BEES 
for extracting nectar fiom the flowers, 
peculiar shaped legs for carrying pollen 
to be worked into cells or bee-bread, and 
have only rudimentary generative or- 
gans They construct the interior of the 
cells, explore the country in search of 
food and honey, supply the queen, defend 
the hive, and carry on hostilities against 
enemies and depredators. The number of 
workers is much larger than that of the 
drones, generally not more than one in 
30 or 40 is a drone or male, while there 
is only one developed female or queen. 
The workers do not present distinctly 
marked female organs, yet it is now un- 
derstood that the workers are undevel- 
oped females, and that any worker if 
taken in the early stages of its develop- 
ment and fed on the proper food can be 
developed into a queen with all of the 
sex organs perfect. 
How the Bee Stings 
The sting consists of a finely pointed 
tubular instrument open along the whole 
length of its upper surface This open- 
ing is closed by two horny slender barbs, 
each having about 10 serrations or 
notches in its outer edge. These barbs 
are not projected in advance of the sting 
as is sometimes supposed, but complete 
its outer tubular surface down the center 
of which the poison is injected from a 
little bag at the root of the sting. The 
serrations prevent the bee from with- 
drawing its sting from its enemy, but it 
is torn from the body with a portion of 
the intestines, causing the death of the 
bee. The poison poured into the wound 
from the sting contains certain pungent 
salts to which it owes its mischievous 
tendency. 
How They Ventilate the Hive 
Crowded into a small space in a box 
not more than 12 inches square, often 
with several thousand bees, the air would 
naturally become foul, and death would 
result were there not some system of ven- 
tilation. These little creatures cannot 
live in a foul atmosphere any more than 
could animals of larger size, yet so per- 
fect is their system of ventilation that 
the air of the hive is little different from 
the surrounding atmosphere on the out- 
581 
Side of the hive. This ventilation is 
effected by the vibration of the wings of 
a certain number of bees that fasten their 
feet to the floor of the hive and imitate 
the action of flying. The vibration of 
their wings drives the air out of the hive 
with a current of considerable force, and 
the fresh air coming in to fill up the 
vacuum purifies the atmosphere. These 
bees continue their motions for from 20 
minutes to half an hour, when others 
take their places to be again relieved by 
others. This is the occasion of that hum- 
ming sound heard in the hive when the 
bees are in a state of activity. The im- 
mediate cause of the action of ventila- 
tion is supposed to be the impression 
made on the organs or the nervous sys- 
tem by the vitiated air, for a bee can be 
made to ventilate itself outside the hive 
if it is brought into contact with sub- 
stances that have to it an unpleasant 
odor. 
The Bees and the Orchard 
Anyone who has studied the subject of 
the pollenization of flowers, and who 
knows the important work performed by 
insects, especially by bees, in fertilizing 
the orchards, causing the process of ger- 
mination and the production of fruit, will 
know that bees are of exceeding impor- 
tance in fruit growing. 
Any student of botany understands that 
flowers are sexual, and that in order to 
produce seed or fruit the pollen from the 
male must be conveyed in some manner 
to the stigma of the female, and that by 
the union of the two the process germi- 
nation begins. But how is this effected? 
Flowers are fastened by their stems to 
the limbs on which they grow and cannot 
mate as do insects and animals. The only 
possible method, therefore, by which fer- 
tilization takes place is that of conveying 
the pollen grain from the one to the 
stigma of the other. 
There are two classes of flowers, those 
that are self-pollinating and those that 
must be cross-pollinated. The self-pollin- 
ating flower produces its own pollen, 
while the cross-pollinating flower must 
receive the pollen from others, and gen- 
erally from other trees or plants. There 
