THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



f a 



together and remove them from the brushes. Thence they are 

 transferred to the " pollen-basket " (corbiculum) upon the outer 

 surface of the tibia, moistened in some way that is not quite 

 ascertained, and there patted and pressed down by the middle 



pair of legs. The basket is constituted by 

 the smooth somewhat hollowed surface of 

 the tibia and the long curved hairs which 

 lie on its anterior border. On returning 

 laden to the hive the bee pushes its hind- 

 legs into a selected cell, and by means of 

 the spur on the tibia of the middle legs 

 disengages the pollen pellets so that they 

 fall loose into the cell. Some other bee 

 then packs the material tight, and thus the 

 cell becomes charged with what is known 

 as bee-bread, a store of food for the sus- 

 tenance of the grubs. Cells are occasionally 

 loaded partly with bee-bread and then filled 

 up with honey ; honey-cells when full are 

 sealed over with wax for better preservation 

 of their contents. The " corbicula " present 

 on the legs of workers are absent both from 

 those of the " queen " and of drones. 

 FIG <; '' T ^L nd " leg V f To enable honey-bees to reach the nectar 



11 worker" bee. , tibia ; 



b, first tarsai joint bear- that is often stored in deep and narrow 

 ing the pollen brush : the recesses of flowers, the mouth parts have 

 opposed edges of these been profoundly altered from the simpler 



two joints constitute the r J 



wax-plate pincer. type f ound in the wasp, and together con- 



stitute a long trunk or proboscis. The 



labrum and mandibles do not exhibit any very marked peculi- 

 arities, but it is the first, and particularly the second, maxillae 

 (labium) that have undergone change. On the under side of 

 the head is a long and deep groove in which, during repose, the 

 basal part of the proboscis is sunk, while its anterior portions 

 are doubled back upon the basal, so as to reach backwards beneath 

 the thorax. In this position the true front end or tip of the 

 proboscis is its most posterior part. When the mandibles are 

 .Separated and the labium lifted the proboscis is unfolded and 



