Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/763

BEE. quent. They are able, also, to ^lide their move- nients in the dark as accurately as in the full light of day — at least within the nest or hive; and this power is generally ascribed to the an- tenna', or 'feelers.' which are supposed to be not merely delicate organs of touch, but also organs of hearing or of smell. It is certain tluit the social bees ccnnnmnieate with each other by means of their antenna-, and that they avail themselves of these organs for their ordinary operations, for recognition of each other, and for what may be called the conduct of the affairs of the hive. There can be no doubt that bees possess in a high degree the sense of smell ; and their possession of the senses of taste and hear- ing is almost equally unquestionable, whatever difficulty there may be in determining the par- ticular organs of the latter sense. The degree of development of these senses differs not (mly among the various families, but in the several forms of each species; thus a male honey bee has 13,000 facets in each eye, while the workers have only 0000; and Cheshire calculates that one antenna of a male has 37,000 olfactory cavi- ties, while a worker's antenna has only about 2500.

Classification. The latest conclusions of lymenopterists. following the lead of W. H. Ash- niead, of the United States National JIuseum, are expressed in placing the bees as a super-fam- ily Apoidea of the heterophagous Hymenoptera, and in dividing them into fourteen groups rank- ing as families. The first two of these are 'social' in their hal)its, forming communities in which •each individial performs some duty for the com- monweal, namely, the true bees (Apida-) and the huniblebees (liombida'). The remaining families arc bees of 'solitary' habits, each one living and working alone, even when the species is some- Tvhat gregarious. These solitary forms are: The hairy digger-bees of the family Anthophoridie, the euckoo-bees (Nomadidse), the small carpen- ter-bees (Ceratinidse), the large carpenter-bees (Xylocopidie), the mason, leaf-cutter, and potter- bees (MegachilidiP), the parasitic Stelidse, the burrowing Andrenidae, CoUetidse, Prosopida;, and others. Of these the last named is simplest and lowest.

Evolutionists consider the little prosopids, which are world-wide in their distribution, as the actual representatives of the primitive bee type, whence all have issued that are known to us to-day. "She [Prosopis] is almost naked, whereas her sisters are clad in a warm and sumptuous fleece. She has not, like the Apida>, baskets to gather the pollen, nor. in their de- fault, the tuft of the Andrenida>, nor the ventral brush of the C4astrilegid,ie. . . . She has no iniplements other tlian her tongue, her mouth, and her claws : but her tongue is too short, her legs are feeble, and her mandibles without strength. Unable to produce wax, bore holes through wood, or dig in the earth, she contrives clumsy galleries in the tender pith of dry berries [bramble-stems], stores these w-itli a little food for the offspring she will never see: and then . . . she goes off and dies in a corner, as soli- tarily as she had lived. We shall pass over many intermediary sijecies, wherein w-e may see the gradual lengthening of the tongue, enabling more nectar to be extracted from the cups of corollas, and the dawning formation and subse- quent development of the apparatus for eolleet- ing pollen — hairs, tufts, brushes on the tibia, on the tarsus and abdomen — as also claws and mandibles becoming stronger, useful secretions ,l)eing formed, and the genius that presides ovei' the construction of dwellings seeking and find- ing extraordinary improvement in every direc- tion." (Maeterlinck.)

fiolitary liees. — Most of the Colletidae burrow, making rather rude tunnels, or utilizing cracks in stone walls. The -Vndrenid* do the same. This is a very large and widespread family, numerously represented in the United States and in Europe. All are small, comparatively smooth, wasp-like, and often metallic in color. A notable genus is Halictus, which are among the smallest and most numerous of bees. "This genus, together with Sphecodes, differs from all other solitarj' bees in the fact that the impreg- nated females hibernate, . . . the males dy- ing. The ensuing spring the surviving females dig their burrow, make and provision theiv cells and oviposit." The great genus Andrena is also commonly represented in the United States as well as other parts of the world, and, like Halic- tus, digs burrows 6 to 10 inches deep, from which chambers branch off, the walls of which are "glazed with a mucous-like secretion." These are among the earliest of insects to appear in the spring. Hying about the 'pussy willows.' They burrow and lay eggs in May, provision their nests with pollen about June 1, and the young appear in August in the Xorthern States. The Stelidae, of the Old World, are entirely parasitic in the nests of other bees, where they mature earlier than do the rightful owners, and kill such of their larv:ie as they encounter, after con- suming the food provided for the latter. The cuckoo-bees (q.v. ) of the family Nomadidae also lay their eggs and dwell in the nests of other bees, but seem to do so on perfectly good terms with their hosts.

The smooth and pretty 'carpenter-bees' of the family Ceratinida; are small, active, generally metallic blue, blue-black, or bright green, and fond of sunshine. "They bore tunnels into the stems of pithy plants, and form their cells in these burrows. They are very commonly found in brambles. The cells are lined with a delicate silky membrane, and are separated from one another by mud partitions. The common Ceratina dupla is a familiar example. With this bee the cells are filled t a paste of honey and pollen, upon which the lan'se feed." The great carpenter-bees proper, the Xylocopidre, are, on the other hand, among the largest and most hairy of the tribe, and make large burrows in solid wood. (See Carpenter-Bee.) The family Megachilidae is composed of a variety of highly developed bees, some of which burrow, while others make nests in wooden tunnels lined with jiieces of leaves, or form cells of clay. (See Leaf-Cutters; M.son-Bees: and Potteu-Bee-s.) The Anthophorida; are also hairy bees of rather large size and gaudy colors that burrow in the ground. This completes the sketch of the solitary families, which agree in having only two forms — sexually perfect males and females — and in the absence of wax-making power, while their pollen-gathering implements are very poor in the lower ranks, and in the higher by no means equal to those of the two social families next to be considered.