THE TONGUE AND MOUTH PARTS
The tongue of an insect is called the _proboscis_, a Greek word meaning
a front feeder, or trunk, and indeed the bee’s tongue is not unlike the
trunk of an elephant. Let us glance at Plate VIII., where a picture
of the mouth parts of the bee is shown. The tongue itself is in the
centre, and it appears long and hairy, tapering to a fine point. On
each side of the tongue are the _Labial palpi_, which are part of the
case in which the tongue is kept, when not in use. Beyond these are the
_Maxillæ_, or inner jaws, which form the other part of the case.
Each labial palpus consists of four joints, the upper two (Nos. 1 and
2 on the picture) being much larger and broader than the lower ones,
which are quite tiny in comparison. They have several hairs growing
upon them, and these hairs are used for feeling. The importance of
hairs to the bee is very great, and we find them all over the body.
They are of different shapes and sizes, and we shall read more about
them as we come to consider each kind in turn. When the labial palpi
are closed, they protect the back part of the tongue, the front part
being protected by the maxillæ. These four parts, when closed, make
a kind of tube, in which the tongue rests. Although this protecting
case cannot be drawn up into the mouth, the bee is able to draw up the
tongue at will.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII
From a photo-micrograph by] [E. Hawks
Tongue and Mouth Parts of Bee]
(_b_) Plate VII. shows a good view of the tongue itself, as seen with
a high magnifying power. It is composed of a number of ring-like
structures, and is covered with hairs which are regularly placed and
point in a downward direction. The tongue of the worker bee, it is
interesting to note, is nearly twice as long as that of the queen or
of the drone. This is because neither of the latter gather nectar, and
so they do not need such long tongues as the worker. Her tongue being
longer, she is the more easily able to reach the nectar, which, in
some flowers, is only to be found at the bottom of a long corolla. The
tongue of the worker has from 90 to 100 rows of hairs, but those of the
queen and the drone have only from 60 to 65 rows each.
The tongue is extremely elastic, and is capable of being moved in any
direction at will. Some of the hairs with which the tongue is clothed
are of use for feeling, but most of them are for a different purpose
altogether. When a bee pushes her head into the corolla of a flower,
her tongue sweeps from side to side. If there is any nectar there, it
sticks to the hairs of the tongue in tiny droplets, and in this way it
is collected. Later on we shall find how it is dealt with after it has
been gathered.
On (_b_) Plate VII., at the very tip of the tongue, there is to be seen
a small object like a spoon. This is indeed its name, and it is used
for collecting the most minute quantities of nectar. It is covered
with a number of tiny hairs, some of which are split into several
branches.
From this description you will see that a bee’s tongue is very fully
equipped for gathering small, as well as large, quantities of nectar.
Even the tiniest drop is carefully treasured, for the bees know that
“every little helps.”