. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. Many Species of Bees. Some people think that there are only two or three kinds of bees—the honey- bee, the bumble-bee. and possibly one kind of smaller wild bee. So far is this from being true that no less than 1,8/8 different species of wild bees have been described from North America, that is, including all of the country north nf Panama up to the present day. When we come to study the habits and structure of all these bees, it is possible to understand why they are so nuiuer- ous in kinds. The pollen of flowers has to be carried principally by inse
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. Many Species of Bees. Some people think that there are only two or three kinds of bees—the honey- bee, the bumble-bee. and possibly one kind of smaller wild bee. So far is this from being true that no less than 1,8/8 different species of wild bees have been described from North America, that is, including all of the country north nf Panama up to the present day. When we come to study the habits and structure of all these bees, it is possible to understand why they are so nuiuer- ous in kinds. The pollen of flowers has to be carried principally by insects; that of one flower to other flowers of the same sort, in order to brins: about the fertilization and production of seed. Of all the insect carriers the bees are the most important. They visit the flow- ers for nectar and pollen, to store up in nests for their young, and when so doing they carry the dust-like pollen from flower to flower, leaving a little of that previously gathered each time they alight on a blossom. Now suppose that all bees visited indiscriminately every sort of flower, it would continually hap- pen that the pollen of one species of plant would be left on the flower of quite a different species, where it would be altogether useless. It is desirable, therefore, that each kind of bee should visit one particular kind of plant, or at any rate should prefer certain kinds. This we find to be more or less the case, and there are many bees that never visit more than one sort of flower. The number of different kinds of flow- ers are very great, and consequently it is not surprising to find that there are many sorts of bees. Described North American bees are so numerous, it is practically certain that we do not know half of those ex- isting. An apiarist writing on this sub- ject, says: "Indeed, it is not impossible that the North American continent, with the West Indies, possesses as many as . species. Thus the opportunity for the student of these inse
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
