206 



NATURE-STUDY 



Fig. 6S. Sting and Poison Bladder of 



Honey-bee. 



( PhotcimicrOj^rraph.) 



It is used for gathering pollen, and the tiljia, the lowest seg- 

 ment of the same leg, is used as a basket to carry the pollen 

 to the hive. It is provided with long curving hairs for that 

 purpose. Bees are frec[uently seen in the field or coming 



home to the hive, witli their pol- 

 len baskets filled with goklen 

 dust. 



The wings of bees are very 

 transparent, with but compara- 

 tively few veins. The fore and 

 hind wings are fastened together 

 by means of minute hooks along 

 their adjacent edges. These in- 

 terlock and make the wings 

 more rigid. Bees are excellent 

 flyers. 



The mouth-parts are very comjjlicated. There is a pair of 

 rather weak chewing mandibles, a pair of sharp maxilke for 

 piercing flowers, and the lower lip is peculiarly modified into 

 a hairy, hollow tongue, adapted for sucking or lapping up the 

 nectar of flowers. It lies between the second pair of maxilla;. 

 The bee, as is well known, is provided with a formidable 

 sting. This is a modification of the ovipositor. Connected 

 with the sting is a poison-gland from which the bee injects 

 into the wound formic acid, which causes an irritating in- 

 flammation. 



The above description applies to the worker-bee. There 

 are two other forms, the queen and the drone. The drones 

 are the males, and can be distinguished by their greater 

 plumpness and hairiness. The queen is the mother of the 

 drones and of the workers, and has a body which is longer 



