THE HONEYBEE AND BEES IN GENERAL 239 



Each of the last four visible sternal plates of the worker bears a 

 pair of wax glands. At the end of the abdomen of the worker and 

 queen is the sting, and the slitlike openings of the sexual organs 

 and anus. There is no sting in the drone, but a copulatory organ 

 is present. 



THE STING. The sting is a very complicated structure (Fig. 

 133). Before the bee stings, a suitable place is selected with the 

 help of the sting feelers (p) ; then the two barbed darts (b) are 

 thrust forward. The sheath (sh.) serves to guide the darts, to 

 open up the wound, and to aid in conducting the poison. The 

 poison is secreted in a pair of glands (pg.) t one acid, the other alka- 

 line, and is stored in a reservoir (p.s.). Generally the sting, poison 

 glands, and part of the intestine are pulled out when a bee stings, 

 so that death ensues after several hours, but if only the sting is 

 lost, the bee is not fatally injured. The queen seldom uses her 

 sting except in combat with other queens. 



The Anatomy and Physiology of the Internal Organs. GEN- 

 ERAL ANATOMY. Before considering in detail the systems of 

 internal organs and their functions, it may be well to obtain a 

 general view of their morphology, and point out their resem- 

 blances to, and differences from, those of the crayfish. Both the 

 bee and the crayfish have a well-developed muscular system, a 

 digestive system composed in the main of similar parts, a dorsal 

 blood vessel and a number of sinuses, a brain dorsally situated 

 in the head, and a median ventral nerve cord. The chief differ- 

 ences are in the excretory and respiratory systems." No green 

 glands nor gills are present in the honeybee, but in their stead 

 are Malpighian tubules and tracheae. As in the crayfish, the 

 body cavity is not a true ccelom, the ccelom being restricted to the 

 cavities of the reproductive organs. 



THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM. The body of the bee contains an 

 enormous number of muscles; the largest of these are located in 

 the thorax, and are used to move the wings and legs. Other large 

 muscles are connected with the jaws. Usually the muscles are 

 attached directly to the inner surface of the exoskeleton, often 



