Apr. 3 8, X933 
Studies on the Temperature of Individual Insects 
281 
room in a cold-storage plant which maintained a temperature of about 
7° to 7.5° C. throughout the experiment. A control was made by 
taking bees from different hives and placing them in groups, no two 
bees from the same hive in a group. A different group was used for 
each of the points on the curve. 
Because of the popular belief that the Camiolian bees can withstand 
a lower temperature than the Italian bees it was thought advisable to 
make temperature readings on the Carniolians. Readings were taken 
at the temperatures of 2.5®, 5.5°, 8°, 9°, 30°, 35°, and 52° C. A group 
of 10 Carniolians was placed in rooms having temperatures of 2.5°, 5.5°, 
and 9*^ C. along with a group of 10 Italian bees. In piercing the bees 
an Italian was pierced first and then a Carniolian until all the bees were 
pierced. At 8°, 30°, 35°, and 52° the Carniolians were handled in the 
same manner as described for the Italians. 
When taken from the hive the bees were placed in individual cages 
which allowed each bee the space oi % hy % hy inch. The cage 
was made from a block of wood ^ by by 2 inches with ^ %^^y % 
inch groove in one surface. Cotton thread was used to wind around 
the block to prevent the escape of the bee. The thread also aided in 
piercing, as it permitted full view of the bee and eliminated the possi¬ 
bility of cross currents which might occur when using a wire screen to 
cover the groove. All piercing was done in the thorax, since there are 
no large air sacs in this region. It did not make any difference whether 
the dorsal or ventral surface was pierced, as is shown in Table I. By 
using a fine thermocouple there was no noticeable bad effect on the bee 
such as Brunnich (5) described in his paper. Several bees which were 
pierced, placed in a cage and fed, lived as long as bees not pierced and 
kept under the same conditions. Upon piercing these bees the second 
time, the same differences between the body temperature and that of 
the air were obtained as at the first piercing. 
All thermocouples used in the experiment were carefully compared 
with the mercurial thermometer used by taking the readings of the 
temperature of the air before any of the bees were pierced. The follow¬ 
ing is an example of the results obtained in such comparison: 
Air temperatin-e (mercurial thermometer) 24° C. 
Air temperature (thermocouple) 23.5®, 24®, 24®, 24®, 24®, 24°, 23.5°, 
24®, 24^ 24® C. 
/ 
