42 The Bee People. 



it for her own use, but that she may bear 

 it to the hive for the baby bees to eat. 



You can see this honey-sac by feeding a 

 hive bee as much as she wants, and then 

 letting her fly to the window. The light 

 shining through the delicate body makes the 

 clear honey in her little "bottle" plainly 

 visible. The Italian honey-bees, whose ab- 

 domens are a light tan color, at the upper 

 end, show the honey-drop better than the 

 common brown bees. 



Some of the honey passes on into the 

 true stomach of the bee, which is just 

 beyond the honey-sac, and is digested ; 

 but the most of it Miss Apis carries to 

 the hive in her honey-sac. 



It is curious that everything Miss Apis 

 eats has to be swallowed into the honey- 

 sac before it can get into the stomach, 

 and yet the honey is always clear and 

 pure. Honey and pollen go together into 

 the honey-sac, yet the honey in the comb 

 contains almost no pollen. 



