18 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



hours, between six and nine grains of highly-developed and 

 extremely rich tissue-forming matter. Taking the lowest esti- 

 mate, she then yields the incredible quantity of twice her own 

 weight daily, or more accurately four times, since at this period 

 more than half her weight consists of eggs. Is not the reader 

 ready to exclaim: What enormous powers of digestion she must 

 possess! and since pollen is the onl3' tissue-forming food of 

 bees, what pellets of this must she constantly keep swallowing 

 and how large must Vie the amount of her dejections! But what 

 are the facts' Dissection reveals that her chyle stomach is 

 smaller than that of the worker, and that at the time of her 

 highest efforts, often scarcely a pollen grain is discoverable 

 within it, its contents consisting of a transparent mass, micro- 

 Kcoiiically indistinguishable from the so-called "royal jelly"; 

 while the most practical bee-men say that they never saw the 

 queen pass any dejections at all. These contradictions are 

 utterly inexplicable, except upon the tlieory I propound and 

 advocate. She does [)ass dejections, for I have witnessed the 

 fact; but these are very watery.".... — (Cheshire.) 



Thus, according to Cliesliire, the food eaten by the cjueen, 

 during egg-laying, is already digested and assimilated by the 

 bees, for her use. Her dejectiniis, which are scanty and liquid, 

 are licked up by the workers, as are also tlie dejections of the 

 drones, if not too abitndant. 



-11. The other two jiairs of glands, which are common to 

 workers, queens, and drones, evidently produce the saliva. 

 The fmietions of botli must be the same, for they unite in 

 tlie same canal (sil, ,?, 3, fig. 7), terminated by a valvule, 

 which, passing though the mentimi or ehin {nit), opens at the 

 Ijase of the tongue. The saliva produced by them is used for 

 different purpnses. It helps the digestion; 'it changes the 

 chemical condition of the nectar (246) harvested from tlie 

 flowers; it helps t(i knead the scales of wax (201) of which 

 the combs are built, and perhaps the propolis (236) with 

 which the hives are varnished. It is used also to dilute the 

 honey when too thick, to moisten the (263) pollen grains, to 

 wasli the hairs when daubed with honey, etc. 



These glands yield their saliva while the tongue of the bees 



