104 i?;sccT ARcn'itiTcTLTit:. 



Abdomen of Queen Bcc. 



" All the scales," says Huber, "are not alike m 

 every bee, fur a diftereuce is perceptible in consist- 

 ence, shape, and thickness; some are so thin and 

 transparent, as to require a magnifier to be recog- 

 nised, or we have been able to discover nothing but 

 spicvdtc similar to those of water freezing. Neither the 

 spicula3 nor the scales rest immediately on the mem- 

 brane of the pocket, a slight liquid medium is inter- 

 posed, serving to lubricate the joinings of the rings, 

 or to render the extraction of the scales easier, as 

 otheiwise they might adhere too firmly to the sides 

 of the pockets." M. Huber has seen the scales so 

 iarge as to project lieyond the rings, being visible 

 without stretching the segments, and of a whitish- 

 yellow, ffom greater thickness lessening tlieir trans- 

 parency. These shades of diflerence in the scales of 

 various bees, their enlarged dimensions, the fluid in- 

 terposed l)encath them, the correspondence between 

 the scale, and the size and form of the pockets, seem 

 to infer the oozing of this substance through the mem- 



