356 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
In the common honey-bee (and in many other kinds) the 
greater part of the insect is hairy, and there are special 
collecting ova formed by bristle-like hairs, on the hind 
legs (Fig. 249). It is easy 
to see the load of pollen 
accumulated in these bas- 
kets after such a bee has 
visited several flowers. Of 
course the pollen which the 
bee packs in the baskets and 
carries off to the hive, to be 
stored for food, is of no use 
in pollination. In fact such 
FIG. 249. pollen is in one sense entirely 
A, right hind leg of a honey-bee(seenfrom wasted, But since such 
behind and within); B, the tibia, ¢i, 
seen from the outside, showing the col- bees as have these collect- 
lecting basket formed of stiff hairs. ing baskets are the most 
industrious visitors to flowers, they accomplish an immense 
share of the work of pollination by means of the pollen 
grains which stick to their hairy coats and are then trans- 
ferred to other flowers of the same kind next visited by 
the bee. 
427. Nectar and Nectaries. — Nectar is a sweet liquid 
which flowers secrete for the purpose of attracting insects. 
After partial digestion in the crop of the bee, nectar 
becomes honey. ‘Those flowers which secrete nectar do 
so by means of nectar glands, small organs whose structure 
is something like that of the stigma, situated often near 
the base of the flower, as shown in Fig. 250. Sometimes 
the nectar clings in droplets to the surface of the nectar 
glands ; sometimes it is stored in little cavities or pouches 
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