136 INSECTS HYMENOPETR A DIAGRAM 6. 



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 hive to eat the honey, 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, 

 magnified. It can be observed by making them work under a 

 bell glass covered by a basket hive ; it is enough to remove this 

 to follow all the details of their life and labours. Bees make 

 the wax themselves. When we take hold of one, we see that 

 the segments of the abdomen overlap, and partly cover each 



