38 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



off, then she may live quite a while without them, and strange 

 to say, seems to be more angry than ever, and persists in 

 making useless attempts to sting. 



87. If a hive is opened during a Winter day, when the 

 weather does not permit the bees to fly, a great number of 

 them raise their abdomens, and thrust out their stings, in a 

 threatening manner. A minute drop of poison can be seen 

 on their points, some of which is occasionally flirted into 

 eyes of the Apiarist, and causes severe irritation. The odor 

 of this poison is so strong and peculiar, that it is easily rec- 

 ognized. In warm weather it excites the bees, and so pro- 

 vokes their anger, that when one has used its sting in one 

 spot on skin or clothes, others are inclined to thrust theirs in 

 the same place. 



88. The sting, when accompanied by the poison-sack, may 

 inflict wounds hours, and even days, after it has been re- 

 moved, or torn, from the body of the bee. But when buried 

 in honey, its poison is best preserved, for it is very volatile, 

 and when exposed to the air, evaporates in a moment. The 

 stings of bees, which, perchance, may be found in broken 

 combs of honey, often retain their power, and we have known 

 of a person's being stung in the mouth, by carelessly eating 

 honey in which bees had been buried by the fall of the combs. 



Mr. J. R. Bledsoe, in the American Bee Journal^ for 1870, 

 writes : 



89. "It may often happen that one or both of the chief 

 parts of the sting are left in the wound, when the sheath is 

 withdrawn, but are rarely perceived, on account of their minute- 

 ness; the person stung congratulating himself, at the same 

 time, that the sting has been extracted. I have had occasion 

 to prove this fact repeatedly in my own person and in others. 

 * * * The substance of the sting, on account of its nature, 

 is readily dissolved by the fluids of the body, consequently giv- 

 ing irritation as a foreign body for only a short time compara- 

 tively. The sting when boiled in water becomes tender and 

 easily crushed." 



Tor further particulars concerning the sting, we will refer 

 our readers to the chapter entitled "Handling Bees."— (378.) 



