>It's hard to imagine bees with saliva. At the same time it's hard to imagine them without it.

The current version of ‘The Hive and the Honey Bee’ (pp. 119-125) has a description of the bee's
salivary system.

Here’s a bit of info, too, from Eva Cranes’s ‘Bees and Beekeeping’:
“....the proboscis is raised to mouth level and is grasped and steadied by the mandibles so that an
airtight joint is formed. Liquid food is drawn (sucked) into the mouth through this tube. Solid food
such as sugar cannot be imbibed in the same way; it is first moistened with saliva discharged
along the interior of the glossa, and scrubbed with the bristly labellum, until some dissolves. The
solution is then lifted by the glossa and taken into the food canal.”

Regards,
Dick Allen

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