BRITISH HIVE-BEE. 



337 



mouth " it may reach the true stomach and so be digested, 

 or may be carried in the crop to the hive, and there 

 emptied into the cells by regurgitation. The pollen, which 

 is frequently mixed with the honey, is separated from the 

 latter by means of the stomach mouth, and is digested. 

 Before impregnation, the queen, like the worker, feeds on 

 pollen and honey; after it, she is always fed by the 



FIG. 181. Hive-bees and the cells in which they develop. 



D. t Drone cells ; W.> worker cells ; Q., queen cell, open and closed ; 

 d. t drone; iv. t worker; f., queen. 



attendant workers. The drones, like the young workers, 

 avail themselves of the general food-supply of the colony, 

 and do not themselves collect honey. 



Other systems. The respiratory system is represented 

 by the ramifying tracheal tubes. They open to the ex- 

 terior by the lateral spiracles, which can be completely 

 closed. In connection with the tracheae there are large 

 air-sacs. 



The circulatory system is in essentials the same as that 



