The worker and the queen are supplied with another organ which is of great importance to them, namely, the sting; for without this the hard-earned stores of the hive would soon be a prey to all manner of marauders, and the queen would be deprived of an organ of occasional use to her in dispatching rivals, and of daily use to her during the working season in the deposition of eggs. The darts work independently and alternately, and are connected at the base with the poison sac, without whose powerful contents such a tiny weapon would be wholly ineffective. Poison glands pour an acid secretion--largely formic acid--into this sac, whence it is conveyed to the tip of the sting along the groove or canal formed by the junction of the sheath and the darts. The sting being but an ovipositor modified also another purpose in addition to oviposition, in the perfect female (the queen) its main use is in placing the eggs in their proper position in the bottoms of the cells. Formic acid is known to have considerable antiseptic properties. Chemical tests show its presence in well-ripened honey, but not in freshly gathered nectar. The natural conclusion is that it has been added by the bees to assist in the preservation of the honey. In what manner it is supplied has frequently been questioned. Tests applied to the blood of the bee show its presence there, and the secretions of the head glands show still larger quantities. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that these glands, as well as the poison glands themselves secrete formic acid, and that the honey receives its portion from the former, the head glands, upon being disgorged from the honey-sac or during the manipulation to which it is subjected in the hive. WATER. During cold or cool weather much condensation of moisture takes place in wooden hives as these are usually arranged. The water, collecting in drops on the interior walls of the hive and on the cold, sealed honey, often trickles down over the cluster of bees, to their great injury. It has been claimed that when brood rearing begins this condensed moisture will be utilized in the preparation of brood food. Very possibly it may, yet its use is probably detrimental, since it is charged with waste products of the hive--those of respiration, etc. In its absence the water contained in the honey, if the latter has not granulated, seems to be sufficient. Later, however, when no condensation takes place in the hive and the greater number of developing larvæ require considerable supplies of water in their food, special trips are made to brooks and pools for it, and dew is often gathered from leaves. SILK. The larval bee produces a small amount of silk from glands in its head. The pupal cell is partially lined with this. Later, as the bee develops, there being no further use for the glands, they become atrophied. WAX.