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BEE (Sanskrit blza, AS. ben, Lat. apis)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 638 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BEE (See also:Sanskrit blza, AS. See also:ben, See also:Lat. See also:apis)  , a large and natural See also:family of the zoological See also:order See also:Hymenoptera, characterized by the plumose See also:form of many of their hairs, by the large See also:size of a the basal segment of the See also:foot, which is always elongate and in the hindmost See also:limb sometimes as broad as the shin, and by the development of a " See also:tongue " for sucking liquid See also:food; this See also:organ has been variously interpreted as the true insectan tongue (hypo-pharynx) or as a ligula formed by fused portions of the second maxillae (probably the latter) . Bees are specialized in See also:correspondence with the See also:flowers from which they draw the bulk of their food See also:supply, the flexible tongue being used for sucking See also:nectar, the plumed hairs and the modified legs (fig . 7) for gathering See also:pollen . These floral See also:pro-ducts which form the food of bees and of their larvae, are in most cases collected and stored by the industrious See also:insects; but some genera of (After See also:Benton, See also:Bull. r (n. s.) Div . Ent., U.S . Dept . Agr.) bees See also:act as inquilines or " See also:cuckoo-parasites," laying their eggs in the nests of other bees, so that their larvae may feed at the expense of the rightful owners of the See also:nest . In a few cases, the parasitic See also:bee- See also:grub devours not only the food-supply, but also the larva of its See also:host . Solitary and Social Bees.—Many genera of bees are represented, like most other insects, by See also:ordinary See also:males and See also:females, each See also:female constructing a nest formed of several See also:chambers (" cells ") and storing in each chamber a supply of food for the grub to be hatched from the See also:egg that she See also:lays therein . Such bees, although a number of individuals often make their nests See also:close together, are termed " solitary," their communities differing in nature from those of the " social " bees, among which there are two kinds of females—the normal fertile females or " queens," and those specially modified females with undeveloped ovaries (see fig . 6) that are called " workers " (fig . 1) .

The workers a, Antenna or feeler. mx, 1st maxilla . g, Epipharynx . 1p, Labial palp . mxp, Maxillary palp . 1, Ligula or " tongue." pg, Opposite to galeae of 2nd b, Bouton or See also:

spoon of the maxillae (labium). ligula . (From See also:Frank R . See also:Cheshire's Bee and Bee-keeping.) are the earliest See also:developed offspring of the See also:queen, and it is their associated See also:work which renders possible the rise of an See also:insect See also:state—a state which evidently has its origin in the family . It is interesting to trace various stages in the elaboration of the bee-society . Among the humble-bees (Bombes) the workers help the queen, who takes her See also:share in the duties of the nest; the distinction between queen and workers is therefore less See also:absolute than in the hive-bees (See also:Apis), whose queen, relieved of all See also:nursing and See also:building cares by the workers, devotes her whole energies a c to egg-laying . The See also:division of labour among the two castes of female becomes therefore most See also:complete in the most highly organized society . Structure.—Details of the structure of bees are given in the See also:article HYMENOPTERA . The feelers (fig .

2, a) are divided into " scape " and " flagellum " as in the ants, and the mandibles vary greatly in size and sharpness in different genera . The See also:

proboscis or " tongue " (fig . 2, 1) is a hollow organ enclosing an outgrowth of the See also:body-cavity which is filled with fluid, and with its flexible under-See also:surface capable of invagination or protrusion . Along this surface stretches a groove which is surrounded by thickened cuticle and practically formed into a See also:tube by numerous See also:fine hairs . Along this channel the nectar is See also:drawn into the pharynx and passes, mixed with saliva, into the See also:crop or " See also:honey-bag "; the See also:action of the saliva changes the saccharose into dextrose and levulose, and the nectar becomes honey, which the bee regurgitates for storage in the cells or for the feeding of the grubs . The sting (fig . 6, pg, st.) of female bees is usually highly specialized, but in a few genera it is reduced and useless . Many modifications in details of structure may be observed within the family . The tongue is bifid at the tip in a few genera; usually it is pointed and varies greatly in length, being comparatively See also:short in Andrena, See also:long in the humble-bees(Bombus), and longest in Euglossa, a tropical See also:American genus of solitary bees . The legs, which are so highly modified as pollen-See also:carriers in the higher bees, are comparatively See also:simple in certain See also:primitive genera . The hairy covering, so notable in the hive-bee and especially in humble-bees, is greatly reduced among bees that follow a parasitic mode of See also:life . See also:Early stages.—As is usual where an abundant food supply is provided for the See also:young insects, the larvae of bees (fig .

3, SL.) SL, See also:

Spinning larva. sp, Spiracles. w, Wing . N, Pupa. t, " Tongue." ce, See also:Compound See also:Eye . FL, Feeding larva. m, Mandible. e, Excrement . co, Cocoon. an, Antenna. ex, Exuvium . (From Cheshire's Bees and Bee-keeping.) are degraded maggots; they have no legs, but possess fairly well-developed heads . The successive cuticles that are See also:cast as growth proceeds are delicate in texture and sometimes See also:separate from the underlying cuticle without being stripped off . The maggots may pass no excrement from the See also:intestine until they have eaten all their See also:store of food . When ft:.11y grown the final larval cuticle is See also:shed, and the " See also:free " pupa (fig . 3, N) revealed . The larvae of some bees spin cocoons (fig . 3, co) before pupation . Nests of Solitary' Bees.—Bees of different genera vary consider-ably in the site and arrangement of their nests .

Many—like the See also:

common " solitary " bees Halictus and Andrena—burrow in the ground; the holes of See also:species of Andrena are commonly seen in springtime opening on sandy See also:banks, grassy lawns or See also:gravel paths . Our knowledge of such bees is due to the observations of F . See also:Smith, H . Friese, C . Verhoeff and others . The nest may be simple, or, more frequently, a complex excavation, cells opening off from the entrance or from a See also:main passage . Some-times the passage is the conjoint work of many bees whose cells are grouped along it at convenient distances apart . Other bees, the species of Osmia for example, choose the hollow See also:stem of a bramble or other See also:shrub, the female forming a linear See also:series of cellsin each of which an egg is laid and a supply of food stored up . J . H . See also:Fabre has found that in the nests of some species of Osmia the young bee developed in the first-formed See also:cell, if (as often happens) she emerges from her cocoon before the inmates of the later cells, will try to work her way See also:round these or to bite a lateral hole through the bramble shoot; should she fail to do this, she will wait for the emergence of her sisters and not make her See also:escape at the See also:price of injury to them . But when Fabre substituted dead individuals of her own species or live larvae of another genus, the Osmia had no See also:scruple in destroying them, so as to bite her way out to See also:air and See also:liberty .

The See also:

leaf-cutter bees (Megachile)—which differ from Andrena and Halictus and agree with Osmia, A pis and Bombus in having elongate See also:tongues—cut neat circular disks from leaves, using them for lining the cells of their underground nests . The See also:carpenter-bees (Xylocopa and allied genera), unrepresented in the See also:British Islands, though widely distributed in warmer countries, make their nests in dry See also:wood . The habits of X. violacea, the commonest See also:European species, were minutely described in the 18th See also:century in one of R . A . F. de See also:Reaumur's See also:memoirs . This bee excavates several parallel galleries to which See also:access is .gained by a cylindrical hole . In the galleries are situated the cells, separated from one another by transverse partitions, which are formed of chips of wood, cemented by 'the saliva of the bee . Among the solitary bees none has more remarkable nesting habits than the See also:mason bee (Chalicodoma) represented in the See also:south of See also:France and described at length by Fabre . The female constructs on a See also:stone a series of cells, built of See also:cement, which she compounds of particles of See also:earth, See also:minute stones and her own saliva . Each cell is provided with a store of honey and pollen beside which an egg is laid; and after eight or nine cells have been successively built and stored, the whole is covered by a See also:dome-like See also:mass of cement . Fabre found That a Chalicodoma removed to a distance of 4 kilometres from the nest that she was building, found her way back without difficulty to the exact spot . But if the nest were removed but a few yards from its former position, the bee seemed no longer able to recognize it, sometimes passing over it, or even into the unfinished cell, and then leaving it to visit again uselessly the See also:place whence it had been moved .

She would accept willingly, however, another nest placed in the exact spot where her own had been . If the unfinished cell in the old nest had been only just begun, while that in the substituted nest were nearly completed, the bee would add so much material as to make the cell much larger than the normal size, her See also:

instinct evidently being to do a certain amount of building work before filling the cell with food . The food, too, is always placed in the cell after a fixed routine—first honey disgorged from the mouth, then pollen brushed off the hairs beneath the body (fig . 7, c) after which the two substances are mixed into a See also:paste . Inquilines and Parasites.—The working bees, such as have been mentioned, are victimized by bees of other genera, which throw upon the industrious the task of providing for the young of the idle . The nests of Andrena, for example, are haunted by the See also:black and yellow species of Nomada, whose females See also:lay their eggs in the food provided for the larva of the Andrena . According to H . Friese, the relations between the host and the inquiline are quite friendly, and the insects if they meet in the nest-galleries courteously get out of each other's way . D . See also:Sharp, in commenting on this See also:strange behaviour, points out that the host can have no See also:idea why the inquiline haunts her nest . Why then should the Andrena feel alarm ? If the species of Nomada attack the species of Andrena too much, it brings about the destruction of its own species more certainly than that of the Andrena." More violent in its methods is the larva of a Stelis, whose operations in the nest of Osmia leucomelana have been studied by Verhoeff .

The female Stelis lays her eggs earlier than the Osmia, and towards the bottom of the food-mass; the egg of the Osmia is laid later, and on the surface of the food . Hence the two eggs are at opposite ends of the food, and both larvae feed for a See also:

time without conflict, but the Stelis, being the older, is the larger of the two . Finally the parasitic larva attacks the Osmia, and digging its mandibles into its victim's See also:head kills and eats it, taking from one to two days for the completion of the repast . Social Bees.—The bees hitherto described are " solitary, all the individuals being either males or unmodified females . The most highly developed of the long-tongued bees are " social " species, in which the females are differentiated into egg - laying queens and (usually) infer-See also:tile " workers " (fig . 6) . Verhoeff has discussed the rise of the " social " from the " solitary " See also:condition, and points out that for the formation of an insect community three conditions are necessary—a nest large enough for a number of individuals, a close grouping of the cells, and an association between See also:mother and daughters in the winged state . For the fulfilment of this last condition, the older insects of the new See also:generation must emerge from the cells while the mother is still occupied with the younger eggs or larvae . One species of Halictus nearly reaches the desired See also:stage; but the first young bees to appear in the perfect state are males, and when the females emerge the mother See also:dies . Among the social bees the mother and daughter-insects co-operate, and they differ from the " solitary " See also:groups in the nature of their nest, the cells (fig . 25) of which are formed of See also:wax secreted by See also:special glands (fig . 5) in the bee's See also:abdomen, the wax being pressed out between the segmental sclerites in the form of plates (fig .

4), which are worked by the legs (fig . 7) and jaws into the requisite shape . In our well-known hive-bee (Apis) and humble-bees (Bombus) the wax glands are ventral (From Cheshire's Bees and Bee-keeping.) in position, but in the " stingless " bees of the tropics (Trigona and Melipona) they are dorsal . A See also:

colony of humble-bees is started in See also:spring by a female " queen " which has survived the See also:winter . She starts her nest underground or in a surface depression, forming a number of waxen cells, roughly globular in shape and arranged irregularly . The young females (" workers ") that develop from the eggs laid in these early cells assist the queen by building fresh cells and gathering food for storage therein . The queen may be altogether relieved of the work of the nest as the See also:season advances, so that she can devote all her energies to egg-laying, and the colony grows rapidly . The distinction between queen and worker is not always clear among humble-bees, the female insects varying in size and in the development of their ovaries . If any mishap befall the queen, the workers can sometimes keep the community from dying out . In autumn males are produced, as well as young queens . The community is broken up on the approach of winter, the males and workers perish, and the young queens after See also:hibernation start fresh nests in the succeeding See also:year . The See also:appearance of the heavy-bodied hairy Bombi is well known .

They are closely " mimicked " by bees of the genus Psithyrus, which often share their nests . These Psithyri have no pollen-carrying structures on the legs and their grubs are dependent for their food-supply on the labours of the Bombi, though, according to E . Hoffer's observations, it seems that the femalePsithyrus builds her own cells . The colonies of Bombus illustrate the rise of the inquiline See also:

habit . Many of the species are very variable and have been differentiated into races or varieties . F . W . L . Sladen states that a queen belonging to the virginalis form of Bombus terrestris often invades a nest belonging to the lucorum form, kills the rightful queen, andtakespossession of the nest, getting the lucorum workers to See also:rear her young . In the nests of Bombi are found various See also:beetle larvae that live as inquilines or parasites, and also maggots of See also:drone-flies (Volucella), which act as scavengers; the Volucella-See also:fly is usually a " mimic " of the Bombus, whose nest she invades . The " stingless " bees (Trigona) of the tropics have the parts of the sting reduced and useless for piercing . As though to compensate for the loss of this means of See also:defence, the mandibles are very powerful, and some of the bees construct tubular entrances to the nest with a series of constrictions easy to hold against an enemy .

The habits of the Brazilian species of these bees have been described in detail by H. von See also:

Jhering, who points out that their wax glands are dorsal in position, not ventral as in Bombus and Apis . With Apis, the genus of the hive-bee, we come to the most highly-specialized members of the family—better known,perhaps, than any other insects, on See also:account of the long domestication of many of the species or races . In A pis the workers differ structurally from the queen, who neither builds cells, gathers food, nor tends brood, and is therefore without the special See also:organs adapted (From Cheshire's Bees and Bee-keeping.) A, Abdomen of queen, under See also:side . P, Petiole . o, o, Ovaries . hs, Position filled by honey-See also:sack. ds, Position through which See also:digestive sp, See also:system passes. od, Oviduct . co.d, Vagina . E, Egg-passing ovi- duct. sp, s, Spermatheca . i, Intestine . (From Cheshire's Bees and Bee-keeping.) and Workers (A pis) . pb, See also:Poison bag . pg, Poison gland. st, Sting .

p, "Palps" or feelers " of sting . B, Rudimentary ovaries of ordinary worker . Rudimentary spermatheca . C, Partiallydeveloped ovaries of fertile worker . Rudimentary spermatheca . , for those functions which are possessed in perfection by the workers . The differentiation of queen and workers is correlated with the habit of storing food supplies, and the consequent permanence of the community, which finds See also:

relief for its surplus See also:population by sending off a swarm, consisting of a queen and a number of workers, so that the new community is already specialized both for See also:reproduction and for labour . The workers of Apis may be capable (fig . 6, C) of laying eggs —necessarily unfertilized—which always give rise to males (" drones "), and, since the researches of J . Dzierzon (1811--1906) in 1848, it has been believed that the queen bee lays fertilized eggs in cells appropriate for the rearing of queens or Hive-bee (Apis) . notch in tarsal segment for Stingless bee (Melipona) . cleaning feeler .

Humble-bee (Bombus). e, Tip of intermediate shin with See also:

Outer view of See also:hind-See also:leg . See also:spur . Inner view. c, Feathered hairs with pollen Fore-leg of Apis showing grains, magnified . workers, and unfertilized eggs in " drone-cells," virgin reproduction or parthenogenesis being therefore a normal See also:factor in the life of these insects . F . Dickel and others have lately claimed that fertilized eggs can give rise to either queens, workers or males, according to the food supplied to the larvae and the See also:influence of supposed " See also:sex-producing glands " possessed by the See also:nurse-workers . Dickel states that a See also:German male bee mated with a female of the See also:Italian See also:race transmits distinct paternal characters to hybrid male offspring . A . See also:Weismann, however,- doubts these conclusions, and having found a sperm-See also:aster in every one of the eggs that he examined from worker-cells, and in only one out of 272 eggs taken from drone-cells, he supports Dzierzon's view, explaining the single exception mentioned above as a See also:mistake of the queen, she having laid inadvertently this single fertilized egg in a drone instead of in a worker cell . The cells of the See also:honeycomb of Apis are usually hexagonal in form, and arranged in two series back to back (See also:figs . 3, 25) . Some of these cells are used for storage, others for the rearing of brood .

The cells in which workers are reared are smaller than those appropriate for the rearing of drones, while the " royal cells," in which the young queens are developed, are large in size and of an irregular See also:

oval in form (fig . 25) . It is believed that from the nature of the cell in which she is ovipositing, the queen derives a reflex impulse to lay the appropriate egg—fertilized in the queen or worker cell, unfertilized in the drone cell, as previously mentioned . Whether the fertilized egg shall develop into a queen or a worker depends upon the nature of the food . All young grubs are at first fed with a specially nutritious food, discharged from the worker's See also:stomach, to which is added a digestive secretion derived from special salivary glands in the worker's head . If this " royal jelly " continue to be given to the grub throughout its life, it will grow into a queen; if the ordinary mixture of honey and digested pollen be substituted, as is usually the See also:case from the See also:fourth See also:day, the grub will become a worker . The workers, who See also:control the polity of the hive (the " queen " being exceedingly " limited " in her See also:monarchy), arrange if possible that young queens shall develop only when the population of the hive has become so congested that it is desirable to send off a swarm . When a young queen has emerged, she stings her royal sisters (still in the pupal stage) to See also:death . Previous to the emergence of the young queen, the old queen, prevented by the workers from attacking her daughters, has led off a swarm to find a new See also:home elsewhere . The young queen, See also:left in the old home, mounts high into the air for her nuptial See also:flight, and then returns to the hive and her duties of egg-laying . The number of workers increases largely during the summer, and so hard do the insects work that the life of an individual may last only a few See also:weeks . On the approach of winter the males, having no further See also:function to perform for the community, are refused food-supplies by the workers, and are either excluded or banished from the hive to perish .

Such ruthless habits of the bee-See also:

commonwealth, no less than the altruistic labours of the workers, are adapted for the survival and dominance of the species . The struggle for life may See also:deal hardly with the individual, but it results—to quote See also:Darwin's well-known See also:title—in " the preservation of favoured races." BEE-KEEPING Bee-keeping, or the cultivation of the honey-bee as a source of income to those who practise it, is known to have existed from the most See also:ancient times . Poets, philosophers, historians and naturalists (among whom may be mentioned See also:Virgil, See also:Aristotle, See also:Cicero and See also:Pliny) have eulogized the bee as unique among insects, endowed by nature with wondrous gifts beneficial to A. a-d, B. f-g, C. h-i, a, f, h, b, g, s, d, (After See also:Riley, Insect Life (U.S . Dept . Agr.), vol . 6.) mankind in a greater degree than any other creature of the insect See also:world . We are told that some of these ancient scientists passed years of their lives studying the wonders of bee-life, and left accurate records of their observations, which on many points agree with the investigations of later observers . As a forcible See also:illustration of the manner in which a colony of bees was recognized as the embodiment of See also:government by a See also:chief or ruler, in the earliest times of which there is any existing See also:record, it may be mentioned that on the See also:sarcophagus containing the mummified remains of Mykerinos (now in the British Museum and dating back 3633 years B.C.) will be found a hieroglyphic bee,(fig . 8) representing the See also:king of See also:Lower See also:Egypt . In dealing with the See also:practical side of bee- keeping as now understood, it may be said that, compared with the methods in See also:vogue during the first See also:decade of the r9th century, or even within the memory of men still living at the beginning of the 20th, it is as the See also:modern See also:locomotive to the stage- See also:coach of a previous generation . Almost everything connected with bee-See also:craft has been revolution- ized, and See also:apiculture, instead of being classed with such homely rural occupations as that of the See also:country housewife who carries a few eggs weekly to the See also:market-See also:town in her See also:basket, is to-day regarded in many countries as a pursuit of considerable import- ance . Remarkable progress has also been made in Queen- the See also:art of queen-rearing, and in improving the common rearing .

or native bee by judicious See also:

crossing with the best See also:foreign races, selected mainly for hardiness, working qualities and the prolific capacity of their queens . American bee-breeders are conspicuous in this respect, extensive apiaries being exclusively devoted to the business of rearing queens by the thousand for See also:sale and export . On the European See also:continent queen-rearing apiaries are plentiful, but less See also:attention is paid there to hybridizing than to keeping the respective races pure . In See also:England also, some bee-keepers include queen-rearing as See also:part of their business, while one large apiary on the south See also:coast is exclusively devoted to the rearing of queen bees on the latest scientific system, and to breeding by selection from such races as are most suited to the exceptional See also:climatic conditions of the country . Extensive apiaries have been established on the American continent, some containing from 2000 to 3500 colonies of bees, and in these honey is harvested in hundreds of tons yearly . The magnitude of the bee See also:industry in the See also:United States may be judged from the fact of a single bee-See also:farmer located in See also:California having harvested from 150,000 lb of honey in one year from 2000 See also:stocks of bees, and, as an instance of the enormous See also:weight of honey obtainable from See also:good hives in that favoured region, the same farmer secured 6o,000 lb of See also:comb-honey in one season from his best 30o colonies . This is probably the maximum, and the hives were necessarily located in separate apiaries some few See also:miles apart in order to avoid the evils of overstocking, but all in the midst of thousands of acres of honey-yielding flowers . Results like the above compared with those of the skeppist bee- keeper of former days, who was well pleased with an See also:average of 20 to 25 lb per hive, may be regarded as wonderful, but they are matters of fact . The See also:consumption of honey Honey as food. as an article of food has also largely increased of See also:late years; a See also:recent computation shows that from roo to 125 million lb of honey, representing a See also:money value of from eight to ten million dollars, is consumed annually in the United States alone . Many of the larger bee-farmers of the United States of See also:America and See also:Canada See also:harvest from 50,000 to 6o,000 lb of honey in a single season, and some of them sell the whole crop See also:direct to consumers . It is a notable fact that in the United States, Canada, See also:Australia, New See also:Zealand, and indeed all See also:English-speaking countries outside the United See also:Kingdom, honey is far more extensively used than it is there as an article of daily food . The natural result of this is that the See also:trade in honey is conducted, in those countries, onentirely different lines from those followed in the British Isles, where honey See also:production as an occupation has, until quite recent years, been regarded as too insignificant for See also:official See also:notice in any form .

The value of the bee industry is now recognized, however, by the British government as worthy of state for b stateee- id aid, in the promotion of technical instruction connected keeping. with See also:

agriculture . On the American continent apiculture is officially recognized by the respective states' governments; and by the federal government at See also:Washington it is taken into account as a See also:section of the Agricultural See also:Department, with fully equipped experimental apiaries and qualified professors engaged therein for educational work . In several See also:Canadian provinces also, the public funds are used in promoting the bee industry in various ways, mainly in combating the bee-disease known as " foul brood." In New Zealand the government of the colony has displayed the most praiseworthy earnestness and vigour in promoting apiculture . State-aided apiaries have been established under the supervision of a skilled bee-keeper, who travels over the colony giving instruction in practical bee-work at the public See also:schools, and forming classes at various centres where pupils are taught bee-keeping in all its branches . In See also:Europe similar progress is observable; technical schools, with well-equipped apiaries attached, are supported by the state, and in them the See also:science and practice of modern bee-keeping is taught free by scientists and practical experts . Institutions of this See also:kind have been established in See also:Germany, See also:Russia, See also:Switzerland and elsewhere, all tending in the same direction, viz. the cultivation of the honey-bee as an appreciable source of income to the farmer, the See also:peasant See also:cultivator, and dwellers in districts where bee-See also:forage is abundant and, if unvisited by the bee, lies wasting its sweetness on the See also:desert air . It may be safely said that the value of the bee to the See also:fruit-grower and the market-gardener has been proved beyond dispute; and the technical instruction now afforded by See also:county See also:councils in the rural districts of England has an appreciable effect . In See also:proof thereof, we may quote the case of an extensive grower bees vete oP in the midland counties—sending fruit to the See also:London as fertilizers . market in tons—whose crop of gooseberries increased nearly fourfold after establishing a number of stocks of bees in close proximity to the See also:gooseberry bushes . The fruit orchards and See also:raspberry See also:fields of See also:Kent are also known to be greatly benefited by the numerous colonies of bees owned by more than 3000 bee-keepers in the county . The important part played by the bee in the See also:economy of nature as a fertilizer is shown in fig . 9 .

In the United Kingdom the prevailing conditions, climatic fertilized . B, See also:

Cross section . A, See also:Flower . B, Section through core, or See also:torus p, p, Petals . (C) and drupels (D) . a, a, Anthers. ud, Unfertilized drupel . s, Stigma. ws, Withered stigma . no, Nectary openings . nc, Nectar cells . n, Drupels . (From Cheshire's Bees and Bee-keeping, Scientific and Praclical.) and otherwise, with regard to apiculture—as well as the lack of sufficient natural bee-forage for large apiaries—are such as to preclude the possibility of establishing apiaries on a See also:scale comparable with those located in less confined lands . On the other us See also:hand, even in England the value of bee-keeping is worthy of recognition as a See also:minor industry connected with such items of agriculture as fruit-growing, market-gardening or poultry-raising .

The fact that British honey is second to none for quality, and that the British market is eagerly sought by the bee-keepers of other nationalities, has of late impressed itself on the minds of thinking men . Moreover, their views are See also:

con-firmed by the See also:constant references to bees and the profits obtain-able from bee-keeping in the leading papers on all sides . This newly-aroused See also:interest in the subject is no doubt to a large extent fostered by the grants in aid of technical instruction afforded by Bee- county councils in rural districts . The British Bee-keepers' keepers' Association (instituted in 1874) has been associa- untiring in its efforts to raise the See also:standard of efficiency bons. among those who are desirous of qualifying as experts and teachers of bee-keeping on modern methods . This body had for its first See also:president the distinguished naturalist See also:Sir See also:John Lubbock (See also:Lord See also:Avebury) . Subsequently the baroness See also: