Manual of the apiary

by Albert John Cook

Fig. 19.

The workers—as taught by Schirach, and proved by Mlle. Jurine, of Geneva, Switzerland, who, at the request of Huber, sought for and found, by aid of her microscope, the abortive ovaries—are undeveloped females. Rarely, and probably very rarely, except that a colony is long or often queenless, as is frequently true of our nuclei, these bees are so far developed as to produce eggs, which, of course, would always be drone eggs. Such workers—known as fertile—were first noticed by Riem, while Huber actually saw one in the act of egg-laying. Except in the power to produce eggs, they seem not unlike the other workers. Huber supposed that these were reared in cells contiguous to royal cells, and thus received royal food by accident. The fact, as stated by Mr. Quinby, that these occur in colonies where queen-larvæ were never reared, is fatal to the above theory. Langstroth and Berlepsch thought that these bees, while larvæ, were fed, though too sparingly, with the royal aliment, by bees in need of a queen, and hence the accelerated development. Such may be the true explanation. Yet if, as some apiarists aver, these appear where no brood has been fed, and so must be common workers, changed after leaving the cell, as the result of a felt need, then we must conclude that development and growth—as with the high-holder—spring from desire. The generative organs are very sensitive, and exceedingly susceptible to impressions, and we may yet have much to learn as to the delicate forces which will move them to growth and activity. Though these fertile workers are a poor substitute for a queen, as they are incapable of producing any but drones, and are surely the harbingers of death and extinction to the colony, yet they seem to satisfy the workers, for they will not brook the presence of a queen when a fertile worker is in the hive, nor will they suffer the existence in the hive of a queen-cell, even though capped. They seem to be satisfied, though they have very slight reason to be so. These fertile workers lay indifferently in large or small cells—often place several eggs in a single cell, and show their incapacity in various ways.

Fig. 20.

a—Ligula. b, b—Labial palpi.

c, c—Maxillæ. d—Paraglossæ.

The workers, as might be surmised by the importance and variety of their functions, are structurally very peculiar Their tongues ([Fig, 20, a]), labial palpi ([Fig. 20, b, b]), and maxillæ ([Fig. 20, c, c]), are very much elongated, while the former is very hairy, and doubles under the throat when not in use. The length of the ligula enables them to reach into flowers with long tubes, and by aid of the hairs they lap up the nectar. When the tongue is big with its adhering load of sweet, it is doubled back, enclosed by the labial palpi and maxillæ, and then extended, thus losing its load of nectar, which at the same time is sucked into the large honey-stomach. The bees, at will, can force the honey back from the honey-stomach, when it is stored in the honey-cells or given to the other bees.

Fig. 21.

a—Jaw of drone.

b—Jaw of queen.

c—Jaw of worker.

The jaws ([Fig, 21, c]) are very strong, without the rudimentary tooth, while the cutting edge is semi-conical, so that when the jaws are closed they form an imperfect cone. Thus these are well formed to cut comb, knead wax, and perform their various functions. Their eyes ([Fig, 5]) are like those of the queen, while their wings, like those of the drones, attain the end of the body. These organs ([Fig, 3]), as in all insects with rapid flight, are slim and strong, and, by their more or less rapid vibrations, give the variety of tone which characterizes their hum. Thus we have the rapid movements and high pitch of anger, and the slow motion and mellow note of content and joy.