236 AXGtEK OF BEES. 



The sting of the bee, as it appears to the naked eye, is 

 a tiny instrument of war, so small, indeed, that its wound 

 would pass unheeded by all the larger animals, were it not 

 for the poison introduced at the same instant. 



It has been described as being " composed of three 

 parts, a sheath and two darts. Both the darts are furnished 

 with small points or barbs like a fish-hook," that hold it 

 when thrust into the flesh ; the bee being compelled to 

 leave it behind. 



DOES ITS LOSS PHOVB FATAL? 



It is said that " to the bee itself this mutilation proves 

 fatal." This is another assertion so often repeated, that 

 perhaps we might as well admit it ; as it would be difiicult 

 to disprove it. Think of the impossibility of keeping our 

 eye, for five minutes, on a bee that is flying about, after it 

 has left its sting. Yet there are some persons, so very 

 particular about what they accept as fact, that they would 

 require that a bee should be watched till it died, before 

 they could be positively sure that the loss of its sting 

 caused its death. They might reason from analogy, and 

 B&j that other insects possess so little sensation that they 

 have been known to recover, after much more extensive 

 mutilation — that beetles have lived for months under cir- 

 cumstances that would instantly kUl some of the higher 

 animals — that spiders often reproduce a leg, and even lob- 

 sters sometimes replace a lost claw, etc. 



I have endeavored to show that there is no- great reason 

 for fear in our operations among bees, yet it is idle to sup- 

 pose that all win manage successfully without some means 

 of defence, especially when dealing with the Italians. The 

 face and hands being most exposed, need some protection. 

 Thick woolen mittens or rubber gloves are best ; the sting 

 is genei'ally left when thrust into a leather glove. 



