160 THE bbe-kebper's guide ; 



minutes could still bring tears by their entering the flesh. In 

 stinging, the awl first pierces, then the lancets follow. As the 

 lancets push in, the valves force the poison already crowded 

 into the reservoir forward, close the central tube, when the 

 poison is driven through the lancets themselves, and comes 

 out by the openings near the barbs (Fig. 74, o, o). The drop 

 of poison which we see on the sting when the bee is slightly 

 irritated, as by jarring the hive on a cold day, is pushed 

 through the central opening by muscular contraction attend- 

 ant upon the elevation of the abdomen and extrusion of the 

 sting. The young microscopists will find it diflBcult to see the 

 barbs, especially of the central awl, as it is not easy to turn 

 the parts so that they will show. Patience and persistence, 

 however, will bring success. Owing to the barbs the sting is 

 often sacrificed by use. As the sting is pulled out, the body is 

 so lacerated that the bee dies. Sometimes it will live several 

 hours, and even days, but the loss of the sting is surely fatal, 

 as my students have often shown by careful experiment. It is 

 hardly necessary to say that there is no truth in the statement 

 that the sting is used to polish the comb ; nor do I think there is 

 any shadow of foundation for the statement that poison from 

 the sting is dropped into the honey-cells to preserve the honey. 

 The formic acid of honey doubtless comes from the honey- 

 stomach. Each is an animal secretion. 



The workers hatch from impregnated eggs, which can 

 only come from a queen that has met a drone, and are always 

 laid in the small, horizontal cells (Fig. 78, c). It is true that 

 workers are very rarely reared in drone-cells when the rim is 

 constricted. Mr. Root found that larger cells of foundation 

 were likewise narrowed. These eggs are in no wise different, 

 so far as we can see, from those which are laid in the drone or 

 queen cells. All are cylindrical and slightly curved (Fig. 39, 

 a, b), and are fastened by one end to the bottom of the cell, and 

 a little to one side of the center. The eggs will not hatch 

 unless a little food is added. Is this absorbed, or does it soften 

 the shell so as to make exit possible ? Girard says that the 

 egg on the first day stands oblique to the bottom of the cell, is 

 more inclined the second day, and is horizontal the third day. 

 As in other animals, the eggs from different queens vary per- 



