76 The Bee People. 



must hold I They hold altogether too 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 is a 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 



