GENERAL CHAEACTBRISTICS. 3 



delicate extensions joining the edges of its unyielding plates. 

 This we may understand by examining the legs of a lobster 

 or crab, furnished like those of the bee, with a shelly case, 

 but so large that no magnifying glass is required. Here we see 

 that the thick coat is reduced to a thin and easily creased mem- 

 brane, where, by flexion, one part is made to pass over the 



other. " 



"Again, almost every part of the body is covered by hairs, 

 the form, structure, direction, and position of which, to the 

 very smallest, have a meaning." (Cheshire, "Bees and Bee- 

 keeping," p. 30. London, 1887.) 



7. Mr. Cheshire explains that, as the skeleton or frame- 

 work of the bee is not sensitive, these hairs act as organs of 

 touch, each one containing a nerve. They also act as clothing 

 and aid in retaiaing heat— 



"and give protection, as the stiff, straight hairs of the eyes, 

 whilst some act as brushes for cleaning, others are thin and 

 webbed for holding pollen grains; whilst by varied modifica- 

 tions, others again act as graspers, sieves, piercers, or mechan- 

 ical stops to limit excessive movement." 



8. The three sections of the body of the honey-bee are per- 

 fectly distinct : the head ; the thorax, or centre of locomotion, 

 bearing the wings and legs; and the abdomen, containing 

 the honey-sack, stomach, bowels, and the main breathing or- 

 gans. 



The principal exterior organs of the head are the antennae, 

 the eyes, and the parts composing the mouth. 



9. The eyes are five in number, two composite eyes, one 

 on each side of the head, which are but clusters of small eyes 

 or facets, and three convex eyes, or ocelli, arranged in a tri- 

 angle at the top of the head. 



10. The facets of the composite eyes, thousand^ in num- 

 ber, are six-sided, like the cells of the honey-comb, and being 

 directed towards nearly every point, they permit the insect to 

 see in a great number of directions at the same time. 



11. In comparing the eyes of worker, queeu and drone, 

 Mr. Cheshire says: 



