83-t 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec, 



THE POLLEN-BASKET. 



WHEKE IS IT, AND WHAT IS IT LIKE? 



VENTURE to take up this subject, because I 

 think it is so generally misapprehended. While 

 many have an indefinite idea of what a pollen- 

 basket should be, and much less know where 

 it is situated, very few can form a perfectly 

 correct idea of what it is like. I have been for 

 some time trying to get a good drawing of the pol- 

 len-basket — one that is correct. While I do not 

 claim to have made an accurate representation, 

 yet in some particulars I think it is ahead of any 

 thing else. 



After our engraver had submitted several draw- 

 ings to me without success, I made several myself 

 before I could get any thing that at all suited me. 

 It is a difficult matter to get the engravers to un- 

 derstand exactly what features we want made 

 prominent, at the same time preserving all the pro- 

 portions. I therefore have had to ta.x my ingenuity 

 with the pencil several times. Below is a portion 

 of the hind leg, with the foot (not shown) toward 

 the base. The letters F, B, C, and 



^' '"close what is known as the 



-•, .'miBm\ pollen - basket. In the central 

 portion, marked by D and A, is a 

 depression that is dished out, 

 somewhat like a spoon. Around 

 this cavity is a rim of hairs which 

 form a kind of inclosure. This 

 rim of hairs, together with the 

 depression, makes what is term- 

 ed the pollen-basket, though it is 

 a little strange why it should 

 have been called a basket. I pre- 

 sume, however, the name was 

 given to it because it conveyed 

 the idea much better than anj' 

 thing else. It is in this that the 

 bee packs the pollen which he col- 

 lects. As far as I have been able 

 to ascei'tain by observation, the bee always puts 

 the pollen in this part of the leg, and never any- 

 where else. It would be presumption for me to 

 differ with Prof. Cook on this point; so I will say 

 that, in all probability, I misapprehend his mean- 

 ing (see his Manual, page ^8). He says. " On the 

 outside of the posterior tibia and basal tarsus is a 

 cavity made more deep by its rim of hairs, known 

 as the pollen-basket." I understand this to mean, 

 that the pollen-basket is situated on both sides of 

 the joint C; that is, that the pollen may by parted 

 lioth in the upper and lower segments, as at A and 

 E. Since my attention has been called to this mat- 

 ter I have watched the bees gathering pollen re- 

 peatedly at several different times, and I have never 

 yet seen them deposit pollen anywhere else than 

 in tiic portion marked by F, B, C, V. 



HOW THE UKES PACK THE POI.T.EN ON THE HIND 

 LEGS. 



If I am correct, no one has yet told us just how 

 the bee deposits pollen on this hind leg, further 

 than that it is by a sort of sleight of hand with the 

 fore and middle leg, in conjunction with the tongue. 

 We know, or we think wc know, how the bee sep- 

 arates the pollen from the tongue and the front 

 legs by means of the little tlute mentioned in the 

 te.xt-books. The question now remains, How does 

 the bee get the pollen from the front leg to the 



THE rOLLEM-BASKET. 



hind leg, and exactly how does the middle leg trans- 

 fer the pollen to the baskets? I have often watched 

 the movement, but it is so instantaneous that my 

 eye was unable to catch the exact process. If the 

 bee only tvould do it slowly, so we curious mortals 

 might see! but, no; he does it as though he had ac- 

 quired this wonderful feat by long practice — or, 

 rather, by instinct. 



There is another obstacle in the way; namely, 

 that the bee won't remain still long enough — as 

 though modesty or bashfulness forbade him the 

 privilege of "showing off." I have watched one 

 tugging at a pellet of wax, and, after placing it 

 under his chin, as if by magic deposit it in the 

 basket; and when, again, I thought he would try it 

 again, lo and behold ! he would soar away, leaving 

 me lamenting that the precious little secret had 

 not been revealed. 



To one who has a love for studying God's won- 

 drous works of creation, it will be found eminently 

 interesting. I know, dear friends, that the settle- 

 ment of this and questions of a similar nature is 

 not of vital importance; but, does it not in itself, as 

 we observe the wonderful symmetrj' and plan in 

 a thing so very small, bring us near the Maker? 



Perhaps I should state, that only a small magnify- 

 ing-glass is necessary to look at this pollen-basket— 

 such a glass as I speak of just below, in answer to 

 Mrs. Chaddoek. Ernest R. Root. 



MRS. CH.\DDOCK ASKS SO.\IE QUESTIONS FOR ERNEST 

 TO answer; MAGNIFYING-GLASSES, ETC. 



I am very much interested in Ernest's microscopic 

 work, and I wish he would examine the eye of the 

 bee, and make a drawing of it; tell where it is situat- 

 ed, etc. I have only a small magnifier (bought of 

 A. I. Root, for 35 cts.), and with it I have not been 

 able to find any thing that looks like eyes. I turned 

 the bee over, and looked at it up and down, around 

 and about, but not a single eye could I see, unless 

 those two little round knobs on top of the head are 

 eyes. They look like immature shoe-buttons, and 

 seem to be in an unhandy place for eyes. Then 

 there are some more little knobs where the feelers 

 start out. They are fast on the feelers, and move 

 with them, and so I suppose they could not be the 

 eyes. It would be a very safe place for them, as the 

 feelers could always keep them from getting knock- 

 ed out or off; and after he has made the eye plain, 

 I wish he would give us the ear, if they have any 

 ears. Mah.vla B. Chaddock. 



Vermont, 111. 



Here is Ernest's reply: 



Thanks, Mrs. C, for your kind interest in the work 

 that I have begun. I shall be most happy to give 

 you drawings of the bee's eyes, and other microsco- 

 pic organs of the bee in our future issues. As 

 I have all the needed facilities for this work in the 

 way of a good microscope and lenses, as well as dis- 

 secting tools, I can verify old discoveries, and pos- 

 sibly add something new in this department of 

 science. The3.5cent magnifying-glasses give very 

 satisfactory results, though not quite equal to a 

 Coddington of same power, in quality of work. You 

 must not imagine that a high-priced microscope or 

 lens is essential to gain a correct idea of the various 

 functions of the bee. In my work 1 use a small 

 magnifying-glass much moi'C than my high-priced 

 instrument, though the latter in some cases is indis- 

 pensable. The apparatus necessary for dissecting 

 a bee may be simple and inexpensive. You need, 



