AtJATOMT OF THE BKB. 



23 



Vig. 8. 

 CNDER SIDE OF WOKKER BEE, SHOWING WAX 

 SCALES. 

 (Magnified three times.) 



37. Abdomen — 



Joined to the tlio- 

 ^ rax by a short 

 gS)tube (the petiole), 

 is the abdo- 

 men (Figf. 7). The 

 worker's is en- 

 closed by six vis- 

 ible rings, or seg- 

 ments of chitin, 

 each of which is, 

 constructed of two 

 plates — the dorsaX 

 plates on the back, 

 and the ventral 

 plates on the lower 

 side. Those shown 

 (Fig. 8) :;re the 

 ventral plafs (10) 

 where the wax 

 scales are found 

 (62). The abdomen of the queen is longer and more pointed 

 than that of either the worker or the drone, but only in the 

 worker are the secreting membranes present on which wax is 

 prodiiceid. (Fig. i). 



38. Honey Sac. — The honey sac (Fig, 7, ks) Is situated in (he 

 abdomen, and is connected above will] the oesop/tagns, or gullet 

 (a), running through the thorax to the mouth (58), and below, 

 with the chyle stomach («), beneath which are the ileum, or 

 small intestine {si) and the large intestine (li) or colon. 

 Between the honey sac and the chyle stomach is the stomach 

 mouth \p) by which, at the will of the bee, the contents of the 

 honey sac may be admitted to, or excluded from the chyle 

 stomach (58). The nectar carried in the honey sac may, by con- 

 traction of the muscles there, be transferred as honey through 

 the oesophagus and mouth to the comb cells, or may be 

 admitted through the stomach mouth to the chyle stomach for 

 digestion. The honey sac can hold one-third of an ordinary 

 drop ; but the usual load of a foraging bee is only one-fifth. 



39. Sting. — The sting (Fig. g, A) consists of a horny sheath [sh) 

 terminating in a sharp toothed edge, and guiding the lancets, 

 or darts [d, d',). The lancets have barbed edges (6, 6,) and are 

 connected above, at c, c', with the compound levers (i, k, I, and 

 t', y, I',) by which the stiiig may be forced into comparatively 

 tough substances. When the bee is about to sting, the muscles 

 of the compound levers contracting revolve the latter round the 

 points f, f, and, pressing upwards against the curved arms of 



