160 
Beekeeping 
to create any new organ, preferring rather to make over some 
already existing structure into something that will serve a 
new purpose.” — Snodgrass, l.c. p. 78. 
The poison of the sting arises from two sets of glands. 
The conspicuous poison sac ( PsnSc ) which opens into the 
bulb of the sting is usually seen attached to the sting when 
the sting is pulled from a bee. The contents of this gland 
have an acid reaction and it was formerly believed to be 
formic acid. This acid comes from two long coiled tubes 
( AGID) on which are two small enlargements, supposed 
to be the secreting glands ( AGl ). The tubes (AGID) also 
probably have gland cells in the walls. The other poison 
glands ( BGl ), known as the alkaline glands, also empty into 
the bulb of the sting. Their secretion is supposed to have 
an alkaline reaction. According to Carlet, 1 the secretions 
of these two sets of glands must be mixed to be fully effec¬ 
tive. The secretions enter the bulb where they are mixed 
and are then forced down the canal (PsnC) formed by the 
sheath and lancets. 
In most books on bees, certain lateral openings in the 
lancets are described as paths of the poison in the process 
of stinging. Snodgrass showed, however, that these do not 
connect with the poison canal and supposed them to be ducts 
of some kind of subcuticular glands. Mclndoo has shown 
them to be olfactory pores (p. 170). 
The sting, as every beekeeper knows, is an effective 
weapon of defense. When used, it usually cannot be with¬ 
drawn because of the barbs ( Brb ) on the lancets. The 
sting with the accessory plates and poison sac are therefore 
usually torn from the body of the bee, causing so severe 
an injury to the abdomen that the worker dies within a 
short time. The defender is thus sacrificed for the good 
of the colony. The parts torn away include the muscles 
which operate the accessory plates and indirectly slide the 
lancets on the sheath. The sting may therefore be driven 
• Carlet, G., 1890. Memoir sur le venin et l’aiguillon de l’abeille. 
Ann. des sci. uat., Zool., 7 ser., IX, pp. 1-17. 
