Honey, pollen, and propolis. 107 



it for a time so that all the watery liquid in the honey- 

 may pass away or evaporate. It then becomes thick, 

 and will keep good for a great length of time. And 

 thus, although, as I have said, the bees do not make it, 

 they do something more than merely collect it. 



In flavour, it varies very much according to the 

 source from whence it comes. The very best honey 

 is gathered from the white clover, although some 

 people think that no honey is to be compared with 

 that which is gathered from the heaths. 



When the bee goes from home, to gather pollen, 

 it often undesignedly collects it over its whole body ; 

 for in many flowers the pollen is like the finest dust, 

 which is shaken off in clouds as soon as the flower is 

 touched. The bee then has to get it off its body, and 

 on to its pollen legs. This it does by means, as 

 before described, of its other brush-like legs ; but it is 

 sometimes so covered that you will see it return to its 

 hive like a little miller, when the other bees come to 

 its help and remove it all. 



When, however, in the process of honey-gathering, 

 the pollen sticks to its tongue, we may well ask how 

 it gets it off, and on to its pollen legs ? This might 

 well seem difficult, but, like every difl!iculty, it is pro- 

 vided for. On the fore-legs of the bees there is a 

 very curious little notch. You will see it in the 

 illustration, which is that of a portion of the leg 

 magnified. It is thus described by Root : — 



'There is a little blade, as it were, at B, that 

 opens and shuts ; and the bee, when its tongue is 

 well loaded, just puts it into the grooved or fluted 

 cavity, then shuts down B, and gives its tongue a 



