Live Stock. 



52 



[Jan. 1908. 



of the corridor. The inspection went on from 10 to towards noon. At this time 

 the number of explorers diminished, and towards 2 o'clock not one remained. This 

 seemed to indicate that the result of the inspection was favourable, and that the 

 swarm would come ; and it did so about thirty minutes later. The author could not 

 watch the bees settling in their new quarters, but when he came back he found them 

 practising flying under the arches without knockiug against them. These long deli- 

 berations are difficult to explain. The author's own observations have hardly 

 ended in anything more than proving the total absence of ideas or of the beginnings 

 of reason. Among other facts the following may be compared with the observations 

 on other Hymenoptera of M. H. Fabre. The author had been watching a swarm of 

 4 pis florea in order to take the comb when complete. Finally he smoked off the bees 

 and shut up the swarm in a box. He then discovered that all the cells were closed 

 except those of the queens, and not knowing what to do with the comb, it was left 

 uncovered in a half -closed box, away from ants and rats. The wax moth would 

 have attacked such a comb uncovered, and full of brood if it had been that of any 

 other variety of bees. Three or four days afterwards the comb was found to be 

 covered with young workers all busy in cleaning each other up, and especially busy 

 over the drone cells. They rarely went out and then only round the box. After the 

 males had come out, however, they seemed to be more active, and to all appearances 

 might have succeeded in making a queen, but after ten or twelve days this fictitious 

 life disappeared- The honey cells, although carefully closed, were entirely empty. 

 The bees refused all offer of food and seemed determined to die, and this soon 

 happened. When the comb was removed on a box it was found that the young 

 bees had constructed five royal cells, two of which had been closed without anything 

 in them. Evidently the poor creatures had behaved as if they were with their 

 whole swarm and had never noticed the change of circumstances. At ordinary 

 times they must have done the work of workers busying themselves with the cells 

 already closed repairiug the combs and building the queen's palace. They had 

 evidently completely carried out their own functions. In order to go farther, the 

 presence of a queen is necessary, and as she did not appear in time the bees could 

 only allow themselves to die. 



Remarks on Trigonalids. 



Principal habitat South America, many varieties, two principal groups Melli 

 ponce and Trigones. The former of the larger size and the latter very small, only 

 two kinds (or perhaps two varieties) found hitherto in Southern India. Trigona 

 victual, de St.-F and Trigona irridipennis, Smith. M. de Saussure assured the 

 author that the jpecies he now describes was certainly irridipennis. Occupies the 

 trunk of a tree, the crevice in a wall, a heap of stones or a white ant's nest, which it 

 understands how to adapt or modify for its needs. The Trigonce according to 

 Darwin is a retrograde bee, but the author does not agree with his reasoning, which 

 is based on the shape of their cells. These bees (the author finds) are remarkable 

 for their courage and for their clever system of defence. Instead of the one system 

 of furnishing found with other bees, you find with them an ordered variety. To 

 begin with, the entry of the nest is a regular sentry box constantly guarded by a 

 row of strong mandibles. Just behind these sentries the sentry-box chamber ends 

 in a very narrow passage where the second defence can at once be organised 

 against an invader. Even this is not enough. This sentry-box only communicate 8 

 with the interior by a tube more or less long and always as winding as possible. 

 Immediately at the exit of this passage are usually found the columns of pollen 

 which have a pretty close resemblance to piles of shot heaped one against the other. 

 Then comes the network of cells of irregular forms arranged in different manners. 

 They contain the larvae or else honey which has a special quality and very 



