68 



THE ANATOMY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



pollen adhering to each of its hind legs. The pollen baskets are 

 also made use of for carrying propolis. 



Between the ends of the hind tibia {Th) and the first tarsal joint 

 {ITar) is a sort of pincerlike cleft (F and G, ff) guarded by a row 

 of short spines on the tibial edge. This is popularly known as the 

 " wax shears " and it is supposed to be used for picking the plates 

 of wax out of the wax pockets of the abdominal segments. The 

 writer, however, has watched bees take the wax from their abdomen 

 and in these observations they always poked the wax plates loose 



Fig. 30. — A, dorsal view of end of last tarsal joint of first foot (Tar), the claws (Cla), 

 and empodium {Emp) of worker; B, ventral view of same; C, lateral i view of same, 

 showing empodium in ordinary position when not in use. 



with the ordinary hairs or spines of the tibise or tarsi and then by 

 means of the feet passed them forward beneath the body to the 

 mandibles. 



The last tarsal joint of each leg bears a pair of claws (E, Cla^ and 

 a single median empodium {Em,p). Each one of the claws is bi- 

 lobed, consisting of a long tapering outer point and a smaller inner 

 one (figs. 30 and 31). The claws of the worker (fig. 31 A) and the 

 queen (B) are only slightly different in details of outline, although 

 the claws of the queen are much greater in size than those of the 



