ANATOMY OF THE BEE. 



ANATOMY OFITHE BEE. i 



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S£CT(OW TtifiOUCtH STOrAACH MOUTtt 



ENLARGED DRAWING SHOWING STOMACH-MOUTH, BY DR. BRUENNICH. 



tain cells which perform certain olfices; but 

 without more definite engravings it will be 

 impossible to describe them in detail. 



The next organ is the small intestine, or, 

 as it is sometimes called, the "ileum." In 

 the human body the small intestines are 

 much more elaborate. It is into this that 

 the food, after its digestion, passes, and 

 where, by absorption, the nutrient particles 

 not already absorbed pass into the blood, and 

 so on throughout the system. 



It will be noted, also, at I, some small 

 radiating filaments. These are called the 

 malpighian tubes. It is not certain what 

 their office is, but it is thought that these 

 are the urinary organs. 



At the end of the small intestine, k (page 

 10), will be seen an enlargement, m. This is 

 called the colon. Although the appearance 

 of the colon in the bee is different from that 

 in the human body, yet its functions are 

 very much the same; and if allowed to be- 

 come dammed up by excreta (that is, by re- 

 tention during winter) it is liable to cause 

 disease in the bee, just the same as in the 

 human body. See Dysentery. Mr. Cow- 

 an, the author of the book mentioned at the 

 outset, says: 



F'rom the colon, what remains of the undigested 

 food is expelled by the anal opening-. For this pur- 

 pose strong- muscles exist, by -which the colon is 

 compressed and the excreta ejected. 



The quantity of the excreta voided, usually of a 

 dark-brown color, is legulated by the nature of the 

 food; bad honey, an improper substitute for honey 

 (such as glucose) producing a larger amount, -while 

 good honey and good syrup produce less, a larger 

 proportion of it being digested and absorbed. It is, 

 therefore, important that bees should have good 

 food, as, in a healthy condition, workers never void 

 their fteces in the hive, but on the wing. In the 

 winter it is retained until voided on their first flight. 



So you see, then, that bad food makes 

 mischief, just the same as it does in the hu- 

 man body, and it is in this colon that the 

 overplus of faeces is stored during winter. 



HOW THE BEE "MAKES" HONEY. 



After the nectar is gathered it is then 

 transferred from the tongue to the oesoph- 

 agus and thence to the honey-stomach, g 

 (page 10). It has been shown by experiment 

 that there are many more pollen grains in 

 the nectar than in honey; hence the little 

 stomach-mouth, h, comes into play in sepa- 

 rating the grains from the honey. On ar- 

 rival at the hive, the bee regurgitates — that 

 is, expels the contents of the honey-sac into 



