222 THE MARVEL OF INSECT LIFE. 



each furnished with bristle-tufts, so that the whole 

 apparatus when magnified looks very much like a 

 chimney-sweeper's brush greatly elongated, and pos- 

 sessing the advantage of being completely under the 

 control of the owner. With this brush the bee sweeps 

 the sweet juices out of a flower, and scrapes them 

 through its jaws into its mouth, So as to pass them 

 into the crop, where they are converted into honey. 



Now transfer the magnifying lens to the hind limbs of 

 the worker bee, and another marvellous structure will be 

 seen. 



The middle joint of the leg, technically named the 

 " tibia," is widened and hollowed so as to form a sort of 

 spoon, highly polished in the interior. Eound the edges 

 of the hollow are set a number of rather long, stiff, and 

 very elastic bristles. A simple and very effective basket 

 is thus produced, in which the grains of pollen can be 

 conveyed to the hive. 



Besides the pollen, another substance is carried in the 

 basket. This is the " propolis," or hard, gummy material 

 which is used as a cement for fastening one part of the 

 hive to another, and also for strengthening the edges of 

 the cells. The propolis is obtained from the viscid 

 adhesive secretions of the chestnut, poplar, birch, and 

 other buds. 



