268 THE HUMBLE-BEE x 
ness, her head, even when she is unoccupied, being 
held erect and her antenne pointing at attention. 
But occasionally I have found a fully animated 
queen resting on a plant or flower with her head 
hanging down and her antenne resting on her face, 
evidently indulging in a nap like the sleep of the 
higher animals, for she awakes with a start when 
disturbed. Before the cares of motherhood have 
come upon her, the queen is very fond of dropping 
off to sleep in the warm sunshine or in her newly- 
found nest. 
We have seen how the legs are employed in 
collecting pollen and wax; they have also a third 
and less specialised use, namely, to keep the insect 
clean. Several pages would be needed to describe 
the various motions they make in brushing and 
combing the different parts of the body. It is 
sufficient to say that the head together with the 
tongue and antennz is cleaned by the front legs, 
the thorax by the middle legs, and the abdomen 
and wings by the hind legs. In the middle and 
hind legs it is the brushes on the inner sides of the 
metatarsi that do most of the work. Every speck 
of dust and pollen is removed by repeated brush- 
ings. Finally the legs are cleaned by being rubbed 
together. The cleaning of the head and antennz 
is often the prelude to taking a flight, whereas the 
brushing of the coat on the thorax and abdomen is 
frequently performed when the bee returns to the 
nest after a dusty forage in the fields. Many 
queens when they grow old get careless about 
