The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

M6 The Educational Screen the life history of the bee. The Queen lays an egg in each cell, and the larva is shown, greatly enlarged. Out of every cell comes either a Queen, a worker, or a drone, and most unusual views show the workers opening the cells to assist the bees to hatch. The Queen cell is much larger, and several close-ups of the live Queen are shown, with antennae, pollen brushes, eyes and facets pointed out. After tracing the life history of the bee, the reel goes on to show honey- gathering, the bees collecting the nectar, and depositing it in the comb. Man makes the work of the bees easier by starting the comb with melted wax, after which the bees continue the structure after the same pattern. The process of preparing the honey for market is interestingly shown. If the honey is to be extracted, the wax is scraped off, and the combs put into a centrifugal extractor. Packing combs in crates is also shown, and the reel ends with a juvenile "consumer" putting honey to its proper use. The reel is admirably adapted for Na- ture Study classes, or for grammer-grade geography. A teacher's aid pamphlet accompanies each reel of the series. Ants—Nature's Craftsman (P) —An- other of the Nature Study series, this one devoted to those models of intelligent community life—the ants. Here again we see the three well-distinguished types of individuals: the Queen, the males or drones, and the workers. Our first glimpse is of the winged Queen, who after the mating flight, is stripped of her wings by the workers. The workers themselves are shown in close view, with remarkable detail of feel- ers or antennae, jaws and feet, which are used as tools. Magnified scenes showing ant mounds give us an accurate idea of the "houses" which consist largely of chambers an< galleries underground. The dwellers an shown actually seeming to communicati with each other by their feelers. The development of the ant is showi from egg to larva and pupae. The latte are encased in silky envelopes, callo cocoons, inside of which the transforma tion takes place. The workers are seel caring for the bundles, moving thei from place to place and showing rari intelligence in their handling. Signs o life become apparent, and the worker help in feeding the young ants that ar< hatching. The reel is a fine treatment of the sub ject, well-fitted for classes in Naturi Study or Zoology. Anne's Aigrette (U. S. Dept. Agric.)—A plea, ii story form, for the preservation of the specie of American egrets, snowy herons and othe birds much sought for their plumage. Th picture was filmed on the Walker Lake Resei vation of the Biological Survey in Arkansas. The story concerns Anne, who shows h« new hat to her husband. He notices that th trimming on it is an aigrette, the nuptial pluttt of the egret, and tells her that these bird have been almost exterminated by the plumi hunters. He describes his visit to a Federa Bird Refuge among the cypress swamps ii Arkansas. The scene shifts to the haunts o the egrets, and Anne decides not to wear th< aigrette on her new hat. A lesson with a practical application for al bird lovers. : , ,-4; When Elk Come Down (U. S. Dept. Agric.)- 2 reels—They deal with the question of whethe the American elk is to follow the buffalo into near-extinction. The remaining big herds o these animals live in the highlands of the Yel lowstone National Park during the summei time, where they are well protected, but U winter when the big snows of the Rockies cove their feeding grounds, they are forced fron the mountains and down to the lower level where there is less snow. They may pass int< the National Forests, where they become i concern of the Forest Service, or onto land under private ownership. In either case, the: are prey to poachers and elk tooth hunters. The film story deals with forest rangers an< a state game warden who start out to protec the elk from a band of elk hunters. The lessor that the reel carries is a plea for adequate win'