. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 410 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL December A Bumblebees' Nest By H. B. Parks IN the study of any problem one must go far afield to gather the facts that make its solution pos- sible. In the study of the honeybee, thousands have made observations on their behavior, and hundreds have made conjectures as to the manner in which the present high specializa- tion of the species occurred, but only the few have studied the nearly re- lated semi-social and solitary be<js with a view to find in these the steps by which the honeybee reached its present state. Most clo
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 410 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL December A Bumblebees' Nest By H. B. Parks IN the study of any problem one must go far afield to gather the facts that make its solution pos- sible. In the study of the honeybee, thousands have made observations on their behavior, and hundreds have made conjectures as to the manner in which the present high specializa- tion of the species occurred, but only the few have studied the nearly re- lated semi-social and solitary be<js with a view to find in these the steps by which the honeybee reached its present state. Most closely related to the genus Aphis is Bombus. The bumblebees resemble the hive bees in the possession of three casts, in stor- ing pollen and honey, in secreting wax, and in possessing the same so- cial government. The nest from which the following study was made was located on the Experimental Station grounds at Col- lege Station, Texas. Local history claims an age of three years for this colony and the contents of the nest seem to support the claim. It was located on a narrow strip of land be- tween a fence and the cultivated field. The last furrow gave a low bank in which the nest was built. When investigated the nest had a covering of matted grass, dome- shaped and about 24 inches in diame- ter and a height of 8 inches above the surface of the soil. As originally built the dome had been on the un- plowed land only, but with the in- crease of the years the roof had been extended until it covered the furrow and some part of plowed land. The original door was in the furrow, but at last, owing to the extension of the brood-chamber, the door had been changed to one side. Let it be said here that when one yates Texas bumblebees' nests one does not use the methods of the ordinary beekeeper, as smoke only provokes the anger of the bumblers, and a cloth veil is no protection. Equipped with a wire veil and cov- ered with all the clothes one could- walk in, the attack was made. Sev- eral
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
