THE BUSY BEE,

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 576, 3 August 1909, Page 6

THE BUSY BEE,

-''■','■■'•.'!■ ~'; ~::.: .„ .. B. -r-,''- -:/. '-,-■!■•' '.'■■ . ' ITS WONDERFUL STRUCTURE. '" The.Very Rev, -■-Dr. Kennedy, Rector of St. Patrick's College, lectured on "The Honey Bee" in the ' Town- Hall Concert Chamber last .-evening^; The; lecture was one of the City Council's:library .series. , There was ya;)|argq attendance.; :'.'!>.;:;; ■',-'/.; "...','; Couiicjllor JiiJ.'Devinej in introducing,the lecturer,,, alluded" to .his; high "reputation "as' a naturalist' ■ r i' ;; ' .i-'A',;-.'■./' : :'.Tie.'lecturer,/whose, remarks; trated' by-a' series 'of 'jobotoaucrpgraphs/'-dia-'. grams,"and pictures,.'snown'as Jantern :: slides, said'-.that' tne ! honey bee 'was,'the': most : ■tetestihg 'of all •insects,-; and /'Lord 'ivebury ,h'ad - pointed.' out' that ■ iii ;r'espec't"of 'inte'lh geiice, it- was nbt'-tho^.orang-outang !or/'the chimpahzee,' but"'the'.bee'--and tie approached theVcourse ot;-a. lucid exposition 'of'tie-. minute;',;'.b'ut .complex 'anat'omy.'.'bf the I '' bee,' Dfi* Kennedy remarked :that''.itß cohip/tiund eyes/'eibh J consisting not coiisidcred by '.Nature tS'b'e 1 and so 'sh'6; had, provided' if jalso '"with"'.'; three separate simple '''eyes.". '$6ssibly ! 'ti£eo": 'for s'eeiiig t ia- 'the ''dark;:.'T&''leg6-' '«lsb,< (for cleaning'' the 'anteiinae);, th'eil"-'brushes and',baskets''(for'.sweeping" the :pollon'off ~the'ir bodies and''carrying- it'home), 'and- tbeir' claws''.(enabling''the,- bees to haug to.;'each;'other" ifi';festoqnsJ',;''ivere; the-siibject of seVeral'slides..'; The (''business'end" of the bee -was-'showh to. bo 'fa '-Tiighly' elaborate'ajid efficient 'piece, 'of., apparatus. ."'The';.lecturer ■ riemar'ked tha't: i ;i(;''.waSVthe ;l pbiivon more 1 than ■the wound-that.hurtifor'.-tho'sting only peiie'of : -ah v ' inch;, ;an'd its; jiroUmference was of "an inch.;' The poison was formic acid, and-though it' : caused- pairi/' it'fhad .'its •" U'sfi'as - a 'cure for rhoumatism. ; Dr;; Kennedy said ho' had- him : self/ experienced vthe'. oUre, ; and-vknew -other pople who haaV.been-, similarly benefited; THo formio. acid'neutralised' tho' uric, acid,"...the fexoess. of> which' in" the;blood- 'was;,the'cause ofrrlieumatism. '^'Tho'Vingsi;-the .musical apparatus;",;the}'*wax-raakiiig'^'orgaiis;.''and othefVparts'of :'tlie;"bee ; 'iwere':;'iiiterestingly 'displayed,, and the' lebturer/'tben''passed-,.0n: to,speak' of the'life/fhistb'ry.'of 'the bee',: from, :egg tb'peffect insect, telling how'it'is merely' a^aiffefenc'eVof ' diet that 'determines. whether the baby" bee;.shall become a',queeii ; or "a worker. ■ ; Foiil' .brood V was''.' described •; ■ and' ■illustrated; 'ai'id the' lecturer'expressed satisfaction -with; the: Apiaries' ActV which fmakes -it .illegal to'keep"bees 'in hives without' ffiovabTe frariies, - and" thus' greatly -reduces; thVrisk of'that nibst dreaded of bee diseases; In cbnchisiori' Dr. Kennedy asked his hearers, to'recognise the ■ existence, and ever-abiding; presence of an intellectual Power over-ruling all nature-andfproviding by natural laws the; forces for such wonderful i developments-.and' struotures: as: they ■-.•had been contemplating.'The more, they--studied .nature, the ,more clearly they would'see.that it could not;.bo : 'the' result "of more chalice."• ■• 'f- :• •' ■:' ;'•_ '■ -At the conclusibn of the lecture, .which had .evidently been thoroughly enjoyed,. Dr. Kennedy, received a hearty, vote of- thanks..