HYMENOPTERA — THE HONEY-BEE 
47 
StinJ glands 
Alkoiine^land 
" of s+in<5 
has a small sting, and the drones have none. When bees 
sting large animals, like men, horses, and dogs, their sting is 
pulled out and with it parts of the internal organs, thus 
causing the death of the 
bee. When bees sting 
other insects, or even one 
another, their sting is 
not lost. 
Sometimes swarms 
which have few bees and 
little honey are attacked 
by bees from other 
colonies. It is a pitched 
ba ttle until the “ robber 
bees ” are beaten back or 
the defenders are them¬ 
selves killed. The sting 
is used in these battles. 
Bees are instinctively 
sanitary. If a large bum¬ 
blebee enters the hive, 
the bees kill the intruder 
and usually, finding him 
too large to be taken out, 
embalm him by injecting 
the sting repeatedly into 
his body. The result of 
this operation is to make 
the bumblebee harmless 
to the colony. Some¬ 
times they cover the body 
of a small, dead animal 
with a case made of propolis (prop'6-lis), a substance the 
bees gather from certain buds. This serves to protect the 
colony from the effects of the decomposition of the body. 
.Lancet of 
sting 
Figure 36. — The Bee’s Sting. 
It is provided with barbs and a small 
amount of formic acid as an adaptative 
feature. Being located at the end of the 
abdomen, it can be turned in any direc¬ 
tion. Notice the barbs on the sting. 
These point backwards and are adapted 
to cling to the surfaces through which it 
is forced. 
