76 The Bee People. 
must hold! They hold altogether foo well, 
as we shall see presently. 
Miss Apis’s sting is not all in one piece, 
although it seems to be, and it requires very 
careful examination to discover that it is 
made of three parts. 
It isa sort of sheath with a groove run- 
ning its whole length. Into this groove fit 
two lances that can move up and down in 
the groove. When Miss Apis decides to 
sting you, she first drives the sharp point of 
her sheath into you. This has a few barbs 
to keep it from slipping out again. Then 
one after the other the lances, each with 
its ten strong barbs, are thrust in. Deeper 
and deeper they are forced until they are as 
deep in as they can go. After all, the 
wound they make is very, very small, no 
worse than the prick of a fine needle, in 
fact. Then why does it hurt so? Ah, that 
is another question. 
Miss Apis’s barbed sting reminds us of 
the ugly weapons sometimes used by 
