cylindrical reservoir at its base (fig. s) 

 which is entirely shut off from the hol- 

 low (fig. h) in the more slender part of 

 the awl, which latter serves no purpose, 

 except to give strength and lightness. 



The reservoir connects at its base 

 with the poison sack, and below by a slit 

 with the opening (rig. n) made by the 

 approximation of the three awls. 



The other two awls (fig. b, &, b) which 

 we will call lancets, are also hollow (rig. 

 i : i). They are barbed ( fig. tt, a, u) much 

 like a fish-hook, except that there are 

 eight or ten barbs instead of one. Five 

 of the barbs are large and strong. 



Sting with Lancets dravm one side, cross-section of 

 Sting and a Lancet, much magnified. 



c— Poison sack. 0,0— Openings from hollow 

 m^Tube from sack to res- in lancet, 



ervoir. u, u— Barbs, 



s— Reservoir. h— Hollow in awl. 



a— Awl. i, i— Hollows in lancets. 



b, b— Lancets. t, t— Ridges in awl. 



e, e— Valves. V— Groove in lancet. 



These barbs catch hold and cause the 

 extraction of the sting when the organ 

 is used. Near the base of each lancet 

 is a beautiful valvular organ (fig. e, e). 

 The hollow inside the lancets (fig. i, i), 

 unlike that of the awl, is useful. It 

 opens anteriorly in front of the first six 

 barbs (fig. o, o), as shown by Mr. Hyatt, 

 and posteriorly just back of the valves 

 into the central tube (fig. rt), and through 

 it into the reservoir (fig. s). The poison 

 then can pass either through the hollow 

 lancets (fig. i, i) or through the central 

 tube (fig. 71), between the three spears. 

 The lancets are held to the central 



543 



piece by projections (fig. t, t) from the 

 latter, which fit into corresponding 

 grooves (fig. V) of the lancets. In the 

 figure the lancets are moved one side 

 to show the barbs and the valves. Nor- 

 mally they are held close together, and 

 thus form the tube (fig. n). 



The parts of the sting are moved by 

 muscles connecting the bases of the 

 parts and extending from the parts to 

 the large chitinous supports (fig. d). 

 The fact that muscles connect the va- 

 rious parts, and the muscular character 

 of the sack, explain how a sting may 

 act, even after the bee is apparently life- 

 less, or what is even more wonderful, 

 after it has been extracted from the 

 bee. The barbs hold one lancet as a ful- 

 crum for the other, and so long as the 

 muscles are excitable, so long is a thrust 

 possible. Thus I have known a bee dead 

 for hours to sting. A wasp, dead more 

 than a day, with the abdomen cut off, 

 made a painful thrust, and stings ex- 

 tracted for several minutes could still 

 bring tears by their entering the flesh. 



In stinging, the awl first pierces, then 

 the lancets follow. As the lancets push 

 in,the valves close the central tube,when 

 the poison is driven through the lancets 

 themselves and comes out by the open- 

 ings near the barbs (fig. o, o)." The drop 

 of poison which we see on the sting 

 when the bee is slightly irritated, as by 

 jarring the hive on a cold day, is pushed 

 through the central opening by the mus- 

 cular contraction of the sack attendant 

 upon the elevation of the abdomen, and 

 extrusion of the sting. 



Darwin suggests that bees and wasps 

 may have been developed from saw-flies, 

 and that the barbs on the sting are the 

 old-time saws, transformed into barbs. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Good Bee Country. 



W. P. Johnson, of Baldwin, Pa., in- 

 quires through the Journal for a good 

 location to establish an, apiary; u a 

 location where there is no doubt of the 

 existence of large surplus honey crop." 

 Plenty of bee pasture at all seasons of 

 the year fit for bees to work, I presume 

 he means. A great many persons would 

 like to find such a location, no doubt. 

 California, with its nervous climate, is 

 left out of the question. I have studied 

 this subject considerably, making use 

 of every source of information come- 

 at-able, and have reached the conclu- 

 sion that among the Blue-ridge Moun- 

 tains, ranging from Virginia to the 

 southern boundary of North Carolina, 

 is one of the most desirable bee coun- 

 tries in the United States, California 

 not excepted. It is either a surfeit or a 



