ANATOMY OF THE BEE. 15 



CHAPTER V. 



ANATOMY OF THE BEE. 



26. A Bee Guide would be far from complete if it failed to 

 supply such information as may appear to be necessary for all 

 who desire to take an intelligent interest in the management 

 of bees. Within the limits of such a work as this, however, 

 it is not possible to enter at any great length into the subject 

 of bee anatomy ; nor, indeed, would it be desirable, for, as 

 Hunter has said — 



Of the natural history of the bee more has been conceived than 

 observed. It is commonly not only unnecessary to be minute in our 

 description of parts in natural history, but in general improper. 

 Minutiae beyond what is essential, tire the mind, and render that 

 which should entertain along with instruction, heavy and disagree- 

 able." — Phil. Transactionfi, 1T92. 



Those who are anxious to study a subject so interesting, 

 may find all that they require m the \ arious books w'hich deal 

 with it fully. 



27. External Skeleton The external skeleton of the bee is 



composed of chitin, covered for the most part with hairs of 

 the same substance, which have their special uses, some as 

 organs of touch, some as brushe^s, others as gatherers of pollen, 

 or as clothing, protectors, or ornaments. A glance at the 

 illustration (Fig. 7) will show that the body of the bee is made 

 up of three distinct parts, viz. — the head, the thorax, and the 

 abdomen. 



28. Head The head (Fig. 3) consists of several parts, 



among which are included the simple eyes ; the compound 

 eyes; the antennse or feelers; and the organs of the mouth. 



29. Simple Eyes The three simple eyes {ocelli or stemmata), 



of which one only is visible in the illustration (Fig. 3), are 

 arranged in triangular form upon the vertex in the queen and 

 worker, and in the front of the face in the drone. They enable 

 the bee to judge accurately of distances out of doors, and to 

 see near objects in the darkness of the hive. 



30. Compound Eyes. — The two compound eyes, placed one 

 on each side of the head (Fig. 3), are largest m the drone, 

 and smallest in the worker. They are made up of a number 

 of separate eyes united together, and containing in the drone 

 about 26,000, in the worker, 12,000, and in the queen, 10,000 

 hexagonal lenses or facets. These, pointing in almost every 

 direction, give to the bee an exceedingly wide range of vision, 

 wider far than would have been possible with a fixed, simple 

 eye. 



