MANIPULATION OF WAX SCALES OF THE HONEY BEE. 



THE WAX-PBCDUCING ORGANS. 



The way in which the wax scales are formed, as secretion products 

 arising from the surfaces of the wax plates on the ventral side of 

 Ihe abdomen of the workers, has been well described by others and 

 Avith apparent accuracy. The accounts of Dreyling embody the 

 results of a very considerable amount of work, and will, for the 

 present, at least, be taken at their full value. The work of Snod- 

 grass ^ upon the anatomy of the wax plates and wax glands may be 

 relied upon. Only a brief statement will here be given of the struc- 

 ture of these organs and of the manner in which the scales are 

 formed. 



As is well known, wax is produced by the worker bees only. The 

 location of the wax-secreting sur- 

 faces, or wax plates, may be readily 

 determined by an examination of the 

 ventral surface of a bee's abdomen. 

 By stretching the abdomen somewhat 

 it will be seen that each of the last 

 four visible sternal or ventral plates 

 is divided into two regions: A pos- 

 terior projecting edge which is dis- 

 tinctly hairy, and a smooth anterior 

 half which is usually covered by the 

 next preceding plate. This anterior 

 region is divided by a median ridge 

 into two distinct, irregularly oval 

 areas, which thus lie on either side 

 of the midventral line. These areas 

 are the wax plates, and upon them 

 the wax scales are formed. Each one 

 of the last four sternal plates bears 

 two wax plates, making eight in all. 

 (See fig. 1.) 



The glands which secrete the wax 

 lie on the floor of the abdomen im- 

 mediately above and in contact with the wax plates, and their 

 secretion is deposited upon the external surfaces of the plates, exud- 

 ing through the many minute pores which perforate the plates. Upon- 

 coming in contact with the air the fluid wax hardens, forming a cov- 

 ering over the entire outer surface of the plate, which gradually in- 

 creases in thickness with the continued addition of wax through the 

 pores. In this way the wax scales are produced, and since they are 



1 Snodgrass, E. E., 1910. The Anatomy of the Honey Bee, Bur. Ent, Tech. Ser. 18, 

 V. S. Dept. Agr. 



PLj4Te 



Fig. 1. — Ventral abdominal plates 

 of a worker bee dissected to show 

 the position of the wax plates. 

 (Original.) 



