114 Beekeeping 



digestion. According to Petersen, the peritrophic membrane 

 in the ventriculus is so formed as to make regurgitation 

 from the ventriculus impossible. 



While the work of Schiemenz and Schonfeld must be 

 given due consideration, we must wait until some competent 

 investigator takes up this problem. The various arguments 

 are thus summarized by Snodgrass (p. 100) : 



"1. The brood food itself is a milky-white, finely granu- 

 lar, and gummy paste having a strong acid reaction said to 

 be due to the presence of tartaric acid. 



"2. The pharyngeal glands of the head are developed in 

 proportion to the social specialization of the various species 

 of bees; they are always largest in those individuals that 

 feed the brood, and they reach their highest development 

 in the workers of the honey bee. From this it would seem 

 that they are accessory to some special function of the 

 worker. 



"3. The contents of the stomach in the workers consist 

 of a dark brown, slimy, or mucilaginous substance in no 

 way resembling the brood food, even when acidulated with 

 tartaric acid. Pollen is present in varying quantity, mostly 

 in the posterior end of the stomach, and shows little or 

 no evidence of digestion. Since the brown food is highly 

 nutritious, it must contain an abundance of iiitrogenous 

 food material, which is derived only from pollen in the bee's 

 diet. Therefore it is not clear how the stomach contents 

 can alone form brood food. 



"4. The constituents of the food given to the different 

 larvae, at different stages in their growth, and to the adult 

 queens and drones show a constant variation apparently 

 regulated by the workers producing it. A variation of this 

 sort cannot be explained if it is assumed that the brood food 

 is produced by the glands alone. 



"5. Powdered charcoal fed to a hive of bees appears 

 after a short time in the brood food in the cells, and this 

 has been urged as proof that the latter is regurgitated 'chyle.' 

 But it is certainly entirely possible that the charcoal found 



