354 



GENERAL BIOLOGY 



food, nourishment and care, become a queen in case the old queen dies. 

 The workers are smaller than either queen or drones. They are the ones 

 usually seen hovering about flowers. 



Bees have mouth parts (Fig. 231), modified both for biting and suck- 

 ing, and two pairs of membranous wings. 



B. Side view of mouth parts of the honey 

 bee, Apis Mellifera. a, base of antenna ; br, 

 brain ; c, clypeus ; h, hypopharynx ; I, labrum ; 

 lp, labial palpus ; m, mentum ; mo, mouth ; 

 mx, maxilla; sm, submentum. (After Chesh- 

 ire.) 



Fig. 231. 



A. Front view of the head and mouth 

 parts of a bee. After Cheshire, a, An- 

 tenna ; m, mandible ; g, labrum and epi- 

 pharynx ; mx.p., rudiment of maxillary 

 palp ; mx,, lamina of maxilla ; lp., labial 

 palp ; I., ligula ; 6., bouton at end. The 

 paraglossae lie concealed between the basal 

 portions of the labial palps and the ligula. 



C. Tongue of honey 

 bee. p., protecting bris- 

 tles ; s., terminal spoon ; 

 t., taste setae. (After 

 Will.) 



EXTERNAL APPEARANCE 



The body is divided into head, thorax, and abdomen. (Fig. 213.) 

 The body is covered with a skin or cuticle which is composed of a thin 

 chitinous layer produced by the secretion from the cells lying beneath 

 it. This serves as a protection, but it is cast off at various intervals 

 during the early stages of growth. 



There are a pair of large compound eyes and three ocelli or simple 

 eyes. The arrangement of the ocelli are somewhat different in queen, 

 worker, and drone. Two feelers (antennae) project from the front of 

 the head. 



The mouth is made up of an upper lip or labrum, an epipharynx, a 

 pair of mandibles, two maxillae, and a labium. This latter is the under 



HP. 



The labrum is joined to the clypeus (the dome-shaped portion of 

 the skull), (Figs. 217 and 231), lying just above it. The epipharynx is 



