144 THE HUMBLE-BEE ie 
from a humble-bee by the yellow markings on the 
skin of his face. 
Certain two-winged flies of the genera Volucella 
and Bomdbylius superficially resemble the humble- 
bees ; they may, however, be distinguished by the 
absence of the hind pair of wings. 
The first thing to do in examining a humble-bee 
is to ascertain whether it is a queen, a worker, or a 
male. 
Notice the overlapping plates, or segments as 
they are called, covering the upper side of the 
abdomen. In the queen and worker there are six 
of these, but in the male seven are exposed to 
view. Concealed within the tip of the abdomen of 
the queen and worker is the sting: instead of the 
sting the male has a hard roundish organ about the 
size of a mustard seed called the armature. 
The antenne of the queen and worker have 
only twelve joints, while those of the male have 
‘thirteen, but this is a difference that is not so quickly 
seen. The antenne of the male are longer than 
those of the worker and in some species than those 
of the queen. In all humble-bees the first joint 
of the antennz, called the scape, is much longer 
than any of the others, which collectively are called 
the flagellum. 
The queens are larger and stouter than the males 
and workers. In some species the male has yellow 
bands which are faint or absent in the queen and 
workers, but the worker is, as a rule, coloured exactly 
like the queen. The queens are mostly seen in 
