Miss Apis’s Tongue. 34 
The upper sheath is also made of two 
horny pieces Y, Y, that can be separated 
from each other. They lie side by side 
when not separated, and their in-,“f", 
ner edges overlap, so that ml 
form a covering to the upper 
side of the tongue. So, yous 
their right places they make a tube ( i 
about the tongue, and the tongue is & 
run out at the point of the sheaths when 
the bee wants to lick up nectar. 
Miss Apis has her tongue-sheath sepa- 
rated into so many parts for a very good 
reason. 
If the sheath were a closed tube, pieces of 
honey-comb or grains of pollen or other 
substances might get wedged in, when she 
was licking up honey or nectar, and give 
her a great deal of trouble. But as it is, if 
anything gets caught, all she has to do is to 
separate the parts of her tongue-sheath and 
clear it out. 
3 
