74 QUEEN-REARING IN ENGLAND. 



the tip is distended, a very good view of the membrane can 

 be obtained (see Fig. 36 a). It is soft and semi-transparent. 

 Tlie portion b lias a milky-white appearance, and under the 

 microscope it appears to h& finely rugulose or covered with a 

 large number of minute vesicules. At c, where the mem- 

 brane joins the basal portion of the sixth segment, there is a 

 long narroAv channel, the basal part of which is also rugulose. 



Fig. 36. 



Tip of Distended Abdomen of Worker Honey Bee seen from above, 



enlarged. 



4d, 6d, 6d.— Fourth, Fiftli and Sixth Dorsal Segmenta. 



6v.— Sixth Ventral Segment. 



A.— Membrane, b.— Rugulose portiott. c— Nassanoff's canal. 



It is the portion b and the channel c that are exposed when 

 the bee is humming. It seems probable that the scent is pro- 

 duced by a liquid that is secreted in, and emitted from, the 

 rugulose portion. 



The organ in question appears to have teen first noticed 

 in the year 1883, when Nassanoff, of Moscow, decribed it, 

 and an account of his description was sent by Zoubareff to 

 the Swiss Bulletin d' Apiculture. 



