214 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



The milkweed flower's pollen is gathered in a 

 compact mass inclosed by a tiny sack. These sacks 

 are connected together by threads which terminate 

 in a single sticky gland ; this adheres to the feet 

 and the outer parts * of the poor bee's tongue, and 

 she soon is so ensnarled with threads and pollen bags 



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that she falls to the ground and perishes. The bee 

 can, however, clean herself off if she is not too much 

 encumbered, and under the magnifying glass it is 

 quite amusing to watch her " tidy up." She uses 

 her saliva for water, cleans off her feet and legs, 

 combs her antennse with her fore legs, which are es- 

 pecially constructed for the purpose, smoothes down 

 her wings by brushes attached to her heels, even 

 brushes her eyes instead of wiping them, and when 

 she has completed her toilet flies away with an evi- 

 dent feeling that she is now " fit to be seen." She 

 does not fly slowly either, for she can champion the 

 fleetest bicyclist and the most famous race horse by 

 a record of more than a mile in two minutes. 



The bee's life is rather short, not over thirty -five 

 or forty days long in the busy season of summer. In 

 winter, however, a period of comparative idleness, it 

 is estimated to extend over a much greater length of 



* The labial palpi and maxilla, accessory parts of the tongue 

 proper. 



