170 A COUNTRY READER. 



keep out the dust and other particles. It feeds 

 the young, which at first are quite helpless, upon 

 pollen or upon pollen and honey mixed. 



In the front part of the hind section or the 

 abdomen, is a department called a honey sac, in 

 which the nectar from the flowers is collected and 

 made into honey. Underneath the abdomen it- 

 self are places that collect and hold the wax 

 which looks like fish scales. 



The first joints of the hind legs are widened 

 and hollowed out, thus forming receptacles to 

 carry pollen, which are called pollen baskets. 



The mother or queen bee is much larger and 

 longer than either the drone or the worker, by 

 reason of the increased size of the abdomen. 



As the queen does not leave the hive except 

 at the time of swarming, and does not collect 

 honey and pollen, her wings and tongue are 

 shorter than those of the workers, and she has 

 no place in her hind legs to carry pollen. 



The Sting. 



As the queen has her faithful subjects to 

 defend her, and therefore has little or no need 

 to defend herself, she rarely stings, and when she 

 does, she does not inflict the same pain as that 

 caused by the sting of a worker, because her sting 

 is quite straight, without a barb at the end. 



The sting of a worker is barbed at its end, so 



