22 



MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 



biculum or pollen basket, represented by the longest joints of the legs, 

 A, B, and C, fig. 7. Into this the pollen falls, and with the middle 

 pair of legs is tamped down for transportation to the hive. Having 

 arrived there, the bee thrusts its hind legs into a cell located as near to 

 the brood nest as may be, and loosening the pellets lets them fall into 

 the bottom of the cell. The tibial spur (fig. 7, e) on each middle leg is, 

 as Professor Cheshire has pointed out, probably of use in prying the 

 pellets out. The latter are simply dropped into cells and left for some 



other bee to pack down 



S by kneadill S or Pressing 



U with its mandibles. Va- 



vFJfRBSKSi!*' 



nous colors yellow, 



brown, red, slate, etc., 

 according to the kinds 

 of flowers from which 

 gathered frequently 

 show in layers in the 

 same cell. Often when 

 partly filled with pollen 

 the cell is then filled up 

 with honey and sealed 

 more or less hermetically 

 with wax. The bees 

 store the pollen, for con- 

 venience in feeding, 

 above and at the sides 

 of the brood and as near 

 to it as possible, the 

 comb on each side of the 

 brood nest being gener- 

 ally well stored with it. 



NECTAR AND HONEY. 



The liquid secreted in 

 the nectaries of flowers 

 is usually quite thin, 

 containing, when just 

 gathered, a large per- 

 centage of water. Bees 

 suck or lap it up from 

 sucli flowers as they can 

 reach with their flexible, sucking tongue, 0.25 to 0.28 inch long. (Fig. 

 8, I.) This nectar is taken into the honey sac (Plate If, h. s.) located in 

 the abdomen, for transportation to the hive. It is possible that part of 

 the water is eliminated by the gatherers before they reach the hive. A 

 Kussian bee keeper, M. Nassanoff, while dissecting a worker, discovered 



Jb'lG. 8. Head and tongue of Apis mellifera worker (magni- 

 fied twelve times), a, Antenna, or feeler; in, mamlibula, or 

 outer jaw; g, gum flap, or epipharynx; mxp, maxillary palpus; 

 pg, paraglossa; mx, maxilla, or inner jaw; Ip, labial palpus, 

 I, ligula, or tongue; b, bouton, or spoon of the same. (Reduced 

 from Cheshire.) 



