THE HONEY-BEE. 



of flowers is conveyed first to an enlargement of the 

 gullet, analogous to the crop of birds. From this, 

 some is regurgitated by the workers into the cells, for 

 storage, while another portion passes on to the true 

 stomach.^ A certain amount of nitrogenous food, 

 chiefly pollen, also finds its way to this cavity, and 

 there undergoes a second mastication by the so- 

 called gastric teeth. These consist of silica, and are 

 therefore very hard. 



After undergoing considerable digestion in the 

 stomach, the chyle, as we may now consider it, passes 

 into a short intestine, where it receives fluid from the 

 so-called "biliary ducts." Further on is an expan- 

 sion, called the colon, after traversing which the 

 portions of food not absorbed into the system, to- 

 gether with the waste products brought to the 

 intestines, are expelled from the body. It is pro- 

 bable that the nutritive parts of the aliment find their 

 way through the walls of the intestine, and mingling 

 with the sanguineous liquid returned from the 

 cephalic extremity, pass with it into the dorsal vessel. 



Closely connected with the digestive apparatus is 

 that which is concerned in the making of wax. By 

 pressing the abdomen of the bee, so as to cause its 

 extension, there can be seen, on the under side of the 

 four medial ventral segments, two trapeziform whitish 

 pockets, one on either side of the carina, or elevated 

 central part. These are of a membranous texture, 

 and are covered with a reticulation of hexagonal 



^ Pastor Schonfeld has recently made some most interesting 

 researches into the anatomy and communication of the two stomachs. 

 A translation of his articles may be found in The British Bee Journal 

 for July, 1883. 



