The Wonder of the Honey Bee

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 7241, 12 June 1930, Page 9

The Wonder of the Honey Bee

TALK TO PALMERSTON NORTH LUNCHEON CLUB ‘‘The bee commonwealth contains an unlicenccd brewery, an unregistered nursing homo and a marvellous collection of waxworks,” said Mr. A. E. Wright when speaking to the Palmerston North Luncheon Club on "The Commonwealth of the Bee.” The general workings of the hive were industries exempted from Arbitration Acts, and lienee there were no lock-outs or strikes. It was originally thought that a “king” controlled the destinies of the hive; then investigators became convinced that the work progressed according to the whim of the queen, while to-day it had been lirmly established that the workers themselves were in full command. The speaker dealt fully with the different theories in order to prove that the present opinion was correct.

Tho queen, laying as she did twice her weight in eggs in 2-t hours, with practically total confinement and with the heavy burden of tending the cells upon her, could hardly bo called a queen in the true sense of the word. She had an arduous life and, although she was always in the hive, there was little which pointed to her being the supreme power of the large colony. Undoubtedly the queen was the most interesting personage of the hive. Slio appeared to have the power to lay eggs that would produce workers ami drones at will. With regard to the rearing or queen bees in the hive, it had been found that these were produced from cells identical with those of the workers, the sole difference remaining in the fact that the queen-producing cells wore fed with special food. This food developed the young bee, it being longer in the body than the worker, without pollen baskets, with more formidable teeth and with a curved sting. How the special preparation produced a queen bee in lieu of the ordinary honey gatherer was not known. One writer had said that it was the general structure of the cell that produced the difference and, although this theory was not absolutely refuted, it had been established that the unmated queen produced only drones, while the mated queen produced both drones and workers. Tho drone was essential for the wellbeing of the community but, as nature had decreed that the worker was the honey-gatherer and the mainstay of the hive, the drones were killed off when the colony was forced to rely on it. l , store for existence.

The queen and workers strove the season through to produce a populace and, when tho hive was rich and there were to many inhabitants, the day arrived when, on a sign from the old queen, half tho hive buzzed and clustered around her to venture out and seek a new home. The remaining tenants were left with a young and inexperienced queen. Instinct, however, told the newly enthroned queen that she should proceed to destroy her rivals, she having previously taken her first and only flight. It was not known what provoked a set section of the hive to venture forth with the old and dethroned queen. The comb in which the honey ami larvae were stored was produced front the body of the bee and was of tremendous strength and fine texture. This comb would support a dead weight of 30 times its own weight, while the cells, of hexagonal shape, wc-vc 1-180th. of an inch in thickness. Man could not improve upon the consistency of this clever creature which from year to year built and lined the colony with such a network of structural strength that it never failed to carry the fluctuating weight demanded of it. The interior building was a perfect example of tho triumph of mind over matter, gained no doubt through thousands of years’ experience in concentrated hivebuilding. Tho bee taught us a lesson in economy—its constructional methods wasted no space and the manner in which it

preserved an adequate supply for lean times was to be admired and emulated; more so because we were unable to forecast the future and its bountiful or meagre givings. What a lesson in co-operative working was shown by the bee in its efforts to procure food for the good of all members of the colony, and while these small winged gatherers procured only the best of materials for the building of their hive, they were yet specialists in a way that could be studied to the advantage of the commercial world ot to-day. Mr. J. A. Grant was in the chair and Mr. B. Pizzoy proposed a vote of thanks to the speaker.