174 



cies of Melipova from South America in 

 my collection, I notice that, although they 

 possess a very wide corbicula and a comb, the 

 auricle is absent, and the metatarsi are ex- 

 tremely narrow at the base. Apparently, 

 therefore, in these bees, the pollen is not 

 compacted, but is scrai)ed on the corbicula 

 by the comb in a loose state, and the cor- 

 bicula bears a beautiful rack, like a long- 

 toothed comb, to retain it. The shape of 

 the metatarsus in some species, however, 

 suggests that it may be bent up so that its 

 upper edge presses against the end of the 

 tibia to form a pollen-press. 



In the solitary bees there is no corbicula, 

 the pollen being conveyed on brushes sit- 

 uated either on the hind legs or on the un- 

 der side of the abdomen. 

 SOME SPECIFIC observations; how honey 



IS MADE USE OF. 



On Feb. 11, a mild and sunny day, my 

 bees were working busily on the winter 

 stconite, Eranthis hiemalis; and by watch- 

 ing them I was able to verify my opinion as 

 to how the pollen is gathered as mentioned 

 above. I watched one bee for over five 

 minutes, rifling flower after flower. During 

 this time its loads of pollen increased in 

 size considerably; but it did not once cross 

 its hind legs, rubbing the metatarsal 

 brushes on the edges of the opposite tibia\ 

 as Cheshire supposed, although it frequent- 

 ly rubbed or scraped the inner sides of the 

 metatarsi against one another, the motion 

 being ahuafjs longitudinnl. 



I noticed that the pollen dust was gather- 

 ed direct from the anthers on the metatar- 

 sal brushes by the bee crawling about among 

 the stamens and digging its legs in among 

 them. In large open flowers, such as the 

 winter aconite and the blossom of the apple, 

 cherrv, and plum, the anthers of which are 

 accesible to the hind legs, the pollen dust is 

 probably always gathered in this way, 

 namely, direct upon the metatarsi. 



But what makes the pollen dust cling to 

 the metatarsal brushes? If a lump of pol- 

 len from the corbicula of a bee be examined, 

 it will be seen that it consists of pollen 

 grains made into a paste with some liquid; 

 and if the lump be tasted it will be discov- 

 ered that this liquid is honey. Obviously, 

 the metatarsal brushes are moistened with 

 honey, and so the pollen dust adheres to 

 them. It seems plain, too, that the honey 

 comes from the tongue. But though I 

 watched my bees carefully I never saw them 

 lick their hind metatarsi, and I do not 

 think that the tongue could reach the hind 

 metatarsi. Indeed, the only way the bee 

 could convey honey from its tongue to its 

 hind legs would be through the agency of 

 the fore and middle pairs of legs. The tarsi 

 and metatarsi of the fore legs are covered 

 with stiff bristles, which are adapted to re- 

 ceive the honey, and the metatarsi on the 

 middle legs are provided with brushes of 

 stiff bristles which are similar. In watch- 

 ing the bees working on the winter aconite 

 I saw their middle and hind metatarsi 

 rubbed together on several occasions, and, 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



in several bees I killed, the brushes on the fore 

 metatarsi were saturated with honey. But 

 this rubbing of the middle and hind legs 

 together was seen to take place far too sel- 

 dom (namely only three times during the 

 whole of my observations, which lasted, I 

 should think, nearly half an hour) to mois- 

 ten effectively the pollen grains, and thus I 

 am led to conclude that the moistening of 

 the hind metatarsi is generally carried out 

 during the flight from flower to flower. In- 

 deed, if one thinks of it this flight pro- 

 vides a most suitable interval in the work 

 of the proverbially busy bee in which to 

 discharge this apparently most necessary 

 duty; and the bee, by acquiring the instinct 

 to moisten its metatarsi, then would be able 

 to do it mechanically, just as often as it is 

 necessary. One must remember, too, that, 

 during flight, the legs are free. 



I must ask for the indulgence of the read- 

 er in dwelling so much on what I imagine, 

 and so little on what I have actually seen; 

 but this is a case in which the movements 

 made by the bee are too quick to be follow- 

 ed by the eye, and I think that an examin- 

 ation of the pollen-collectingorgans, a study 

 of the bees in the flowers, and the following 

 of my argument, will bring conviction that 

 the process of pollen-collecting is very much 

 as I have described it. 



Ripple Court Apiary, England. 



NEW LAW ON SPRAYING IN OHIO 



What to Do if an Orchard is Too Large to Spray all 

 the Trees when they are Not in Bloom 



BY N. E. SHAW 



Chie} Inspector Division of Nursery and Orchard 



[We wrote Prof. Shaw regarding the new spray- 

 ing law in Ohio, and his reply follows. — Kd.] 



The new law does not become effective 

 until May 31 of the present year. Spraying 

 is required between the 1st of November 

 and the 30th of April. This is for the de- 

 struction of scale insects; and any solution 

 which is used for this purpose can not be 

 applied after foliage has appeared or buds 

 have opened, because of the injury that 

 would result. The material used for these 

 applications would of necessity have to be 

 the lime-sulphur wash, miscible oil, or some 

 similar solution, and not an arsenical poi- 

 son. 



I have received many inquiries from bee- 

 men concerning the spraying of fruit trees 

 while in bloom. Most of them are under 

 the impression that there is a law in this 

 State against spraying at this time; but, of 

 course, such is not the case. Neither the 

 Experiment Station at Wooster, the College 

 of Agriculture, nor this department, all of 

 which send out a spray calendar, advocate 

 spraying when trees are in bloom. In fact, 

 we lay stress upon the fact that no apjilica- 

 tion should be made at this time, but after 

 the blossoms have fallen, or at least most 

 of them. Hecently one of our large com- 

 mercial orchardists, whose acreage is too 



