Leafcutter bee

“ The perfection of this function we see progressively maturing as it passes 57onwards from the merely burrowing-bee to the more complicated processes of the masons, carpenters, and upholsterers,—all solitary insects, and working each individually and separately to the accomplishment of its object. But we may certainly inquire where we shall intercalate the sagacity of the cuckoo-bees. A vast bound is immediately made from the artisan bees to the social bees with three sexes, which, as first shown in the humble-bee, works in small and rude communities, with dwellings of irregular construction. ”

“ Nature has a number of quite effective ways of preventing thefts of this kind, one of the most common ways being to provide the plant stem with bristly hairs, forming a very difficult barrier for any crawling insect to overcome; others have a tuft of hair at the very entrance to the honey cells which bar the way for unwelcome guests, but readily allow the bee to insert its tongue; still others are protected by recurved leaves or by sticky stems, or as in the toadflax by a two-lipped flower, which will open under the weight of a bumblebee, but is effectively closed to any lighter insect. ”

“ This unfortunate little insect is to our domestic bee more or less what a cave-dweller would be to a highly-civilized man of to-day. You will probably more than once have seen it, hovering over the bushes in a deserted corner of your garden, and it will never have occurred to you that there, fluttering before you, was the first-comer of those to whom we probably owe most of our flowers and plants; for it is a fact that more than a hundred varieties of plants would disappear if they were not regularly visited by the bees. ”

“ Among bees this is a most destructive insect, its larva being parasitic in their grubs, and thus greatly reducing the population of the hive, which is finally ruined by the wholesale destruction of its honey when the flies emerge. Driving the bees into a fresh box would, no doubt, be frequently beneficial in these cases, but it is to be feared that bee-keepers will have much difficulty in contending with this insect. Its sexes are readily distinguished by their size, the female being considerably the larger. ”

“ The female insects themselves have, at the first glance, very much the appearance of the working honey-bee, but they are considerably smaller, and, upon a very slight inspection, they are found to be exceedingly distinct. The respective males of the species are conspicuously smaller than their females, but their specific characteristics are very much alike, and there is some difficulty in separating and determining the species. ”

“ Even where man has not yet made his way in the wilderness and the solitary place, there are the flowers, with their honey, and there, amid other insects, is the busy, happy bee, to gather it. How vast must be the field of enjoyment which the omniscient eye surveys, if even the study of insects unfolds such a view as is here suggested.
The habits of the wild bees are nearly the same as those of the domestic ones. They live in large communities, build their cells in hexagons, are subject to the government of a queen, and have their periodical swarms, as we have related. ”

“ As soon as daylight shuts out the view, and no danger of their movements being discovered by their enemies, they throw off their inactivity, and commence searching for a place to deposit their eggs, and woe to the stock that has not bees sufficient to drive them from the comb. Although their larvæ has a skin that the bee cannot pierce with its sting, in most cases, it is not so with the moth, and of this fact they seem to be aware, for whenever a bee approaches they dart away with speed ten times greater than that of any bee, disposed to follow! ”

“ In the structure of the bee, and in all its stages of growth, [Pg 38] our parasite seems lower in the zoölogical scale than its host. It is structurally a degraded form of Working-bee, and its position socially is unenviable. It is lazy, not having the provident habits of the Working-bees; it aids not in the least, so far as we know, the cross-fertilization of plants—one great office in the economy of nature which most bees perform,—since it is not a pollen-gatherer, but on the contrary is seemingly a drag and hinderance to the course of nature. ”

“ The bees, in their temporary distribution of labour, are something like the Indians which have caste, among whom each service has its special servitor, who never undertakes or interferes with the duties of another. The collection of pollen is almost as needful to the well-being of a hive as honey, this being used exclusively as the basis of the sustenance of the new brood in their larva state, in all their conditions of worker, drone, and queen, the perfect bee itself never partaking of it. ”

“ The humble bees again differ from either in their nesting habits: the female in the spring seeks out a mouse's nest or other suitable foundation of moss, etc., in or on the surface of the ground, according to the species. This she lines with wax, deposits a heap of pollen, and lays her eggs in it. She also makes waxen cells for honey, but these are not hexagonal and symmetrical as are those of the hive bee, but are more like little pots, and are known as "honey pots". ”

“ As he bends forward and thrusts his head into the flower to suck the honey the vertical slit in the upper lip will be widened out and the stamens will protrude and strike the insect’s head. When the humble-bee at last leaves the flower to continue his journey its various parts will resume their former relative positions. Should no insects visit the flower self-pollination will occur. This appears to be the usual course of events in the North where humble-bees are scarce. ”

“ As soon as the young queen comes from the egg, numbers of nurse bees wait on her; she receives finer and more -139- delicate food, more air, a warmer, larger, and nicer house, and apparently she is the creation of circumstances. She is the only female bee. The working-bees are neuters, really imperfectly developed females; the queen's husband is a drone. With queenly prerogative and dignity she selects her consort, and off they fly on a wedding-trip, and spend the honeymoon amid sunshine and flowers. But it is asked—Why are there so many drones in a hive, if there is only one wife? ”

“ From one and the same nest there come out several inhabitants, brothers and sisters, the males with a bright brick-red fleece, and the female of a splendid velvety black, with dark-violet wings. They are all the children of the Bee who built or repaired and furnished the cells. The male Bees lead a careless existence, never work, and do not return to the clay houses except for a brief moment to woo the ladies; they have nothing to do with the housekeeping or the new nests. What they want is the nectar in the flower-cups, not mortar to build with. ”

“ It is apparent that the irregular disposition of the cells is due to their being constructed so peculiarly by the larvæ. After the first brood, composed of workers, has come forth, the queen bee devotes her time principally to her duties at home, the workers supplying the colony with honey and pollen. As the queen continues prolific, more workers are added, and the nest is rapidly enlarged. ”

“ In those occasional cases where the nectarium of the flower is not perceptible, if the spur of such a flower which usually becomes the depository of the nectar that has oozed from the capsules secreting it, be too narrow for the entrance of the bee, and even beyond the reach of its long tongue, it contrives to attain its object by biting a hole on the outside, through which it taps the store. ”

“ The labors of the Mason bees, and their allies, terminate after the cell is once constructed and filled with pollen. The eggs are then left to hatch, and the young care for themselves, though the adult bee shows greater skill in architecture than the Humble bee. It is thus throughout nature. Many forms, comparatively low in the scale of life, astonish us with certain characters or traits, reminding us of beings much superior, physically and intellectually. The lower forms constantly reach up and in some way ally themselves with creatures far more highly organized. ”

“ They'll gnaw for days together at the trunk, till they make a hole big enough to get in their paws, and then they'll haul out the honey, bees and all."
The moth is a dangerous enemy. During the day there is no risk of his attacks. But during the night he is, like other thieves and burglars, alive and active. "He loves the darkness rather than the light, because his deeds are evil." As no bee-master can do without sleep, I cannot expect of the most enthusiastic and devoted that he will watch his hives the whole night. ”

“ These larvæ are probably hatched out near where the bees hibernate, so as to creep into their bodies before they fly in the spring, as it would be impossible for them to crawl up a willow tree ten feet high or more, their feet being solely adapted for climbing over the hairy body of the bee, which they do not leave until about to undergo their strange and unusual transformations. ”

“ A curious circumstance occurs with respect to the hatching of the queen-bee. When the pupa or nymph is about to change into the perfect insect, the bees render the cover of the cell thinner, by gnawing away part of the wax; and with so much nicety do they perform this operation that the cover at last becomes pellucid, owing to its extreme thinness, thus facilitating the exit of the fly. After the transformation is complete, the young queens would, in common course, immediately emerge from their cells, as workers and drones do ”

“ Since these insects are not native to this continent, north of Mexico, all original honey bee colonies in the United States were imported. Apis mellifera, the cosmopolitan bee of commerce, is responsible for most bee stings and many 18 deaths.10 This species is separated into several races, with the gold Italian and the black or gray Caucasian races making up the majority of the bees found in this country.5 The aggressive Brazilian (hybrid African) bee is currently restricted to the South American continent. Honey bees are highly social insects. ”

“ Another species have their nests in the ground, enveloped like a sugar-loaf in a wrapper formed of a kind of matted fog. This is perhaps the insect met with by Humboldt, while exploring the Silla mountain in the province of Caraccas. It is described as a little smaller than the honey-bee of Europe, and as making its nest in the ground. It seldom flies, moves slowly, and is not apt to use its sting. Amongst the flowers in these regions to which the bees resort, is one which grows on the Tapurriba tree, and which communicates to the honey a peculiar bitterness. ”

“ In some places there is scarcely anything but the veins of the leaves left. The author of the mischief is a gray-clad Bee. For scissors, she has her jaws; for compasses, she has her eye and the pivot of her body. The pieces cut out are made into thimble-shaped bags, meant to contain the honey and the egg: the larger, oval pieces make the floor and sides; the smaller, round pieces are kept for the lid. The Leaf-cutter’s nest consists of a row of a dozen, more or less, of these thimbles, placed one on top of the other. ”

“ Nature has assigned the task of thus catering for man, by collecting and garnering from the recondite crypts within the blossoms of flowers, to about sixteen 88species congenerical with our honey-bee, but sufficiently differing. As I have before noticed, the species of this genus greatly more resemble each other in structure than perhaps do the species collocated within any other genus of insects, and whence may be inferred an exact similitude of habits, although as yet unconfirmed by direct observation. ”

“ He loves not the honey, but the bees; and, it must be confessed, is frequently on the lookout for these industrious little insects. He plants himself on a post of the fence, or on a small tree in the garden, not far from the hives; and from thence sallies on them as they pass and repass, making great havoc among their numbers." The ravages of this little tyrant are not confined to the bee species; he is to be seen often "in pasture fields, taking his stand on the top of rank weeds near the cattle, and making occasional sweeps after passing insects, particularly the large black gad-fly. ”

“ A burrow seems to take her fancy; but, before she sets foot on earth, her buzzing is noticed by the sentry, who suddenly darts out and makes a few gestures on the threshold of her door. That is all. The Leaf-cutter has understood. She moves on.
Sometimes the Leaf-cutting Bee has time to alight and stick her head into the mouth of the pit. In a moment the grandmother is there, comes a little higher, and bars the way. Follows a not very serious contest. The stranger quickly recognizes the rights of the first occupant and, without insisting, goes to seek a home elsewhere. ”

“ He perches on the landing-place of the bees on a wet day, taps with his bill, apparently inquiring after the health of the inmates; a watcher bee comes out to reconnoitre, and is instantly snapped up by the wicked hypocrite. The spider, also, catches weary bees in his web; but the occasional use of a brush disposes of this peril. The snail, attracted by the warmth, occasionally creeps in. The bees successively attack him, but find their stings blunted and broken by the shell, as shot is by our iron-sides. ”