THE BUSY BEE.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16818, 9 June 1926, Page 10

THE BUSY BEE.

ITS ANATOMY EXPLAINED. LECTURE TO BEEKEEPERS. An instructive lecture was delivered -it the annual conference of the National Beekeepers' Association in Hamilton yesterday afternoon, Mr R. A. Gibb (Southland) briefly describing j the anatomy and development of the bee. i Mr Cibb said that bees had two • large eyes on the side of the head, I known as compound eyes, which consisted of an innumerable number of ' smaller eyes or facets, while there were three small simple eyes on the lop of its head, so that it had no diflicuilies with regard to sight. Each of the compound eyes of the queen bee consisted of /iSOO facets, while Hie working bee had GOO'O feeds in each of its compound eyes. The, lazy drone had the astounding number of 13,000 eyes. The drone had remarkably sensitive smelling organs, but they were not on the lips of the antennae as was (ho case with the worker. j The thorax was the chest of the bee, but contained no vital organs. The lungs were situated down (he side of the abdomen and greatly developed in the worker, though small in the queen. There was no intricate system of blond-vessels and oxygen was circulated through the body by respiratory lubes. The heart of Ihe liee was ill its back and its blood was colourless. The organs which provided I lie means of loromollon were all attached to Ihe thorax. The hint] wings were smaller than the front, In j which they were hooked, and once they became detached from one an-| other the lire was unable In fly. Tile j facels of the eyes acted like small j microscopes. Production of Wax. The hive could mil do without Ihe queen bee, which produced 111'' eggs. When a swarm was hived the first thing it did was to produce wax. This was not gathered, except from cones, and dial was not used in Ihe actual production of honey, but was secreted in the body of the bee. The bees, after gorging themselves with nectar. hung about Ihe hive in clusters and 1 wax oozed out from four sacs under l lhe abdomen when the beat was gen- | eraled. On Ihe bees' legs were the • organs which passed the wax on to the mandibles, where il was worker I into a plastic form, after which il was deposited at the lop or Ihe hive by the bees. The little knobs of wax i formed were adderl to and developed ; into Ihe beginning of a comb. ! Development of Boes. i ; ; After being fed by the workers Ihe : • ' queen bee I,.id tier eggs to II xtenl . '. nf :iOi r iooo a day w hen the season j ; was al ils height. .•:!;.' was a marvel- ; luus reproducer when it was slated j

J that 1000 eggs were equal to the weight of her body. A gelatinous substance was produced with the eggs : and stuck them to the comb. The eggs were incubated in Ihe hive, and ; in three days hatched out into a grub. 'Che young nurse bees then lake a part i and put food round the hatching egg, j feeding the grub lavishly for three days. If it was to be a worker or j drone it was given coarser food, and evidently that was responsible for the : difference in a worker and a queen, j if tin' grub was lo develop, into a , j queen bee it was fed lavishly for six ; days. On the seventh day the cell was ! I sealed over with a light film of wax, j ; and in 12 days the grub emerged into ■ ! Ihe world. It crept about aimlessly . for three or four days and then took up the duties of the hive. Under normal conditions bees did not begin work until 1(1 days old, and then only went out for pollen and water. A queen bee look only seven days to develop from Ihe pupa stage. Beekeepers should be careful to avoid jarring when handling frames, as the Willis of Ihe bees were injured in I hat manner and many queen bees were lost through being disturbed in the \ larva stage. The "Business End." I ' The sling, or "the business end fit the bee." was unerring in its precision. When il slung poison was injected and when Ihe sling was pulled nut Ihe pumping of Ihe poison into the flesh was assisted. The sling was composed of throe barbed spears hound together lo form a groove down Hie centre, from where Ihe poison emanated. 'Pile longer a sling was left in Ihe band Ihe deeper il. would work itself in. and the sling should be taken j out as quiekl.v as possible. j The bee had a. wonderful tongue, ' consisting of four different .parts, i which formed a lube in which the j proper tongue, worked with a long | spoon-like lip whrili sipped up the ! nectar and passed il down the gullet. j There il was mixed with a digestive I fluid and sent on lo Ihe honey stomach. W'h'ii the cells of Ihe hive had been completely built over the honey was "ripe" and ready for extraction. A bee could drown in honey with its head out. as it breathed through Hie body, and if not immediately licked dry by Ihe oilier bees, died of suffucaI inn. Assistance to Farmer. The bee was a wonderful help to Ihe farmer in promoting the growth of clover and (lowering grasses by means of the cross-l'erlilisalion il carried out in ils search for nectar. IL became covered with pollen from uiie (lower and transferred il to Ihe pistil of another, propagating the seed. In reply lo a .'lueslion by a listener, i Mr Oibbs said the bee was a voluntary i breather and could cease breathing for ■ just so long as it could draw on the j air sacs in ils body for a supply of air. j .Mr Mlilis answered a number nf I questions and w*is accorded a hearty j vols of thanks for bis lecture.