BEE CULTURE. 83 
under or inner portion of it, thereby forming a rabbet along 
which the opposite part freely moves. The under or inner 
edge of each of these parts tapers down to extreme thinness, 
while near the termination of the edge there runs a minute 
groove which corresponds with the ridge mentioned in the 
description of the sheath, and along which the parts move 
Fig. 538.—Sectional View of a Bee Sting 
freely. Each of these parts properly tapers duwn to an 
exceedingly fine point. Near the point begin the barbs (fig. 
53, B), which in some stings number as many as ten, extending 
along the sting nearly one-half its length, and are well- 
defined. It may happen that one or both of the chief parts of. 
the sting are left in the wound when the sheath is withdrawn, 
but are rarely perceived on account of their minuteness, the 
