Fig. A. -(A) Tongue, (B) Labial Palpi, (C) Maxillae

Fig. B. -(A) Tongue, (B) Esophagus, (C) Honey Sack, (D)

Digesting Stomach, (E) Malpighian Tubes, (F) Small Intestine, (G) Large Intestine

The Tongue

Miss Honey Bee has a wonderful tongue. It must go through very small places, so Mother Nature made it long, slim and threadlike. Two hard, little scalelike shields protect it. One shield covers the upper side of the tongue and one covers the lower side. Both shields are split in the middle. These clefts divide the tongue's cover into four parts which open and close. This hard, caselike guard forms a regular tunnel when closed. The tip of the tongue sticks out at the end of the case. A little round suction cup is on the part of the tongue that sticks out of the case. This cup is used to drink the nectar from flowers. The tunnel or tube formed by the parts of the bee's tongue works just like a straw that we use when we drink ice cream sodas at the drug store. Many little hairy helpers cover the tongue. Nectar which clings to these hairs is more easily drawn up through the tunnel.

If a grain of pollen should get in the suction tube, as sometimes peanuts get in our teeth, instead of using a toothpick as we do, the bee could simply spread the sections of the shield on her tongue apart and the grain of pollen would fall out.

The Antennae

We wonder if Miss Honey Bee hears and smells, we learn that she hears and smells with her hairlike antennae which, as we learned before, grow straight out from a bee's head, one on each side.

Let us look at the antennae on the head of this bee.

They are nicely made. At a short distance from the head, joints are found. The rest of the antennae start from these joints at square angles from them, or as we say, at right angles from them. From here to the end of the antennae are many sections, each connected by a joint. On the short joints Miss Bee has thousands of very small "hearing spots, " and thousands of very small "smell hollows. " Now we know what is meant when we read that Miss Honey Bee smells and hears through her antennae.

Miss Honey Bee uses her antennae for fingers too. She feels her way in the dark with them. Thousands of fine hairs on them tell her what she touches.

There is another wonderful thing about these feelers. When bees want to talk to one another, they meet and cross their antennae. In some mysterious way, they understand what each other means.

We understand now, why these antennae must be kept clean. If they should become dirty or should have pollen dust sticking in the hearing spots or in the smell hollows, the bee wouldn't be able to smell or to hear. That is why Miss Bee needs the combs and brushes she has on her forelegs. On the fourth joint of the front legs is a little half-moon shaped hole, open on one side. Tiny sharp teeth are in this round hole. A sort of flap just above the open part of this hole forms a brush. Miss Honey Bee raises her forelegs over her head and draws them down over the antennae. The antennae slip into the holes. The flaps drop down to hold them in place. Then she draws the antennae through the holes, which, being covered with stiff hair, cleans, brushes and combs them. Isn't this toilet set which Miss Honey Bee carries with her all the time a handy one?

The Honey Sac

The honey sac is located just in front of the stomach. When the bee eats pollen and drinks nectar, both solid and liquid food pass into the little honey sac. A small tube leads from the honey sac to the bee's stomach. When the bee wants something to eat it takes some of the contents of the honey sac through this tube.

The Wings

We have learned something about Miss Honey Bee's wonderful eyes, peculiar tongue, antennae and honey sac. Let us look at her bright, shining wings.

We know they are strong because she can carry large loads of pollen from great distances and because she can fly all day from flower to flower.

Here is a bee busily lapping the honey from a clover blossom. Look at her wings. They are so thin we can see through them. The large frame only shows they are there. They flash like jewels in the sunlight. Miss Honey Bee has two sets of wings. One set is folded neatly under the other set.

We can't examine her wings when she flies but we shall be interested to know how she uses them. Here is what a naturalist writes about them. "A row of hooks are on the lower set of wings and a groove is on the upper set. When she flies she hooks these together something like a zipper on a sweater. Then the two sets of wings become just one pair of large strong ones. When Miss Honey Bee settles down, the wings unhook again: so she has two wings when she flies and four when she stops some place. "

The Sting

If we try to catch a honey bee we may get stung. She has a sharp dagger, called a "sting, " with which to fight. The dagger has barbs which point toward the handle.

We may think that Miss Honey Bee's dagger is on her head, or, like that of a rooster, on her legs, but it isn't. Her sting is on the rear tip of her abdomen. We remember that her abdomen is the rear part of her body. She does not stab with this sting. She just puts the point against the skin and sits down. Her whole weight forces the sharp weapon into the flesh.