224 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



June, 1907 



than a hundred thousand. The drones are usually regarded 

 as mere idlers, forming a sort of inverted harem of no pos- 

 sible use except in the event of a change of queens. But 

 although the drones are unable to collect honey and appar- 



3 — Brood Cells of Various Kinds. Above worker cells. in the right lower corner, 

 drone cells. At the left, a finished queen cell. In the left lower 

 corner, unfinished queen cells 



ently leave the hive only to get a breath of fresh air, flying 

 about without alighting on flowers, they fill subordinate roles 

 at the height of the honey-gathering season, when on fine 

 days every worker that can be spared from the hive goes out 



to assist in the harvest. At such 

 times a few of the workers com- 

 pel the drones to remain in the 

 hive where their presence main- 

 tains the temperature required 

 for the development of the 

 young brood. In this case the 

 drones replace the workers which 

 ordinarily act as brooders. 



But, in July and August, when 

 the principal honey season is 

 over and there is no further pos- 

 sibility of a change of queens, 

 either in connection with swarm- 

 ing or because of an insuflicient 

 supply of eggs, the male bees 

 have become useless, and as these 

 voracious idlers consume a great 

 deal of honey it would be out 

 of the question to feed them 

 through the winter. Therefore, at the end of the summer 

 or even as soon as the daily harvest has considerably 

 diminished, they are condemned to death by the whole body 

 of workers. There will be time enough next spring to com- 

 pel the queen to lay drone eggs in cells, larger than worker 



-A Queen, laying an egg in 

 each brood cell 



Hind foot of worker with 

 a pellet of pollen (pn), held 

 in its concavity by bristles 

 (c). (Magnified) 



cells, in which the larvae can grow to the proper size (Fig. 3, 

 lower right corner) . When the execution has been decided 

 on, the workers permit the males to go out of the hive but 

 prevent their return and an unequal struggle, curious to wit- 

 ness, takes place at the entrance of 

 the hive. As the drones have no 

 stings they are inevitably defeated. 

 Some abandon the siege and go away 

 to perish miserably, while others con- 

 tinue the combat until they are driven 

 away, sometimes pierced through and 

 through by the stings of the workers. 

 Small and compact groups of drones, 

 however, are often seen to force their 

 way through the workers while these 

 are occupied with other drones and to 

 gain entrance into the hive, whence it 

 is diflicult to expel them. If they at- 

 tempt to climb up the combs to the 

 honey cells above, however, they are 

 promptly thrown down and the mas- 

 sacre continues inside the hive. Some- 

 times all the intruders are soon killed 

 and their corpses are dragged out of 

 the hive, but if the drones are very numerous the workers 

 may simply keep them prisoners in a corner of the hive until 

 they die of starvation. 



Now, when we recall that the workers control the queen's 

 laying and replace her when she fails to lay satisfactorily, 

 and that, at a definite season of the year, they decide to expel 

 the males, we see that of the three kinds of bees in the hive, 

 the queen, the males and the workers (Figs. 5, 6 and 7) the 

 last form the ruling class. 



A question now suggests itself. Are there several varie- 

 ties of workers or, at any given instant, are certain of the 

 workers in command of the colony? 



It is known that the various duties, within and without 

 the hive, are distributed among the workers, and names have 

 been given to difterent bodies of workers in accordance with 

 the tasks which they are seen performing. Since Huber's 

 investigations, however, it has been admitted that the same 

 worker may successively perform all of these tasks and cer- 

 tain experiments, made by myself and others, which I shall 

 mention presently, prove this general law. But are the dif- 

 ferences observed among workers due solely to their re- 

 spective ages, as most bee-keepers believe? 



Before answering this question let us classify the principal 

 duties of the bees, both within and without the hive. Mere- 

 ly by watching the entrance of a hive on a fine day in spring 

 we can easily observe that different workers are engaged at 

 very different tasks. In this way we distinguish in a general 

 way the following varieties: 



1. The guards (Fig. i, i) which defend the hive from 

 its enemies — wasps, hornets, death's head moths, robber 

 bees from other hives, etc. The guards walk to and fro 

 before the entrance and they appear to be able to summon 

 assistance from workers inside the hive, near the entrance. 



2, The ventilators (Fig. 1,2). These stand with erect 

 legs, often in files which are prolonged within the hive, and 



B W M 



5, 6 and 7 — The three kinds of bees found in each hive. (Magnified), 

 B, male, or drone. M, queen bee. O, workers 



9 — -Bees gathering propolis from poplar buds 



