UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 99, 29 April 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.

STING AND TONGUE OF A BEE. Under the microscope, a bee's bright brown tongue Js seen to be more a eontinuatiou of the insect's under-lip than a separate organ like our own tongue. It is very complicated, and consists of many parts. The middle portion, which i« tipped with tine hairs, sucks up liquid in small quantities. If a fairly large drop of liquid i« to be absorbed, the bee brings the side pieces together so as to form one large tube. In this manner the bee sucks with much greater advantage. Almost as marvellous in construction is the bee's sting. This is made up of three tiny blades, each having jagged barbs, and each wet with poison. You can see from the picture how tiny the sting actually is, compared with the point of a small needle under the same magnification as shown in the middle illustration. Nevertheless, the sting is effective for protection, as jierhaps vou yourself know! The bee keeps jabbing away with the sting until all the poison in the insect's body has been projected into the small wound.