BEES AND BEE CULTURE. 



1139 



oped drone. The drones are only present in the hive at the 

 season when mating is liable to occur. They usually appear 

 soon after the fruit bloom, and remain till the close of the sea- 

 son, when the worker bees drive them from the hive, and so 

 worry them that death must prove a sweet relief. It is prob- 

 able that drones live till functional activity, accident, or the gen- 

 eral massacre at the close of the season ends their existence. 



The Worker Bee. The worker bee (Fig. 5) is an 

 undeveloped female or queen. 

 The ovaries are mere rudi- 

 ments. These bees are much 

 shorter than either queen or 

 drone. They are but little more 

 than one-half of an inch in 

 length. The tongue is very 

 long (Fig. 6). Their jaws 

 (Fig. 7) are strong. Their pol- 

 len baskets (Fig. 8) on the out- 

 side of the hind legs are deep 

 and well fitted to carry the 

 pollenarious food. Their stings 

 (Fig. 9) are strong. These are 

 composed of three parts, and 

 the two outer portions are 

 barbed, so that when once in- 

 serted they can not be with- 

 drawn, and so are pulled out, C ^ pol , on8<ick 

 which proves fatal to the bee. ^-"rU*. : - {o < wV,X^ ho1 - 



I, I Hollows In lancets. 8 Reservoir. 



'Vho rimcrm ia nalfl in o rrmcfMi TUroove In lancet. K, K Valves. 



ine pOlSOn IS IielU in a mUSCU- M-Tut.efromsaclctore-u-Hollowlnawl. 

 i i , servolr. T.T-HldgesinawL 



lar sack, and is pressed out 



through the barbed pieces when the sting is used. 



The tongue of the workers (Fig. 6) is very complex. It is 

 really a tube slitted along the under side, but the sides of the 

 slit can be approximated so that it really becomes a tube. By 

 its use the bees can sip slowly from long flowers, rapidly from 

 a full drop of honey, or can lap the liquid sweets from a thin 

 surface. With their jaws (Fig. 7) they knead the wax and 



Fio. 9. STINOS WITH LANCETS DRAWN oif* 



SIDE, CROSS-SECTION OF KTINO, AND A 



LANCET, MUCH MAOMKIED. 



