Miss Apis's Tongue. 33 



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-,.*"'T'x 

 ner edges overlap, so that they/ 

 form a covering to the upper ^ 

 side of the tongue. So, you I 

 see, when the two sheaths are 

 their right places they make a tube' 

 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 



