MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 
43 
central piece is of a very delicate structure, ringed a- 
long the greater portion of its length, having a small 
circular orifice at the extremity. This is the linguae, 
or true tongue, and from the case of the ringed por- 
tion, arises a pair of feelers, which are composed of 
four joints, the lower one being the longest. These 
organs when at rest, are defended by a pair of scaly 
instruments, called sheaths. When unemployed, the 
tongue is folded back upon the lower portion of these 
sheaths. 
The chest is round and covered with hair, resem- 
bling that on a bat. Four wings, and six legs, are at- 
tached to this portion of the body. The posterior is 
covered with six belts or scales, covered with short hair, 
which is light colored on the edges, and grows darker 
toward the centre of the belts. The hind legs have 
five joints, ajid on the second long joint is the Pollen 
concave Basket. The bottom of this basket is smooth 
and dark colored, while the edge is covered with hair 
resembling a brush. This brush is used to remove the 
Farina from the wings and hair, and collects it in little 
balls in the concaves. 
The Bee loses no time in collecting pollen. In ex- 
tracting honey, it is brought in contact with the farin- 
aceous part of the blossoms, and the furz or hair re- 
ceives it from which it is gradually removed to the 
pollen basket, by the brush surrounding the concave. 
These yellow balls you may see on the legs of the Bees 
on any working day in May or June. 
This little insect is furnished with a powerful weap- 
on of defence, the sting, which is scarcely less complex 
in its structure than the tongue. If you take a Bee in 
your fingers, a dart is seen at once protruded from the 
extremity of the body. If this dart should be plunged 
into the finger, it will in all probability be left there, 
ere the Bee can disengage himself, aud the pain is too 
well known to need description. 
The sting is composed of five parts. First: a pair 
of elongated flattened organs, between which, when 
unemployed the extremity of the sting is lodged. — 
Second: the instrument, which consists of a canal liav- 
