86 VARIATION OF STRVCTURE. 



was safe, and this was quite sufficient, and so went to 

 work again as usual and quite contentedly. It was a 

 proof that it is mainly, if not entirely, by the antennae 

 that bees can communicate with one another. 



CHAPTER XX. 



STRUCTURE VARYING IN QUEEN, WORKER, AND DRONE. 



While reading the previous chapters respecting the 

 construction of the bee, every part so exquisitely 

 made for it's purpose, you must not forget that what 

 has been said applies mainly to worker bees. I 

 mentioned this before, but call your attention to it 

 again, because, when we look at queens and drones, 

 we find many of those parts of which I spoke, such as 

 the tongue, stirig, and legs, strikingly altered, in their 

 respective cases, to meet their special wants and 

 work. 



The queen, for instance, never leaves the hive to 

 gather honey. It is not her work. Her duties are 

 entirely at home, and so when we look at her tongue 

 we find it unlike that of the workers, not so long, and 

 not made to brush up the sweets from the flowers, but 

 only fit to lap up honey already brought home, or to 

 receive it from the other bees, who feed her when 

 required. 



So, again, the queen has no honey-bag in which to 

 bring home honey from the flowers, and no little 

 hollows or baskets on her hind-legs in which to carry 

 the pollen, and no brush-like hairs on her other legs 



