22 AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL 



cell partly built; and c one completed and closed. 

 D shows a case, which sometimes occurs, of a queen 

 cell built over drone brood. Such cells — which may 

 be known by the absence of indentations on their outer 

 surfaces — are of course useless, as the nature of the 

 drone ^^^ is not altered by the form of the cell or the 

 quality of the food given to the larva. 



THE STING. 



The sting of the worker bee is a very complicated 

 organ, as will be seen by a study of the following 

 engraving, taken from Root's "ABC and X Y Z of 

 Bee-Culture." 



In the general view of the sting (i) is the double gland 

 in which the poison is collected from the glands, and 

 which secretes the poison; a, the cylindrical reservoir 

 from which it is transmitted through hollows in the 

 spears or lancets to the wound ; B, the two barbed 

 lancets ; and d, the third spear or awl, usually styled 

 the sheath, in which the other two partly slide when at 

 work. In the cross section (greatly enlarged) of the 

 lancets, at the point d, it will be seen how the two 

 hollow lancets, a and b, slide on ribs or guides in the 

 concave side of the so-called sheath, d. They have 

 tubes, F and g, through which, as well as through the 

 tube E, formed between the three parts of the sting, 

 the poisonous fluid is transmitted. There is a hollow, 

 c, in the awl or sheath, d, but it is only for strength 

 and lightness, and is not open either above or below. 

 In the barbed lancets, the end of one of which is shown, 

 greatly magnified, there are grooves, g, to fit on the 

 ribs of the sheath, and the poison, which is conveyed 

 down the hollow tube inside of each, finds vent by small 

 side openings to the barbs at h h. It appears that 

 when the wound is first pierced by the smooth and 

 highly polished point of the awl, d, a sliding motion is 

 communicated to the barbed lancets by the muscles 

 shown at j and k, and the poison is pumped, into the 

 wound through the centre cavity, e ; the barbed lancets 

 are then driven in by alternate motions, and at the 



