182 
Beekeeping 
back into a common tube or duct, the vagina ( Vag ), which 
opens to the outside below the base of the sting. The 
posterior portion 
m 
of the vagina is 
enlarged, forming 
the bursa copula- 
trix ( BCpx ). 
Opening from 
the vagina is 
the spermatheca 
0 Spm ), a sac-like 
organ which serves 
to receive the 
male sex cells, the 
spermatozoa, from 
the drone at the 
time of mating 
and to retain 
them until they 
are needed. At¬ 
tached to this are 
two accessory 
glands ( SpmGl) 
the duct of which 
opens into the 
duct from the 
spermatheca to 
the vagina. The 
duct from the 
BCp.-- 
Fig. 92. 
- Reproductive organs, sting and poison 
glands of queen, dorsal view. 
spermatheca is S- 
shaped and is surrounded by muscles forming the “sperm- 
pump” of Breslau. 1 By the contraction of some of these 
muscles, the lumen of the upper end of the loop is enlarged 
and a small bundle of spermatozoa is taken from the sperma¬ 
theca. By the contraction of other muscles, the sperma- 
1 Breslau, Ernst, 1905-06. Die Samenblasengang der Bienenkonigin. 
Zool. Anz., XXIX, pp. 229-323. 
