GENEEAL CHARACTERISTICS. 



29 



because this fact has cousulcrablo bearing on the health of 

 the bees, when continod by cold or other causes, as will be 

 seen further on. (039.) 



6S. "The nervous system (fi,i>-. 1(1) of the honey-bee, the seat 

 of sensation and of the undcrstandinfi', is very interesting, on ac- 

 count of tlie profound di irevciice which it presents when compared 

 witli the nervous system of the larva. The honey-bee, more per- 

 fect in organization than the butterfly, begins as a larva deficient 

 in legs, very much inferior to the caterpillar from which the but- 

 terily proceeds. It is very interesting to notice, that the drones, 

 although larger than the worliers, especially in the head, have a 

 smaller brain. This state of things coincides with the fact that 

 the drones are not intelligent, while no one can refuse gleams 

 of Intelligence to the worker-bees, as nurses and builders." 

 — (Girard.) 



Fig. 17. 



a, heart of the honey-bee. b, eespieatoey system. 



(MagniBed. From Girard.) 



69. The heart, or organ of the circulation of the blood, 

 formed of five elongated rooms, in the abdomen, is termin- 

 ated in the thorax, and in the head, by the aorta, which is 



