Races of Bees 
193 
in thickness. The bumblebees and stingless bees fill a cell 
with pollen and honey, the queen then deposits an egg on 
this mass and the larva is not further fed or cared for. On 
the other hand, the queen honeybee lays -her eggs in empty 
cells and the larvae are fed a specially prepared larval food 
as they require it. For a further discussion of the more 
primitive bees as well as of the probable evolution of the 
Apidse, the reader is referred to the interesting paper of v. 
Buttel-Reepen. 1 
SPECIES OF THE GENUS APIS 
In the genus Apis there are other interesting honeybees but 
which have no special practical value. It is of interest to 
note first that specimens of Apis have been found in fossil 
form, preserved in amber, v. Buttel-Reepen mentions A. 
adamitica and A. meliponoides, the latter transitional be¬ 
tween Melipona and Apis. Among recent species of this 
genus are A. dorsata, the giant bee of India, with its varieties 
zonata and lestacea of the Philippines and the Malay penin¬ 
sula, A. florea, a dwarf bee of India with several varieties 
and finally A. mellifica, 2 the honeybee with the numerous 
varieties to be discussed later. Unsuccessful efforts have 
been made to introduce the giant bees into Europe and 
America, among which may be mentioned the trips of Benton, 
1880 and 1905, and Dathe, 1883. Dathe succeeded in getting 
living dorsata bees to Germany but the effort was fruitless. 
The last mentioned trip of Benton was at the expense of the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. Dorsata builds a single 
comb in the open air, usually suspended on the limb of a 
1 von Buttel-Reepen, H., 1903. Die stammesgeschichtliche Entstehung 
des Bienenstaates sowie Beitrage zur Lebensweise dcr solitaren und sozialen 
Bienen (Hummeln, Meliponinen, etc.). Leipzig : Thieme. 
2 For a discussion of the propriety of mellifica as the specific name of 
the honeybee, see v. Buttel-Reepen, H., 190G. Apistica. Beitrage zur 
systematik Biologie u. s. w. Mitth. aus dem Zool. Mus. Berlin, and also the 
English translation of his paper “Are Bees Reflex Machines?” (Medina, 
O.: Root, 1907). See also p. 37 of this book. 
o 
