320 



STATE BOAED OF AGKICULTUKE. 



The workers also possess a natural weapon of defense, the sting (see Fig. 

 3), whicli they are free to use as occasion requires. The mechanism of this 

 organ is very interesting. At its base is a double gland, which secretes the 

 poison ; which, when secreted, is poured into an ample j^oison sack (Fig. 2, c), 

 which is as large as a flax seed. The sting proper is a triple organ, consisting 

 of three sharp spears, very smooth and of exquisite polish, which lie side by 

 side, and make up the sting as seen by the naked eye. The central lance (Fig. 

 2, a) is hollow, — a little shorter than the others. The central opening connects 

 with tlic poison sack, so that the jioison all passes tlirough this part of the sting. 

 The side pieces (Fig. 2, h b) are marvelously sharp, and each barbed at the end 

 with teeth, of which seven are prominent, and which extend out and back like 

 the barb of a fish-hook, so that the sting cannot be witlidraAvn when once fairly 

 used, and with its loss the bee's life is sacrificed. These side pieces are worked 

 alternately by small muscles (Fig. 2, d) at the base of the sting, and when 

 fairly inserted the poison is intruded through the central piece. The workers 

 also possess a honey stomach (Fig. 3), or crop, in which the honey is carried to 

 the hive. 



o 



Fig. 3. 

 Alimentary Canal.— «, honey stomach; b, true stomach; c, urinary ^tubes; d, intestine. 



The workers always hatch from an impregnated egg, which can only come 

 from a fertile queen, and is always laid in the small horizontal cells (see 

 description of comb and Fig. 11). The eggs are in the form of a short, slightly- 

 curved cvlinder, and are fastened by one end to the bottom of the cell. They 

 can be easily seen by holding the comb so that the light will shine into the cells. 

 The eggs hatch in about four days. The larva (Fig. 4) is white and 

 footless, and lies coiled up, floating in the whitish fluid previously placed 

 in the cell. This food is composed of pollen and honey, and is all 

 consumed by the larva. In about five days the cell is capped 

 over by the bees. The cap is composed of j)ollen and wax, so 

 that it is darker, more porous, and more easily broken than the honey 

 caps. It is also more convex. The larva, now full grown, commences 

 to surround itself with a thin cocoon made of fine silk, and in three days 

 assumes the pupa state (Fig. 5), when it is called a nymph. It now 

 looks like the imago or fully developed bee, except that the legs, wings, and 

 tongue are folded on the breast, and the insect is now colorless. Upon the 

 twenty-first day the bee emerges from the cell. 



