Teacher's Leaflet. 815 



The thorax bears three pairs of legs below and two pairs of wings above. Each 

 leg has six joints and the foot has four joints and a pair of claws. The front leg 

 shows the antennae comb between the tibia and tarsus. (Fig. p. 76, F.) For a 

 study of the hind legs see Fig. p. 76, A and parts labelled ; "this shows the pollen 

 basket which is a long cavity bordered by hairs wherein the pollen is piled and 

 carried. On the other side of the large joint of the foot are rows of spines, which 

 are used to remove the pollen from the pollen baskets. (Fig. p. 76, B.) 



There are two pairs of wings, the front being larger than the hind pair. If the 

 bee you are studying is old and has done much work the wings will be frayed at 

 the edges. There are six segments or rings to the abdomen plainly visible from 

 above. If the five segments next the thorax are marked above with yellow bands 

 on their front edges the bee is an Italian. On the lower side of the body each 

 ring is made up of a central plate with an overlapping plate on each side, and just 

 at the front edge on each side of the central plate is a wax pocket, which cannot be 

 seen imless the bee is dissected and studied with a microscope. From these pockets 

 are secreted little flakes or plates of wax and often at the height of the season, 

 if the bee be examined, three or four pairs of the«e wax flakes may be seen with 

 the unaided eye on the lower side of the abdomen. And although these wax 

 pockets cannot be seen by the pupils, it is well for the teacher to explain where they 

 are. (Fig. p. 74, X.) 



Lesson XXXIX. 



THE QUEEN. 



Purpose. — To study the form of the qtieen bee. 



Material. — A queen bee either alive or dead, but preferably a live queen 

 in a queen cage with her attendants. 



Observations. — (i). How does the queen dififer in size and shape from 

 the worker? 



(2). Has she pollen baskets or pollen combs on her hind legs? 



(3). How does the shape of the abdomen differ from that of the 

 worker ? 



Topics for English lesson. — The life of a queen bee. This should 

 cover the following points : The kind of cell in which the queen is de- 

 veloped; the kind of food in which she is reared; the fact that she never 

 stings people btit reserves her sting for other queens ; why she does not 

 go out to gather honey ; how and by whom and on what she is fed ; she 

 would not use pollen baskets if she had them ; the work she does for the 

 colony ; the length of her life compared with that of a worker ; the time 

 of year when new queens are developed, and what becomes of the old 

 queen when a new one takes her place ; why she is called a queen. 



Facts for the Teacher. — The queen is much larger than a worker; she is a very 

 graceful insect. Her body is long and pointed and extends far beyond the tips 



