BEES 5 



thrust forward, and then its great length becomes evident. The 

 elongated first maxillae, or rather their respective laciniae, form 

 on the right and left a loose sheath round the basal half of the 

 central portion ; their stipites are disposed as in the wasp, but 

 are longer, and so give more extended to-and-fro movement 

 as they swing on the attachment to the head ; the maxillary 

 palps are reduced to a single or incompletely divided joint, but 

 are just visible at the apex of the stipes on the outer side ; the 

 galese, present in the wasp, cannot be recognised. The basal 

 portion of the labium lies between the sheathing maxillae, and 

 is attached to them by a special structure, so that maxillae and 

 labium move forward and backward together. The labial palps 

 are very long, the elongation affecting their first (especially) 

 and second joints, which are again sheath-like, while the two 

 terminal joints stand out almost at right angles to the second 

 and retain the ordinary cylindrical shape of most palpal joints. 

 Between the labial palps and the greatly elongated central organ, 

 the ligula, there is a pair of delicate processes called " para- 

 glossae." The ligula is a delicate, flexible, hairy, tubular organ 

 which is thrust out from the sheath afforded by the labial palps 

 below and maxillae above ; it is filled with fluid, and its lower 

 half can be tucked in inside the upper so as to produce a long 

 groove, or on the other hand can, by increased pressure of the 

 contained fluid, be everted, so that a transverse section of the 

 organ is then oo-shaped. At the extreme tip of the ligula is a 

 minute " bouton " or spoon. By means of this complicated 

 apparatus, assisted by other smaller parts not here described, 

 the bees are able to drink the sugary nectar of the flowers. The 

 liquid passes into the crop or honey-sac, and while in the body 

 of the bee undergoes certain chemical changes ; eventually it 

 is regurgitated and stored in one of the cells of the combs as 

 honey. Even then it requires to undergo " ripening " by evapora- 

 tion of water before it is in a fit state for lengthy preservation. 

 The final product differs from nectar in containing far less water, 

 in the chemical character of its sugar (grape instead of cane- 

 sugar), and in the presence of certain antiseptics, of which formic 

 acid is the chief. When a cell is full of honey the opening is 

 sealed with a covering of thin wax. Cells in which " brood " 



