152 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
stripped off. But each foot is capable of attaching 
and detaching itself independently of its fellows. 
In this case the stripping is accomplished by down- 
ward pressure of the claws of the same foot. 
On each of her fore-legs the bee has an ap- 
pliance which fulfils a very important office. It 
is a semicircular notch with a fringe of strong 
hairs, and when the leg is bent up, this notch 
engages with a curious projection on the next- - 
upper joint, forming an eyelet roughly circular in 
shape. With this exact and special tool she cleans 
her antennz, and this is done at short intervals 
throughout the whole active time of her life, much 
as, in the operation of winking, the human eye is 
kept cleansed. The tongue also is freed from 
adhering grains of pollen by this device. 
The question, How does a bee gather the 
flower-juices to make her honey ? is met by certain 
popular naturalists with the assurance that she 
sucks them through a tube. This is so easy a 
generalisation that it amounts very nearly to posi- 
tive error. The tongue of the bee is not a tube, 
as the word is usually understood. And she laps 
up the nectar as often as she sucks it. It depends 
entirely on the quantity to be dealt with; and a 
little careful dissection of the mouth-parts of the 
bee, by means of the microscope and a pair of long 
needles, will soon make the whole matter clear. 
She is no beauty—the honey-bee, seen at such 
close quarters; unending toil, and a perverted, 
