ANATOMY OF THE HONEY-BEE 191 



moisten the pollen grains, to wash the hairs when 

 daubed with honey, etc." 



The wax-glands are found only in the worker. 

 There are four pairs of them. They are situated 

 on the ventral wall of the second, third, fourth and 

 fifth abdominal segments, and on that part of the 

 segment which is overlapped by the preceding seg- 

 ment. Each gland is simply a disc-like area of the 

 hypodermis, the cells of which take nourishment from 

 the blood and transform it into wax. The cuticle 

 covering each gland is smooth and delicate, and is 

 known as a wax-plate. The wax exudes through 

 these plates and accumulates, forming little scales. 

 (Plate VI, X, also Plate XXV, Fig. 5.) 



The alimentary canal. — The form of the alimentary 

 canal of the adult honey-bee is shown in Plate XXVI. 

 The following parts can easily be recognised: the 

 oesophagus, a slender tube, beginning at the mouth 

 and extending through the head and thorax to the 

 base of the abdomen. Here there is a sac-like 

 enlargement of the canal, which is termed the honey- 

 stomach; it is in this that the nectar accumulates as 

 it is collected by the bee, and is carried to the hive. 

 Behind the honey-stomach lies the true stomach, 

 the chief digestive organ. Closely applied to the 

 true stomach are several small tubes, which open 

 into it; which are known as the Malpighian tubes; 

 they were named after one of the early anatomists 

 who described them; they are the urinary organs. 

 Next to the true stomach is the small intestine; and 

 behind this, the large intestine. 



