles 

 to discover the enemy. The jug would at once attract their at- 

 tention and numbers would fly about it and over its open mouth, 

 which, by reason of the air set in motion by their wings, would 

 give an answering roar to their angry humming. Excited beyond 

 measure by this noise, the bees would fly at the mouth of the jug 

 and one after another would pop into it — the noise produced by 

 those within still further attracting those without — until all had 

 entered. A second disturbance of the nest would serve to draw 

 out and dispose of any of the remaining fighting worker-bees, 

 after which the robbing of the nest was easy. After robbing the 

 nest the water and bees in the jug were emptied out on the 

 ground and the bees, although apparently drowned, would soon 

 recover and start off to found new colonies which other boys 

 would probably rob. In later years when Mr. Marlatt became 

 interested in the collection and study of insects this method was 

 employed with unvarying success in the examination of bumble- 

 bees' nests in order to secure parasites and the guest insects 

 which inhabit these nests. This method seems to be a discovery 

 of the western farm-boys, since the writer, although he robbed 

 bumblebees' nests in central New York when a boy was never 

 ingenious enough to invent such a capital method of avoiding 

 stings. 



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