136 INSECTS HYMENOPTERA DIAGRAM C. 



thorax is hairy, and their legs are not adapted for working, like 

 those of the workers. They consequently perform no labour. 



The Female or Queen has a very long abdomen. Her legs are 

 not adapted for working, and she has no other occupation than 

 laying eggs. There is never more than one queen in a hive. 



The Workers may be known by their small size. Their hind 

 legs have a very remarkable structure. One part is triangular, 

 hollowed out above. On examining the bees which enter and 

 leave the hive, we discover that they bring home part of their 

 spoil in these hollows, as if in baskets. The next part of the leg 

 is equally remarkable ; it is square, and provided with several 

 rows of short, rough hairs, which make it look like a brush, which 

 is the use made of it by the insect. We often see the bees dive 

 into flowers, and come out covered with the pollen, which is yellow 

 for instance in the lily, and black in the tulip. The bee is quite 

 covered with this dust. Then it stands still for a moment ; it 

 brushes itself with the square part of its legs, and carefully 

 removes what it finds on its body ; it gathers it into its baskets, 

 and goes on to collect more from other flowers. We shall 

 see presently what it does with this pollen. 



The workers have a sting at the end of the abdomen, the 

 puncture of which is rendered more painful by a venom which is 

 simultaneously injected into the wound. To see the sting well, it 

 is enough to push a bee against a pane of glass with a straw. 

 We then perceive, after several trials, its dart, which 

 is scarcely a line in length, and several small drops of 

 venom at the end, as clear as spring water. Bee stings 

 are not generally dangerous to man, but they can 

 make a child very ill. When a strange animal enters 

 a k* ye - to eat ^6 h nev ? the workers immediately 

 rush upon it, and pierce it with their stings till it dies. 

 Man rears bees for the sake of their wax and 

 honey. The wax forms honey-comb. The con- 

 struction of the combs is the great occupation of bees. 



Sting of Bee, j t can j^ observed by making them work under a 

 magnified. 



