98 THE ANATOMY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



agus. We shall have to post})oiie a further discussion of this subject 

 to pa<>:e i)!). aftci' the ventriculus and its contents have been described. 



The ventriculus (fig. 42, Vent) is the largest part of the alimentary 

 canal in the bee and is bent into a U-shaped loop of which the pos- 

 terior arm is dorsal. It is cylindrical and does not vary so much in 

 shape and diameter according to its contents as do the other parts of 

 the canal, although the numerous transverse constrictions which give 

 it a segmented appearance are not at all constant. When examined 

 under alcohol the ventriculus has an opaque whitish appearance, but 

 ^n the natural condition — that is, as seen when examined in a freshly 

 killed or asphyxiated bee — it is of a dark-brown color with lighter 

 rings corresponding to the constrictions. The latter represent in- 

 ternal folds where the walls are really thicker than elsewhere, the 

 color being due to the contents which naturally show more plainly 

 through the thin parts. 



The contents of the ventriculus invariably consist of a dark brown 

 mucilaginous slime and generally also of a varying amount of pollen. 

 The latter is most abundant in the posterior arm of the ventricular 

 loop and is often densely packed in its rear extremity, while the an- 

 terior arm may be almost entirely free from it. The pollen in the 

 ventriculus is always fresh-looking, the native color showing dis- 

 tinctly through the enveloping slime while most of the grains yet re- 

 tain all of their contents. The Avriter has examined many samples 

 of pollen from the stomachs of workers and, in all, the great mass of 

 it showed no evidence of digestion, the color being fresh and the 

 contents perfect — only a few had the latter shrunken and seldom was 

 an empty shell observed. On the other hand, the pollen contained 

 in the small intestine has invariably lost its bright color, the contents 

 of the majority of the grains are more or less shrunken, while a num- 

 ber of empty shells are to be found. That in the rectum, finally, con- 

 sists in large part of empty shells or of grains having the contents 

 greatly shrunken and apparently mostly dissolved out, although a 

 few perfect and bright-colored grains are always present, looking as 

 if entirely unaffected by the digestive liquids. From these observa- 

 tions the Avriter would conclude that the digestion of pollen takes 

 place principally in the intestine. In all parts of the alimentary 

 tract there occur numerous bits of feathered bee-hairs, but these seem 

 to be especially numerous in the ventriculus. 



We are noAv in a position to discuss the possibility of the production 

 of the brood food in the stomach. Sch()nfeld (1886), as has already 

 been stated, argues that this substance is regurgitated "chyle" from 

 the ventriculus. Arnhart (1906) adopts this view and elaborates 

 consideral)ly upon the chemical process by means of which the trans- 

 formation of "■ chyle " into this larval food is etfected through the 

 addition of tartaric acid from the pharyngeal glands of the head. 



