to the rapidity of the different parts in action it is essential that the 

 venom should flow quickly. It becomes expedient therefore to 

 introduce a pumping force to accelerate the flow. This is the purpose 

 of the pouch already referred to which can be seen so plainly towards 

 the base of the sting. Inside this chamber are two collapsible pouches 

 like lobes, one of which is attached to each lancet. With the move- 

 ment of the latter, venom is drawn in from the poison sac and swept 

 out into the main duct between the lancets with a reciprocating 

 action in the manner of an. ordinary force pump, and from there it 

 is driven into the wound through the openings already mentioned, 

 there to do its fell work. 



The reflex character of the operating muscles can be better 

 understood by observing the pulsating movement of the poison 

 sac left on the shaft after receiving a sting on the hand. The body 

 of the bee must, of course, be removed. The poison sac can be 

 clearly seen, even by the unaided human eye, expanding and con- 

 tracting as it forces venom through the lancets and into the wound. 

 This throbbing movement can go on for quite ten minutes after 

 separation as it is controlled by the independent nerve centre or 

 ganglion which accompanies the sting mechanism when it is torn 

 from the bee's body. 



This clearly shows how important it is for the sting to be removed 

 from the wound as soon as possible, and not allowed to remain 

 there a second longer than necessary. The whole action forms an 

 ideal subject for study through a hand lens whose magnification is 

 not too powerful. 



So far as the queen's sting is concerned it resembles in general 

 that of the worker bee, but it possesses several marked features of 

 diffierence. To start with, its main shaft is curved downwards, and 

 it is very securely attached to the abdominal walls. This latter 

 difference has been clearly revealed by P. Rietschell *, who stated that 

 a force greater than one-twentieth part of an ounce would tear 

 away the sting of a worker, whereas in the case of a queen, the same 

 organ would withstand a pull equivalent to a weight of about one 

 ounce. (The actual figures given originally in grams are in avoir- 

 dupois weight, 0.06 oz. and 1 .0 to 1 .2 oz. respectively.) The queen's 

 sting is moreover somewhat stouter in build and possesses a slightly 

 greater depth of penetration, while the barbs on the lancets are much 

 less prominent than in the case of the worker's sting. 



An excellent illustration of the survival of the fittest is found 

 in the fact that the venom in the poison sac of the queen tends to 

 solidify with age, and her sting as a weapon, therefore, becomes 

 less deadly. -Thus in a struggle to the death between twq queens, 

 the younger one has the odds heavily in her favour, and her virility 

 will without doubt give her the victory to the ultimate gain of the 

 colony she will head. The life of the colony is of more consequence 

 than the fate of an individual bee — even the queen. The sting's 



^P. Rietschell in Deutscher Imkerfuhrer, Feb. 1938. 



17 



