666 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



There are no wingless adult forms amongst the bees ; in the species 

 which live in societies or colonies barren females, called workers, 

 exist and carry on the work of the community. 



The food of bees is always obtained from the vegetable kingdom 

 or from other bees. It usually consists of pollen worked up in 

 various ways. In this connection the hind legs of bees are of consider- 

 able importance and Sharp* makes the following interesting remarks 

 on this subject : " The hind lews of bees are very largely used in the 

 industrial occupations of these indefatigable creatures ; one of their 

 chief functions in the female being to act as receptacles for carrying 

 pollen to the nest : they exhibit, however, considerable diversity. The 

 parts most modified are the tibia and the first joint of the hind-foot. 

 Pollen is carried by other parts of the body in many bees, and even 

 the hind leg itself is used in different ways for the purpose : sometimes 

 the outer face of the tibia is highly polished and its margins surrounded 

 by hair, in which case pollen plates are said to exist ; sometimes the 

 first joint of the tarsus is analogous to the tibia both in structure and 

 function ; in other cases the hind legs are thick and densely covered 

 with hair that retains the pollen between the separate hairs. In this 

 case the pollen is carried home in a dry state, while in the species 

 with pollen plates, the pollen is made into a mass of a clay-like con- 

 sistence. The legs also assist in arranging the pollen on the other 

 parts of the body. The males do not carry pollen, and though their hind 

 legs are also highly modified, yet the modifications do not agree with 

 those of the female, and their functions are in all probability sexual." 



As is well-known bees frequent flowers, but not, as usually stated, 

 to gather the honey. They really extract the nectar which is said to 

 be almost pure saccharose ; this they swallow and, according to one 

 authority, it is regurgitated as dextrose and levulose. Probably all 

 bees also eat pollen while collecting it. The pollen collected mixed 

 with honey serves as the food for the colony. 



The young of bees are always reared in cells and these cells (except 

 in the case of the parasitic bees) are built by the mothers or workers. 

 The solitary bees store the cells with food and close up each cell after 

 having laid an egg in it, so that in these cases each grub feeds upon 

 a store of food previously provided for it. The social or colonial 

 baes (those living in hives, open combs, &c.) do not close the cells 



* Cambridge Natural History, Vol. VI., 12. 



