THE HIVE-BEE 



83 



every segment. A great part of the interior of the body 

 is occupied by the stomach, which has no outlet behind. 



The new structures which are required by the winged 

 imago develop within the larva, and when the larval skin 

 is cast, there lies within the cell, shrouded in a temporary 

 pupa-skin, an insect which, but for its pale colour and soft 

 texture, perfectly resembles a bee. In twelve days or so the 

 pupal skin is cast; then the imprisoned bee bites a curved 

 slit in the waxen cap of its cell, and 

 pushes its way out. Though it is still 

 soft and pale-coloured, it will in a few 

 hours be ready to enter upon active 

 life. 



The bee-commonwealth is composed 

 of three kinds of winged insects — (i) 

 males or drones, (2) females or queens, 

 and (3) imperfect females or workers. 

 These differ so decidedly from each 

 other that they can be distinguished at 

 a glance by an experienced eye. The 

 drone has a stout body and very large 

 compound eyes, which meet on the top 

 of the head; he is larger every way 

 than the worker, but shorter than the 

 queen ; his abdomen is short and blunt. 

 The queen has a particularly long body, 

 the abdomen extending considerably 

 beyond the closed wings. The worker 

 is the smallest of the three. Only the 

 queens and workers possess a sting. 

 The legs of the workers are formed for 

 collecting pollen ; but in the drones 

 and queens, though the same general proportions are kept, the 

 details differ, and the legs are ineffectual for collection. 



The head of a worker is flattened from before backwards, 

 and almost circular in front view, except for the mouth-parts 

 which hang down from it. On each side are the compound 

 eyes, while on the top of the head are found three simple 

 eyes, arranged in a triangle. The feelers spring, near 

 together, from the middle of the face; each consists of a 

 long basal joint, succeeded by eleven smaller ones. The 



Fig. 53. — Pupa of hive-bee. 



