4 MONEY IN BEES IN" AUSTRALASIA 



Honey-bees are provided with, a honey-sac which, 

 Cheshire states "is about one-sixth of an inch in depth 

 and one-ninth of an inch in diameter when full of honey. ' ' 

 This is only a storage vessel. When fully provisioned it 

 will hold a supply for six or seven days. There is also 

 another organ, the chyle stomach — both are connected 

 by a wonderful stomach-mouth (so named by Burmeister). 



The chyle stomach performs the process of digestion, 

 and together with a certain gland, is responsible for the 

 formation of the rich food fed to queens and young 

 larvae. Within the abdomen are a number of glands, 

 and other organs. In the abdomen of the queen are the 

 ovaries or egg-producing system. 



The hard portion of the body immediately separating 

 the head from the abdomen is the thorax. It carries 

 the leg and wing muscles, so is appropriately termed 

 the centre of locomotion. The thorax is extremely hard, 

 and to meet the wing strain is strongly braced with a 

 perfect net-work of muscles and supports. The thorax, 

 (also the delicate feather of a butterfly) is constructed 

 of a substance called chitine of which more anon. 



It has been observed that a highly polished needle 

 examined with a microscope of high power, resembles 

 a bar of rough cast iron, but the sting of a bee under the 

 same glass is of exquisite smoothness and polish. That 

 the sting should be able to penetrate comparatively hard 

 substances is worthy of note. Instances are recorded of 

 bees, enraged, stinging fruit trees, and the author has 

 often observed bees' stings penetrate pieces of leather. 

 Honey-bees do not, usually, sting the first thing at hand. 

 Certain substances, viz. : — woollen clothes, fur, hair, 

 and, generally speaking, any rough clothing material 

 apparently excite the bees to greater efforts. For this 

 reason, when working among bees it is advisable to make 

 a point of dressing in some variety of cotton clothes. 

 Bee-keepers — with very good reason — affirm that bees 

 sting dark material in preference to light.* John H. 



*AiJTHOB's Note. — Sir John Lubbock, in "Ants, Wasps, and Bees," has con- 

 clusively shown that bees have the power to distinguish the various colours, indeed 

 they often exhibit certain preferences. 



