------------------------+----------------------- Average Number of Hooks.| Average Width of Wing. -----------+------------+-----------+----------- Right wing.| Left wing. |Right wing.| Left wing. | | Ant. Pos.| Ant. Pos. 21.0 | 21.0 | 4.06 3.48| 4.07 3.50 -----------+------------+-----------+----------- HIVE NUMBER FOUR. ------------------------+----------------------- Average Number of Hooks.| Average Width of Wing. -----------+------------+-----------+----------- Right wing.| Left wing. |Right wing.| Left wing. | | Ant. Pos.| Ant. Pos. 19.6 | 19.6 | 4.09 3.47| 4.03 3.41 -----------+------------+-----------+----------- As to the first query concerning the individual variations in a single hive the complete table shows that No. 1 varies from 18-21 hooks, No. 2 from 17-21, No. 3 from 18-23 and No. 4 from 17-21. The right wing is taken as the standard, and the most active hive, No. 3. shows the greatest individual variation. One bee in this hive had only sixteen hooks, the remaining three being straight spines, showing how the hooks have been modified from ordinary hairs. This reversion occurred on three separate wings, in No. 2 one hook on each wing being straight. As to the relation between the number of hooks and the width of the wing the averages are very definite. Taking hives number one and two from the same apiary, it will be seen that the increase in number of hooks goes with the increase in width of wing. The same relation is shown by hives numbers three and four from another apiary in the case of the posterior portion of the right wing and in both anterior and posterior portions of left wing. The results are not conclusive as to the relative efficiency of different hives because there are so many conditions entering into the production of large quantities of honey. The number of bees, the care during the winter, the age of the queen, the number of swarms produced, and several other factors would have to be taken into consideration. The differences in the right and left wings in the bees of the same hive is marked. The right wing has the larger number of hooks, but the left wing is the broader. In hive number one the average number of hooks in the right wing is 21.3, left 20.9; but the anterior wing on the right side is 4.21 mm., while the left anterior wing is 4.28; that is, there is a compensation for the reduced number of hooks in the increased width of the wing. This is true of the first three hives. In the fourth hive there is a slight advantage in favor of the right wing. The following general conclusions may be drawn from these measurements: (_a_) There is a variation in the number of hooks in a given hive ranging between 17 and 23.