32 BEHAVIOR OF HONEY BEE IN POLLEN COLLECTING. 



pollen combs of the hind planttie, and the plantae, in turn, transfer the 

 pollen of one leg to the pecten comb of the other, the pecten of one 

 leg scraping downward over the pollen comb of the opposite leg. 

 (See fig. 7.) A little pollen is loaded directly from the middle legs 

 into the baskets when these legs are used to pat down the pollen 

 masses. (See fig. 6.) 



Aside from the foregoing exception, all of the pollen which reaches 

 the baskets enters them from below, since it is first secured by the 

 pecten combs, and is then pushed upward by the impact of the 

 rising auricles, which squeeze it against the distal ends of the tibise 

 and force it on into the baskets to meet that which has gone before. 



The long hairs which form the lateral boundaries of the baskets 

 are not used to comb out pollen from the brushes of any of the legs. 

 They serve to retain the accumulating masses within the baskets and 

 to support the weight of the pollen, as it projects far beyond the 

 surfaces of the tibiae. 



Pollen grains are moistened and rendered cohesive by the addition 

 to them of fluid substances which come from the mouth. Analyses 

 show that honey forms a large part of this moistening fluid, although 

 nectar and secretions from the salivary glands are probably present 

 also. 



In the process of pollen manipulation this fluid substance becomes 

 well distributed over the brushes of all of the legs. The forelegs 

 acquire moisture by brushing over the mouthparts, and they transfer 

 this to the hairs of the breast and to the middle-leg brushes when 

 they come in contact w^ith them. The middle-leg brushes transmit 

 their moisture to the pollen combs of the hind legs when they rub 

 upon them. All of these brushes also transport wet pollen which 

 has come from the mouthparts and thereby acquire additional mois- 

 ture. The auricles and the plantie of the hind legs become particu- 

 larly wet from this source, since fluid is squeezed from the wet pollen 

 when it is compressed between the auricles and the distal ends of the 

 tibiae. Dry pollen which falls upon the bod}'^ hairs becomes moist 

 when brought into contact with the wet brushes or wnth wet pollen. 



During the process of manipulation pollen passes backward from 

 its point of contact with the bee toward its resting place within the 

 baskets. 



Pollen which the collecting bee carries to the hive is deposited by 

 this bee within one of the cells of the comb. As a rule, this pollen is 

 securely packed in the cell by some other worker, which flattens out 

 the rounded masses and adds more fluid to them. 



