The Life Processes of the Individual 



157 



or of getting under way rapidly. There is no reason to be- 

 lieve that flight is in any way dependent upon the amount 

 of air in the tracheae, as has been claimed, for filling the 

 air sacs obviously does not reduce the weight of the bee. 

 The maximum rate of flight is not clearly established, for 

 the currents of air must be eliminated in making such de- 

 terminations ; the rapidity of movement depends largely 

 upon the load being carried. Bees are able to fly at a con- 

 siderable angle for some 

 distance as is seen in 

 apiaries in mountainous 

 districts. The power of 

 the wing muscles is shown 

 by the ability of a 

 worker to fly from the 

 hive carrying a drone, 

 which weighs more than 

 the worker itself. 



In walking, bees use 

 all six legs (Fig. 81). In 

 addition to their function 

 in locomotion, the legs 

 constitute a rather com- 

 plex set of tools for nu- 

 merous other purposes, 

 especially complex in the 

 worker. On the front legs at the articulation of the tibia 

 and first tarsal joint are the antennae cleaners. The 

 middle leg has a spur to which has been attributed the 

 function of prying pollen from the hind legs in storing it. 

 The hind legs of the worker bees are highly specialized, 

 carrying pollen baskets or corbicula on the outer side of 

 the flattened tibiae and rows of spines on the inner side of 

 the first tarsal joint. Between these two joints are the so- 

 called wax-shears, which in fact have nothing to do with 

 the wax, but function in pollen gathering (p. 123). Each 

 leg is provided with a pollen brush for collecting pollen. 



FIG. 82. Dorsal (A), ventral (B) and 

 lateral (C) views of last tarsal joint 

 of first foot of worker. 



